How many wild walleye are there?

[EricD]

I was talking to a guy the other day about pheasant hunting preserves and he said he hated the idea because only wild birds in their natural habitat would do. It got me wondering how many of the walleye we bring in a boat are actually hatched in the wild. What do you think? On an average walleye lake, excluding the big natural fisheries, how many of a limit of walleye are actually born and bred naturally? Probably too broad a question but I wonder what people think of our hyper managed wildlife.

[traveler]

interesting question...I suppose it varies for any of us, depending on the waters we fish.

Myself, I do a lot of spring fishing in a couple small rivers, so i suppose those are all wild fish. Then I catch a lot of wallys in Red lake, and i expect those are a good % of plants.

[blakeb]

i have heard that alot of fry that get stocked are almost a forage base, not to many make it to any real size.

[mr_jman]

I think there is a high number of lakes that are nearly exclusively stocked walleyes. I guess checking the dnr lakefinder at leasts gives you an idea of the number of fry, etc. stocked into the lake. Of course many die or suffer from predation, but a percentage make it. A lot of lakes can't sustain walleye populations on there own due to lack of spawning ground or other influences.

[Nick Kuhn]

Depending on the lake it will be either 90-100% stocked or 75-100% natural. Not many lakes fall into the in between categories for walleye. Natural reproduction lakes tend to have walleye populations much higher than can be achieved by stocking.

[candiru]

Interesting since the "natural habitat" of a pheasant is in Asia.

[Ed Carlson]

That would vary widely from system to system. But very often rivers are home to the most consistent self sustaining natural reproduction. Or lakes with a very good system of interconecting rivers and streams associated with them.

Some prairie impondments may have zip-o for reproduction but walleye grow like feeder pigs in the system, so stocking from areas with good natural reproduction stock is necessary and yields very good results.

Other lakes may have all the key ingrediaants to roll on with natural production and achieve a proper balance that keeps things in check and they do not eat the system out of house and home.

Stocking is a key element is sustaining the fisheries we utilize today. Without it, we would see far less good fishing waters in the whole region.

[wayne123]

Often the DNR lake reports tell you if the fish surveyed are from natural reproduction or stocked fish. From the reports I have looked at it varies a lot.

[EricD]

It's an interesting conversation. Wildlife is so carefully managed these days, and necessarily so. The idea that anything is really natural is disappearing. When I go up the Boundary Waters I really enjoy the wilderness but it's not really wilderness. It's kind of like a Disney World for wilderness lovers. You really see this misunderstanding when something like the wolf comes off the endangered species list. There is no natural balance anymore so things have to be managed. Just wondered how that played out in our stocking programs.

[bracer5533]

according to the dnr a 160 acre lake by my house has been stocked with 100,000 fry every other year and 3-600 yearlings on the other years and their 07 survey said they estimate only 1200 adult walleyes as apposed to the 10,000 estimated northerns lol.

[Jim Uran]

Most stocked lakes are sustained by an annual or bi-annual stocking and little to no succesful reproduction occurs.

[WyoChris]

All depends on the lake. I'll think you'll find that a lot of rivers and lakes way up north, by the canadian border, recieve no stocking. My favorite walleye lake, located in the BWCA, has never been stocked at all and has a great walleye population.

On the other hand, a lot of the lakes in southern Minnesota would not even have a walleye population if it wasnt for a intense stocking and management program.

[BobT]

I was talking to a guy the other day about pheasant hunting preserves and he said he hated the idea because only wild birds in their natural habitat would do.

I actually read somewhere one time that the walleye was not actually indigenous to MN inland lakes but only to Lake Superior. I personally don't believe this is true, at least not in the time that Europeans have been around here. I do believe that there are only a few lake systems in MN that are actually resident walleye homes and that most of the walleye that we catch are probably stocked fish.

