Perch and walleye2026-10-03

Yellow perch and walleye in a pond: will they survive and spawn?

Yellow perch survive in most northern ponds and spawn so readily that, without a predator, they stunt at 4 to 6 inches within a few years. Walleye will live in a deep, well oxygenated northern pond but almost never reproduce there, so the walleye have to be restocked. Extension services in the perch belt treat both as novelty species and publish no stocking rate beyond Ohio's ceiling of 100 per acre. The owners who run perch ponds well use smallmouth bass or a few walleye as the predator, thin the perch on purpose, and set brush each spring to collect the egg ribbons.

What the authoritative sources say

Ohio State University Extension's Fish Species Selection for Pond Stocking (A-10-02) puts perch, walleye and smallmouth in the same group: "Stocking rates have not been developed for these species. In general, the owner should not stock more than 100 per acre of any of the following species." It says perch "eat identical foods that bass and bluegills eat." Of walleye it says: "They grow poorly and do not reproduce in ponds. A few stocked walleye may survive and provide a novelty catch to anglers, but a pond owner should not rely on them to keep a pond in balance."

Michigan State University Extension's Stocking Michigan ponds for sport fishing (2013) says: "Avoid stocking coolwater fish, such as yellow perch, walleye, and northern pike in ponds. These fish need large open water systems and will not do well in ponds." Penn State's Fish for Pennsylvania Ponds warns that "Since each female produces over 75,000 eggs, they quickly reproduce and often overpopulate the pond with stunted fish," and that walleye "are not suitable for small ponds in Pennsylvania and should be avoided when stocking."

Managing Wisconsin Fish Ponds (University of Wisconsin Extension G3693, hosted by the Wisconsin DNR) says coolwater fish "generally don't thrive in small bodies of water without intensive management," and that yellow perch "tend to overpopulate ponds and become stunted. Use these fish only in lakes or larger ponds where largemouth bass over 12 to 14 inches are present." The extra controls it lists are "destruction of nests, trapping and removal of young." Of walleye as a cure for stunted panfish, it says "there are no well documented success stories with this approach." Its culture chapter sets the temperature ceiling: "For these coolwater fish, the water temperature should never exceed 80˚ to 85˚F."

The NCRAC Yellow Perch Culture Guide (Culture Series 103, 2006) gives the biology. Perch "have a physiological optimum temperature of 22 to 24°C (72 to 75°F). Upper lethal temperatures for yellow perch have been reported as 26 to 30°C (79 to 86°F)," and "dissolved oxygen levels as low as 3.5 mg/L (ppm) for 67 d will not be detrimental to yellow perch growth." Southern states "except Kentucky and Virginia, have exhibited ambient temperatures at or above the upper lethal threshold through part of the year." The Wisconsin DNR's yellow perch sheet says perch spawn "shortly after the ice goes out" at "between 44 and 52 ºF" and "prefer vegetation or submerged brush for spawning." SRAC 7204 says hatcheries spawn them over "branches or other three-dimensional structure." The Minnesota DNR, Cornell and the New York DEC publish nothing on either species in private ponds, and no agency I found gives a recreational pond stocking rate for perch or walleye.

Published thresholds for yellow perch and walleye in ponds
Source	What it says
Ohio State Extension A-10-02	No developed rates; not more than 100 per acre; walleye "do not reproduce in ponds"
Michigan State Extension	Avoid perch, walleye and pike; they "will not do well in ponds"
Penn State Extension	Perch for ice fishing only, "over 75,000 eggs" per female; walleye "not suitable for small ponds"
Managing Wisconsin Fish Ponds	Coolwater fish water "should never exceed 80˚ to 85˚F"; "Most species do best when dissolved oxygen concentration remains above 5 ppm"; perch only with bass "over 12 to 14 inches"
NCRAC Culture Guide 103	Optimum 72 to 75 F; upper lethal 79 to 86 F; 3.5 ppm oxygen for 67 days did not hurt growth
Wisconsin DNR and SRAC 7204	Spawn at 44 to 52 F on brush or vegetation; 28,000 eggs per strand; hatch in 8 to 10 days; females mature at 3 or 4

What Pond Boss members do

The forum's perch authority is Bill Cody (Moderator, Ambassador Field Correspondent), who has run perch ponds in northwest Ohio for decades. His rates run above Ohio's ceiling and depend on feeding. For an unfed 1 acre pond he says 100 to 150 adult perch is not too many. For a one acre pond in Ontario he laid out two size classes: 35 to 50 per acre at 6 to 8 inches or larger for females and 75 to 100 per acre of mixed 4 to 6 inch fish. With pellet trained perch he will go as high as 300 per acre, because they eat feed instead of minnows.

On overpopulation he sides with the agencies, writing that 10 to 30 mixed size perch in one acre can produce several thousand small perch, and that without predators and real management the average size declines within a couple of years. His fix is to watch for egg ribbons on branches in mid to late April at 49 to 54 F and remove them, leaving 6 to 10 ribbons per acre to hatch. He warns that the few deep ribbons you miss still produce more perch than needed.

