Snipe,
Thanks for this long post. Also, thanks for this project!
There is one segment that I don't understand at all:
"One item that became apparent fairly quickly was year-end zero recruitment. It took quite a few years of data to determine if this was widely variable, and as it has turned out, SAE fry stocking vs WAE stocking produces on average, about 11 times better return and nobody has an answer-specifically-why that is."
Does the "zero recruitment" refer to stockings of walleye fry? Meaning there were many times in Kansas that walleye fry were stocked and subsequent sampling found zero older fish?
Otherwise, if stocking walleye fingerlings (or slightly larger) and getting zero recruitment to larger fish, that sounds to me like there are a lot of factors making walleye a very poor choice for stocking in this region.
Your saugeye project sounds very beneficial to me in many circumstances. Even more so, if the closest alternative is a truly terrible choice.