The comment that I quoted above gave me a chuckle because I don't believe Ringneck pheasant are indigenous to the United States or even the western hemisphere for that matter. They are all imports from Asia. Therefore, the fella you were talking to would have to go to China to enjoy pheasant hunting at all if he restricted himself to hunting only wild birds in their natural habitat. Of course, we all know that he was really making a distinction between pen raised, farm raised, or preserve raised birds VS birds that are surviving on their own. Even that raises the question of how many birds are really wild and how many have been planted.

[JBMasterAngler]

Aside from the lake superior watershed, walleyes were native to the mississippi's connecting waters as well...so lakes like mille lacs, gull, big sandy, leech, cass, winni, bemidji, etc have all had walleyes since they've been lakes. They were also native to LOTW, URL, and rainy lake systems. So basically if you were a walleye fisherman in NE or southern MN 200 years ago, you were screwed

[ac777]

Aside from the lake superior watershed, walleyes were native to the mississippi's connecting waters as well...so lakes like mille lacs, gull, big sandy, leech, cass, winni, bemidji, etc have all had walleyes since they've been lakes. They were also native to LOTW, URL, and rainy lake systems. So basically if you were a walleye fisherman in NE or southern MN 200 years ago, you were screwed

What about rivers like the Minnesota that connect to the Mississippi. The Minnesota connect to many lakes and you would think they had a natural walleye population as well. Im talking lakes like Lac qui parle, Big stone, and any other lake that feeds into the Minnesota.

[EricD]

Of course, we all know that he was really making a distinction between pen raised, farm raised, or preserve raised birds VS birds that are surviving on their own. Even that raises the question of how many birds are really wild and how many have been planted.

I guess that’s my point. I’m glad we’ve started to manage our resources better. I’m sure everyone remembers the good old days when there were still some places that were relatively untouched and to be a “real” outdoorsman (or woman) meant oiled canvas for the rain, a cane pole and whatever God himself decided to serve up for lunch. It’s almost a little sad to see how hard some struggle to maintain the illusion that they’re still getting back to the land. I don’t know if I’m giving anything up by portaging a Kevlar instead of a cedar strip up in the boundary waters from designated campsite to designated campsite or catching stocked walleye that I’ve spotted thirty feed down with my Lowrance. But it’s nice that there’s still is a boundary waters and that there are still fish in the lake.

[LightningBG]

I was talking to a guy the other day about pheasant hunting preserves and he said he hated the idea because only wild birds in their natural habitat would do. It got me wondering how many of the walleye we bring in a boat are actually hatched in the wild. What do you think? On an average walleye lake, excluding the big natural fisheries, how many of a limit of walleye are actually born and bred naturally? Probably too broad a question but I wonder what people think of our hyper managed wildlife.

I wouldn't compare stocked walleyes to hunting preserve birds.

I would compare preserve birds to fishing in the tank at the Big C sports store.

I would compare stocked walleye to stocked pheasants (SD letting chicks go each year with no particular "hunting preserve"

And yes, pheasant came from China a long long time ago. Now this (the Midwest) is their natural habitat, just not their original origin.

[BobT]

Originally Posted By: EricD

I was talking to a guy the other day about pheasant hunting preserves and he said he hated the idea because only wild birds in their natural habitat would do. It got me wondering how many of the walleye we bring in a boat are actually hatched in the wild. What do you think? On an average walleye lake, excluding the big natural fisheries, how many of a limit of walleye are actually born and bred naturally? Probably too broad a question but I wonder what people think of our hyper managed wildlife.

I wouldn't compare stocked walleyes to hunting preserve birds.

I would compare preserve birds to fishing in the tank at the Big C sports store.

I would compare stocked walleye to stocked pheasants (SD letting chicks go each year with no particular "hunting preserve"

And yes, pheasant came from China a long long time ago. Now this (the Midwest) is their natural habitat, just not their original origin.

I guess. Of course, it's not ours either.

[JBMasterAngler]

Big stone and lac qui parle lakes are man made, and there's no reason to believe walleyes weren't swimming around in the river before the dams were built.