Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Overwintered Walleye Fingerling

Rowly - At $3 ea I would not be stocking 4"-5" walleye in with 13 " bass no matter what a fish seller told me. I would want some kind of guarantee at $3 ea and we know you will not get any type of warranty. If you stocked 50 to 100 per acre you could feasably get some sort of walleye survival to 14" long in the presence of lots of cover. But look at the profit the seller gets at 50fish/acre at $3 ea. I would like to see this guy plant some of his 4"-5" walleye in one of his small 0.1-0.2 ac ponds with 12" to 14" bass and forage minnows. The 4"-5" fingerling walleye will be just big minnows to those bass. Then sample it at summers end. Then I might buy his fingerlings. That one has to be proven to me that the theory works. I've worked with LMB too long to believe that fish story.

If you won't be able to drain a small pond then you have to figure out a way to get most if not all the fish out esp predator types before restocking with the next batch of fish. Seining the pond is probably your best method for removing fish unless someone else has a better idea.

Would it be possible to pump or siphon it down several feet then seine it quick before the ground water seepage refills it? From what I understnd about your property there is probably no way to build the pond on a higher level and install a drain. Drainable option will determine how wide of a pond to build vs the length of a seine to buy. If you would not be able to drain it you would have to rotenone it between stockings if you are stocking /growing fish such as walleye. Long and narrow will probably be your best shape. Try to orient the long axis toward the prevailing winds to optimize natural mixing from the wind. I have a pond 60 ft wide and use a 100 ft seine to remove fish. Depth should be about 6 ft unless you plan to overwinter fish in it then depth should be upto 8 ft and keep some snow off it when snow gets deep for lengthy periods. A windmill in this case could keep an area open during winter to minimize chance of winter kill. Shallower ponds are much easier to seine. Deeper than 8 ft without a draining option will make seining pretty difficult. You will probably have to resort to chemcials to keep the weeds down in the pond or use ducks, geese, swans for some weed control. These flying toilets will also help fertilize the small pond for plankton production.