Hi PSRguy. There is no book on what you are trying to do.
Thus, there may be several ways to get to the same goal. Let me toss some suggestions at you.
If this was me, I would indeed introduce adult fathead minnows next spring. They won't start to reproduce (probably starting when water gets to the 60s F) until after the walleye fry have already grown to a big enough size to eat the fathead fry. So, the adult fatheads you stock won't be enough to really compete with the newly stocked walleye fry.
I really don't know what to stock for fathead minnows. What would be the cost of stocking at least a gallon per acre (40 gallons?). I'm just guessing, but that should be plenty to get the reproduction started. In a study we did in Minnesota, we could essentially wipe out fathead minnow reproduction with a walleye fry stocking. Whether you buy the fatheads or collect them yourself, be absolutely certain that you know what you are stocking. DON'T let any small black bullheads or common carp get into your lake with the stocking! Keep them out or you can really hurt your walleye production in the long run.
I'd stock the walleye fry at a rate of at least 1,000/acre (40,000 fry). Some people go up to 2,000 per acre (or even more). I don't feel strongly about this, but remember that more walleyes can mean slower growth. However, that really is more influenced by the survival rate than the stocking rate, I believe. I do know that you should not go under 1,000.
I always worry about the yellow perch getting out of control before you establish predators. To be honest, I'm probably more conservative than I should be. I think I'd suggest the following. If you are stocking yellow perch fingerlings (age 0 fish), then they could go in next spring (or early summer). They won't reproduce in 2005, but they probably will have fantastic growth rates on the conditions you described, and may reproduce at age 1 (2006). [If not, they definitely will reproduce at age 2.] That way, the walleyes will have something to eat that year. I'd also do a second walleye fry stocking in 2006, just to make sure the predators get off to a good start. You probably won't get as much survival on the second stocking, and the older walleyes will be happy to feed on the newly stocked walleyes. However, I think it would be safer to have at least some walleyes in the second year class. Once per two year stockings may be just fine after that, but I'd start with a couple of walleye year classes if you plan to have perch in the lake.
If you plan to stock adult yellow perch, then I would wait until spring 2006. Stock them pre-spawn, and get them producing so the walleye will have prey at that time.
Walleye fry stockings do not work in all waters. However, if your lake is fish-less now, and as productive as you say, I think it should work.
Hope this helps! As I said, there probably are other alternatives, but this is what I would do.
Dave
