How many people have stocked Walleye in their ponds on the forum? And what is your success rate? Will they eat pellets in the beginning? I have a large cage that I used to grow Tilapia.

I stocked a limited amount 3, maybe 4 years ago. Haven't seen one since, but I haven't tried to fish for them either.

We stocked 11 WE 6 to 8 inch in Fall 2015 in our approx 1/2 acre. Late summer 2016 caught 3 in the 13 to 13.5 inch size range. They seem to be doing OK.

I've never seen any taking pellets at feeding time.

I put 40 3 inch Walleye in my 1/2 acre pond that at the time was over run with crayfish and young bluegill. Fast forward 3 years and I can't catch a crayfish or a young bluegill. My walleye are around 14 inches long and shaped like a cigar. My bluegill are big and fat. The only feeding I do is hand feeding on the occasional calm evening.

I've stocked walleye twice so far in my one acre pond. 35 each time, October 2015 and March 2016 at 6-8". 15" fish are caught fairly regularly now.

Walleye will do well in ponds if lots of forage items are available. A existing abundant predator group in the pond will reduce the chance of walleye surviving. Best survival is with fewer other predators especially LMbass. If there are bass present it is best to stock the larger sizes of 7"-12" for better survival. They rarely get larger than 24"-26" in ponds. Walleye generally stay slender until they are around 15" which is why they are good food for bass. Don't ever count on them to eat pellets. Walleye are very difficult to pellet train.

This is spot on Bill. The ones we've caught that are 15"+ are stout. Below that length, they're just large pencils.

I stocked 6" WE back in 2012 & 2013 (LMB stocked in 2012 & HSB in 2013) & have done a couple in-between WE stockings since to stagger the classes. Pond size is around 3.75 acres. Pond also has LMB & HSB in it. Ironically when we go fishing, we quite often catch more WE than the other 2 apex predators (LMB & HSB). Biggest WE caught thus far was around 22". I think that the WE are somewhat keeping the LMB recruitment in line, as you catch some small LMB, but not a lot of them. We also have aeration via 3 bottom diffusers, which I believe has helped us with the WE (and all other fish) staying alive & well.

My fish guy stocked some as a "bonus" about 8 years ago; 3 acre pond with SMB, BG, HSB, YP. Didn't see one for 4 years, thought they'd died, then caught several at 20+ inches. Biggest one I've caught was a little over 28", though most are 18-22". They are really fun to catch, and to watch, and I would encourage you to try them. I suspect it takes the right environment for them to thrive--lots of forage, and good water quality, they seem to like small BG and SMB....though I still have plenty of both.

28" he says nonchalantly...jeesh!

Full disclosure--only one I've seen that big, and my daughter caught it, not me!!

That's amazing Dave...I'm uber impressed! Excellent management! My largest thus far is around 21" - but boy, was she robust. Guessing WR around 120-130

Bet they were both delicious.

Is it tough to get Walleye to reproduce in a pond?

Indeed-a secret technique that I call "Management by Ignorance and Neglect"

I have to admit I've never kept a walleye from the pond. Not having been raised catching them, I think they're so cool I can't bring myself to harvest them, and I do think they've become fairly effective BG predators. Unless they've been eating all my YP......

Any chance stocking walleye in an 19 acre watershed will ruin a good thing? We've caught 6 to 10 pound bass out of it (not often but they do show up once in a while). The crappie are numerous but not big. What kind of change would a person expect if a few were thrown in?

Doubt you could do any damage to a BOW that big, unless A] your primary forage is some type of fusiform prey such as YP or GSH, AND B]you were fortunate enough to have the WE pull off a spawn--OR C] financially blessed enough that you could afford to stock hundreds of WE big enough to escape predation by 6-10lb LMB. They're not cheap at that size.

If you just added a few dozen WE, I doubt you'd notice any change at all, if your pond is a mix of BG, YP, LMB and crappie, though you might see a tendency for the WE to prefer juvenile YP as their primary forage.

Mister Yolk Sac, sir, Could you please elaborate on your "Ignorance and Neglect" management technique? I'm a student of "Ineptitude and Apathy" myself, and would welcome the chance to further my education in this arena. I aspire to reach the point where I might casually refer to a 2 lb enhanced brim as "just another plain ole' sunfish"

Any advice you might care to share would be greatly appreciated.

Yours truly,
Sprkplug.

Sorry Sparkie, I'm afraid this attempt to characterize your crimes with such benign and faintly ridiculous terms will fall flat in this forum. Is the Empire "Apathetic"? The Borg "Inept"? Attempts at supplanting the established Natural Order of Things, as exampled by the willful and wanton promotion of frightful GMOs to innocent, trusting pondmeisters, is an active deviation from normative behavior and needs to be firmly stated as such. Would you use the passive voice to describe the Red Wedding? The subjunctive to report upon the Zombie Apocalypse?

No yellow perch but there are bluegill, shiners, green ear sunfish, bullheads, and some other stuff floating around in there. Stocking would be very low numbers, just what I could catch on a fishing trip and bring home to release in there. Having some Eyes in the pond would be fun but I'm always very cautious about stocking something new. I would hate to screw things up. So, you think no worries with releasing a hand full of 22in Eyes?

IMO I don't think it would have a noticeable impact on the pond. You may find that WE that large have trouble acclimating though and might not do well (folks have found this true when stocking larger LMB). IMO 12 inchers stand a better chance of thriving.

I would have to check regulations. I don't think I have a place to fish that will let me keep 12in'rs.

With bass present the chance of any offspring surviving is minimal. The few you stock will have little impact on the fishery. IF the larger ones survive in your situation, they will be a bonus fish. Stock the minimal legal keeper sizes. Keeping them survivably healthy between catching and release will be your biggest challenge. Consider adding salt to the hauling water (0.5 oz/gal). Just because they swim away does not mean they survive. Time will tell the rest of the story.

Thanks. "Bonus fish" is a great way to put it. I don't want a walleye fishery, just the chance to catch one once in a while. If they don't transport well then oh well. I hadn't thought of salt but it make since. The guys I know that fish with live shad use salt for transportation. If they can keep a shad alive I should be able to keep an eye alive for a while. It would be a long shot to ever catch one again but it would be cool to think they are in there...

John, if you have time and can share, I'd love to know how it went for you to raise tilapia in Michigan. Did you grow them in ponds in warm weather and back in cages in cold weather? How did you net to transfer back and forth? Did you net off an area in a pond for this or have a seinable pond for this?

What made it work and what made it not work so well?

Must be one helluva good "fish guy"!!!

I think this is really good advice. I stocked a good bunch of eyes a couple years ago in the 6-9" range, and also some in an older year class at 11-14". I have caught a bunch of the smaller ones over the years as they've grown, but only a couple of the larger ones shortly after introduction--and they looked rough, appearing to have lost weight since stocking. The smaller ones are now 14-18" and look great.

The old fish guy was resourceful but not reliable.
The new fish guy is resourceful and reliable but a bit hard on the surrounding flora.

Ouch!!! lol

It wasn't hard raising Tilapia in Michigan. I stared them as babies in my garage. My daughter bought me one hundred from a fish farm in Kansas. I had them in a ibc. Built a bio filter to filter the nitrates out the water. I built a cage out of pvc and plastic screen with wheels on it. When they got big enough and the temp got warm enough I transferred them to the pond. When they got big enough I turned them loose. Getting them back out before the temp drop is the problem. You have to hold some back. Hope this helps.