IMO 300 acres is a large ecosystem that could support a very diverse food web to grow large WE that does not have to include gizzard shad. Diverse food web is key for healthy larger lake systems. Another important management item is to balance the fishery populations (harvest limits and monitoring populations) based on the overall productivity of the lake. What one thinks is best to have is not necessarily what is best based on what the habitat can best support or produce.
I assume there will be some small streams that will flow into the lake. Those streams will have endemic fishes that can populate the lake. If there are streams that flow into the lake then the wisest fishery approach is to have someone knowledgeable do a fauna survey of those streams for the fish species that are present and ones that will reproduce in the lake. Beneficial species that are absent from the stream survey should be stocked into the lake and allowed to reproduce before adding the full complement of WE. IMO GShad will significantly impact the food web to detract from the other native beneficial forage species that would diversify and enhance the overall fishery not just walleye should be considered for a large lake such as 300ac.
When managed correctly WE will grow to large sizes without gizzard shad. Once introduced you will never get the shad out if they are ever considered undesirable. If the habitat is as good as you say consider adding smelt or some other forage species such as golden shiner, spottail shiner, spotfin shiner, red shiner, blacktail shiner, bluntnose minnow and other lake and or small stream dwelling species that are present in local WI lakes. 300 acres is a large ecosystem that can handle a diverse food web. If the habitat is good and just a few individuals of several beneficial fish species are added and allowed to populate before large numbers of predators are added the food web will be abundant with forage to support a strong WE population. Do good homework and due diligence before compromising forever the lake ecosystem with gizzard shad just because someone thinks gshad lakes grow big walleye.
Gshad are not a requirement for growing big walleye. A diverse well balanced food web and healthy ecosystem and wise fishery management grow big walleye. If one predator eats 4 fish a day, it�s effect on a prey species may be less if more types of prey species overlap in time and space with the predator.
GShad can always be added later if the forage base is not adequate and the ecosystem or ecology of the lake can adequately handle the impact of gshad based on WE recruitment and current fishery balance. If it were my 300 ac lake, I would evaluate alewife and other prey species even annually adding tilapia or threadfin shad as a forage species well before using gshad. IMO Gshad would be the very last resort for fishes to add into a northern WE fishery.
IMO proper and wise fishery management grows big WE not just the presence of gizzard shad.
Last edited by Bill Cody; 06/07/14 10:10 PM.
