Thanks for the update, MN. If you use the search function for this forum, you'll find a lot of threads about crappies. You'll also find a lot of opinions: strong opinions for and against crappies.
I'm one who believes that you can have crappies in ponds. I'm over in east-central SD, so I'm not too far from you.
First of all, use black crappies. They're a better pond species than white crappies. Blacks can do ok on zooplankton and insects, while my pet belief is that white crappies really need some fish as prey items.
In your case, I am really leery about the potential for walleyes to control crappies. As you have already heard, crappies are very prolific. Thus, a strong predator base is needed to thin the small crappies. If the little crappies are thinned by predators, then the few survivors have more food per individual, and they grow faster and get larger.
We produced 10-12 inch black crappies in a 3-acre pond that used largemouth bass as the predator. I know that walleyes are king, or maybe queen, in MN, just like in SD. However, most ponds here will support at least 50 pounds per acre of largemouth bass. It's rare to find more than 10 pounds per acre of walleyes in a pond. That 50 pounds per acre of largemouth bass, and they tend to be smaller bass when they are so abundant, is what controls the crappie reproduction. 60%, 80%, or more of the bass may be <12 inches long. So, you sacrifice quality of bass to get the bigger crappies.
The problem with this pond management strategy is that you don't get massive numbers of crappies to harvest, if you're planning on the fillets. The lower density crappie populations produce bigger crappies, but not big numbers in a pond that is only 1 acre.
I know that people like walleyes, and I know that a lot of pondowners want diversity. If you are set on using a walleye black crappie combination, you can try. However, the walleyes almost certainly will not naturally reproduce in your pond. Thus, you'll have to restock them at advanced sizes, probably something like 8-inch replacements. Also, you'll want to crowd the walleyes to get enough predation on the small crappies, so the walleyes should be thin and slow growing. Largemouth bass will almost certainly reproduce naturally in your pond.
Hope this helps!
