Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose Unclear about Walleye & ponds

From my experience with WE in NW Ohio it is similar to what mnfish has stated. WE can live in relatively shallow northern waters if they don't winter kill or summer kill. Oxygen is more important to them than cold or cool temperatures. They will always spawn in a pond BUT the eggs will hatch and fry survive ONLY in ideal conditions which is very rare for a pond or small lake. WE eggs need to be laid in relatively clear water (clearer the better) and on clean bottoms preferrably rocky and wind swept. In these conditions the eggs stay clean, silt free and well oxygenated. Moving water seems to help keep silt off eggs and the eggs well oxygenated. Silt and suspended particles that settle on the eggs tends to suffocate the developing embryos. If the eggs land on relatively flat exposed gravel, or bare bottoms various predators eat the eggs before they hatch. Best hatch of WE eggs occurs over larger rock, windswept shorelines where eggs can drop down into rock crevices, get some protection from predators, and wave currents mix into the crevices to keep eggs oxygenated. Crayfish that live among rocks are big consumers of fish eggs, so ponds or lakes with even low crayfish populations have poor survival of WE eggs.

Once their eggs hatch which is rare in a pond, then a whole new set of conditions are required to get the fry growing. Newly hatched fry do not have well functioning paired fins at this time and can only swim primarily vertically; they move up and sink, move up and sink. This feature makes them very vulnerable to predation thus many fry are lost to predation. Functioning paired pelvic and pectoral fins for horizontal swimming develop after about 3-5 days post swim up. WE have a very narrow and cylindrical body until they are 12" long, thus many predator fish can eat a small walleye and the low percent that make it to fingerling stage struggle hard and long to get to the 12" size; few if any make it. Thus too many factors in a typical pond prevent successful recruitment of walleye. A pond that has WE recruitment is very rare indeed.