Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Corrective stocking Crazy walleye idea?

Hi all,
One of the ponds we have is about .75 acres, fairly shallow (~5') but with constant flow from a spring farther up the valley. It has nothing but lots of small LMB in it. They are generally stunted, 5"-8" with a few 10"-12" ones mixed in.

What do you think of adding some (12"?) WE to this pond? Would they manage the bass population at all? I think these small LMB would be an OK shape for WE to eat. We were contemplating greatly thinning out the LMB to get YP established. This is one of the only ponds we have that does not have BG or other sunfish, so we're hoping to do something interesting with it.

Thanks for the feedback.
Dale

Don't see any reason not to do so. If that doesn't work out, start over. WE are great fish. I only have 5 or 6 in my 1/4 acre pond but whenever anyone catches one they are thrilled. Mine seem to have stopped growing at the 16-17" range but think that is to be expected in a small BOW. Good luck and keep us updated.

I don't think the mouth gape of a 12" walleye is adequate to regularly and easily feed on 5" LMB. For eating 5"-6" LMB a walleye should be around 15"-17"long where they have a gape (1.5"-2") capable of easily handling a 5"-6" LMB with a body depth of 30-43 mm.

Well that's not going to work then. I was wondering how I would get 12" walleyes, let alone bigger. Back to LMB and YP. Maybe we'll throw some WE into the mix if we get overloaded with YP at some point. Thanks

IMO the only way a YP-LMB pond will get overloaded with YP is if the LMB are rare very low density or absent in the pond or the pond is very weedy.

The 12" walleye might be able to feed on the fingerling bass until the those walleye get to the larger sizes of 14"-15" where they could eat the 5"-6" bass. It might be worth a try if you can find or catch a few 11"-13" walleye. Gradually add a few walleye each year. A small northern pike 15"-16" in a pond will eat more small bass, and grow faster to a larger size than a 12" walleye.

So if catch some ~12" walleyes, can't hurt to put them in. I'm not thinking we need a northern to clear out the bass - we could put a hurting on them fishing if need be. Just thinking that a few walleye would be nice to have. We catch a few smaller 'eyes in Mosquito lake so maybe.
Thanks for the feedback, Dale

The 12"-13" walleye might be able to survive in a dense small bass population. The walleye require higher oxygen levels than LMB so the walleye may die during 'heavy' winter low DO conditions or during a DO sag in summer. The pond is only 5 ft deep and during deep, extended snow cover the DO can quickly become too low for walleye but the bass survive okay.

Zett's Fish Hatchery in Drifting, Pa sells 12" walleye for $10/each.

I have a 10" field tile that runs into an area most of the year, and this area also has an 80-acre watershed. I will be trying to have a pond built this summer (1-3 acres, mostly shallow but with a deep area near the dam). I want to build a walleye spawning area near the inflow with the hopes that they will reproduce. My thought is to excavate a trench near the water inflow and fill it with riprap. My question is what size riprap to put in the bottom, how deep should the rocks be piled, and how much water should be over the rocks? The early spring conditions should keep the rocks clear most years. Do I even have a chance with this plan? In addition, the pond will be in the woods.

RAH:

Grab a large cup of coffee, and have a seat. This might answer your question.

http://www4.ncsu.edu/~jkraabe/RaabeThesis_WalleyeSpawningHabitat.pdf

Interesting, but does this mean my pond plan will likely fail? Would 2" stone, rather than riprap, up my chances. Is wave action the only viable condition for spawning, or do some spawn in rocky flowing water? Or is the point that folks don't really know?

I don't have any experience hatching walleye. In the Northern lakes that I fish that have rivers flowing into or out of them, walleye spawn both in the lake itself and in the rivers. I don't know of any that spawn in small streams. Like the paper said, that may be to ensure that a successful spawn is accomplished because the weather may inhibit one area from a successful spawn.

As to the rock size, I have no idea.

If the goal is to have annual recruitment in the pond, I don't know if rolling the dice on correct habitat or annual stocking of fingerlings would be more reliable.

My first choice would be a chain-pickerel pond, but sourcing them seems unlikely. If the walleye do not recruit, I would think about another top predator. I will need to figure that plan-B in when choosing forage species. I do not have a CC pond yet.