It might be sharp to keep some of the young for use as brood to stock another similar pond. There may be some genetic basis for the successful recruitment.

Some walleye spawn on submergent vegetation.

Reproductive success may also be a function of how larval, fry and fingerling stages fair under pressure from larger fish. That can be influenced by genetics. Some fish vary more within a species than what the publications indicate. To my understanding, nobody has really gave such much of a look.

Aquaculture
Cooperative Research / Extension
Lincoln University of Missouri