The brush is the subject of Placing branches down for YP spawn, one of the forum's most viewed perch threads at nearly 196,000 views. Bill Cody's advice there is to set branches 30 to 50 feet apart the first year to learn which shore the perch prefer and to use twiggy branches, placed shallow in murky water, since perch will spawn in 6 inches of water. In another thread he says to add brush at ice out and pull it after the spawn. Theo Gallus (Moderator) reports otherwise: he set shoreline branches for several years and his perch always used deep structure far out in the pond.

For the predator, Bill Cody pairs bluegill with largemouth, and perch with smallmouth, walleye or hybrid striped bass, because largemouth of 14 to 18 inches eat the 7 to 9 inch perch you want to keep. He stocks minnows first, then perch, then 10 to 20 wild smallmouth of 6 to 12 inches once the first perch spawn reaches 2 to 4 inches. If the pond already holds smallmouth, he says to remove about 8 to 15 smallmouth per acre before stocking adult perch, since one smallmouth eats 225 to 260 forage fish a year. Our smallmouth bass pond article covers that side of the pairing.

The forum agrees with Ohio that walleye do not reproduce in ponds but finds them more useful. Bill Cody has written that walleye will not normally reproduce in a pond, so a good plan is 10 to 16 per acre with manual thinning of perch, or 6 to 8 per acre as a bonus fish where forage is thin. CJBS2003 (Ambassador Field Correspondent, Hall of Fame) plans 10 to 20 per acre, restocked every second or third year. The reported outcome is a 1 acre Ohio pond stocked with 120 walleye in 2001, where medium sized walleye were cropping 2 to 5 inch perch and growing to eating size. Bill Cody adds that without aeration walleye need replacing after each oxygen sag. As for the southern limit, ewest (Moderator, Hall of Fame 2014) says perch would have great difficulty in southern ponds, and Bill Cody says his grow best at 72 to 76 F and stop surface feeding above 84 to 88 F.

Pond Boss numbers for a perch pond (practitioner figures, not agency rates)
Item	Figure	Who
Adult perch, unfed 1 acre pond	100 to 150	Bill Cody
Perch in two size classes	35 to 50 at 6 to 8 inches plus 75 to 100 at 4 to 6 inches per acre	Bill Cody
Pellet trained perch	Up to 300 per acre	Bill Cody
Egg ribbons left to hatch	6 to 10 per acre	Bill Cody
Walleye	10 to 16 per acre, or 6 to 8 with thin forage	Bill Cody
Walleye	10 to 20 per acre, restocked every 2 to 3 years	CJBS2003
Smallmouth into a perch pond	10 to 20 wild fish of 6 to 12 inches	Bill Cody
Smallmouth removed before adult perch	8 to 15 per acre	Bill Cody

Where the tiers differ

The agencies and the forum agree on the facts: walleye do not reproduce in ponds, perch overpopulate without a predator, and neither species belongs in the South. Extension tells you to avoid them. The forum says they can be managed, and the management is real work: brush goes in and comes out each spring, ribbons get pulled, small perch get trapped, smallmouth get culled and walleye get bought again. Every per acre number here for perch and walleye comes from the forum. Ohio's 100 per acre is a ceiling for species without developed rates, and the figure of 200 perch with 20 walleye that circulates online comes from commercial stocking pages; no agency publishes it. Wisconsin's 80 to 85 F ceiling was written for culture ponds, and Bill Cody's perch quit surface feeding at 84 to 88 F.

What to do

Start with temperature. Measure the water a foot down near the center in late July. If it runs above 80 F for weeks, or the pond is shallow and unaerated, perch will struggle and walleye will die in the first oxygen sag. In the South, skip both species. Decide on the predator before you buy a perch. With largemouth present, expect poor perch recruitment and dead walleye unless the walleye go in at 10 to 12 inches. In a new pond, stock fathead minnows and golden shiners a season ahead, then perch in two size classes, then smallmouth or 10 to 16 walleye per acre once the first perch spawn is 2 to 4 inches long. Treat walleye as a bonus fish you will replace every two or three years.

Sink twiggy brush at ice out, 30 to 50 feet apart the first year, and look for ribbons at 44 to 52 F. Leave 6 to 10 per acre to hatch, pull the rest, then pull the brush. If the ribbons show up on deep structure instead, fall back on wire traps and worm fishing for 2.5 to 6 inch perch. When you harvest, take mostly small perch and large smallmouth, and replace the big perch you eat with 6 to 8 inch stockers. Do not add perch or walleye to cure stunted bluegill, and do not stock in summer; Ohio says "preferably when water temperatures are less than 65 degrees F."

For the arithmetic, the PondTools stocking-plan calculator (also standalone) takes pond area in acres, whether you fertilize, your goal and your region. The calculator is built around bass and bluegill, so use its minnow and acreage figures and substitute the perch and predator counts above. The PondTools carrying-capacity calculator (also standalone) takes acres, how fertile the water is and your region, and gives the pounds of fish the pond can hold, which perch, walleye and smallmouth share.

What the authoritative sources say

What Pond Boss members do

Where the tiers differ

What to do

Sources