Michigan Department of Natural Resources
Fisheries Research Report No.1833, 1975
Survival, Growth and Food of 4-Inch Walleyes in Ponds with Invertebrates, Sunfishes or Minnows
James C. Schneider
Abstract.-Survival, growth and food of 4-inch walleye fingerlings were studied for 2 years in experimental ponds containing either minnows, or sunfish, or only invertebrates. Survival, growth and production were best in the minnow ponds, intermediate in the ponds where the walleye were dependent on invertebrate foods, and poorest in the ponds containing stunted sunfish. Sunfish were eaten by walleyes, but they exerted a negative net effect by competing for invertebrates. Conversely, walleye predation did not significantly improve the growth of the sunfish population. Size of forage in relation to size of walleye was very critical to the process of food selection. Forage fish eaten by walleyes in these experiments were proportionately smaller than that reported for forage fish eaten by walleyes in Lake Erie. Results of the experiments imply that both the existing and the future food supply of natural lakes must be carefully evaluated before walleye fingerlings are stocked, if satisfactory results are to be obtained.