Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose Stocking walleye

We have used walleye as a non-reproducing predator in some YPerch ponds in my area. In mid-Oct we removed 3 of 10 walleye from a 0.33 acre pond that is primarily a Yperch pond. I have copied my post here from another thread since it also dealt with walleye in small ponds.

Firstly, understand this is a mature YP fishery in a small pond. Secondly note that I do not necessarily agree with this harvest philosophy. The owner, similar to some others, in my area almost always lose some of the largest and oldest YP during the hottest periods of the summer - depending on weather. Often this number can be as high as 20-30 individuals and always the biggest ones, depending on the situation. This particular owner just HATES to discard these prime fish as waste, due to heat related deaths. His main philosphy was to harvest a significant number of the largest perch and then let the younger perch fill the void. This is a very common and usually the standard philosophy in fish management.

The owner thinks he has a real good number of smaller perch avalable to fill the void. I am not positive of this theory based on the number or percentage of small YP that we caught while fishing. Note that we also harvested 3 walleye (WE) 16"-21" along with the 30 large YP. These three WE were under standard weight, but not noticably thin. Largest ones (20",21" females with small egg sacs- Oct) were an ounce or two above 2 lbs. Smallest one at 16" was a male. In 1999, there were originally 10 walleye (8")originally placed in this in this 0.33 ac pond. Growth rate has slower than the optimum despite ample forage of YOY perch and bluntnose minnows. I suspect the numbers of small YP are "down" in this pond due to predation factors from the walleye and large number of YP. Removing the WE and larger YP should help increase the numbers of small YP and minnows. The owner and I discussed the ramifications of removing these larger fish which could help or hinder small fish recruitment. We will keep an eye on the impacts of the fish harvest.

Note - I have been actively helping the owner manage this small pond since its inception in 1994. It is one of the first exclusive YP ponds that we produced in NW Ohio. As far as I know and besides mine, it is one of the very best YP fisheries in the whole region. Those 30 YP and 3 WE were caught in 90 minutes which included monkeying around with regular fishing duties and getting nets, photos, rebaiting, retying hooks, etc. I may put a profile of this pond on my list of articles for Pboss Mag. I have numerous photos of its history.

The pond owner prefers a fall harvest instead of a harvest when eggs masses are large (winter) or for a lengthy period after the spawn (Apr-Jun) when there seems to be less harvestable meat biomass per fish. Summer harvest of YP can result in off flavors &-or softer textured fillets.