Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose Mr. Saugeye

It is extremely rare to find saugeye fingerlings and even rarer to find sauger fingerlings or larger. Almost all production is by state agencies. IMO walleye are just as good and both tolerate very similar water quality conditions. IMO and experience saugeye are over hyped by DNR's. Plus the saugeye has the strong potential to dilute the native walleye and sauger gene pools when saugeye find there way into native spawning populations.

I think so few private hatcheries produce saugeye because the endeaver is so unprofitable. The only ones that can justify it are those that use taxpayer monies or hobbyists. Efficiency is usually not a factor for DNR's. In general government agencies are rarely concerned with cost effective and highly profitable methods.

JoeG - When I stocked saugeye into my pond, I too believed the same things as you stated above. However with experience is a teacher, and I learned walleye and saugeye both top out at about 4-5 lbs in smaller ponds (0.5-2ac). A 6 lb pond walleye is huge. Both fish as larger adults will "tackle" similar sized perch often 7-8.5"ers. If you want to limit your walleye to smaller individuals then during spawning conditions catch and transfer just male walleye to your pond. Contact hard core walleye anglers and they could probably help you.