Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Help Raising Walleye

TMK - If you stock I suggest you follow Dan's path and stock walleye (WE) at 8"-10" minimum size. Better sizes are 10-12". Be prepared these will be pricey. Smaller sizes of 4"-8", will be readily be eaten by bass and other walleye despite what hatcheries will tell you.

""They are saying that they will eat everything smaller than about 4"."" This is hatchery sales hype. Remember hatcheries are in the business to sell fish. The size of forage fish that the walleye will eat will depend on the size of the walleye and the type of forage fish. Larger WE will eat larger forage, but numerous research foraging studies of WE have shown that adults (16"-26") most often consume the smaller more narrow bodied 3"-4" fish. Although keep inmind that WE like many other fish are opportunists when it comes to feeding. WE will gorge on 1" mayflies when the hatch is occurring. Obviously a 4" shiner, 4" y.perch and 4" bass will be much easier to swallow and be preferred compared to a 4" Bgill.

The WE will live in the water temps of your southern MI lake. In reality, the stocking of 8"-12" LM bass would do much, much more overall benefit to more quickly see control or affects on your small overabundant panfish than WE. I thnk survival of LMB would be better than WE in a lake that already has LMB. Plus the LMB would spawn to create more future predators and probably be cheaper than buying 10"-12" walleye. Unless you have fishermen with fat wallets that absolutly love & have to have walleye, I suggest you focus for efforts on stocking subadult LMB instead of WE. Keep in mind that you need to be stocking 8"-12" LMB and not fingerlings or 4"-6" bass. Smaller bass are too small and survival not good enough to be a really cost effective solution in your particular situation.