Walleye clarification at I-82 ponds

[kevinb]

I've never fished any of these ponds. I browsed the lake index/reports and the WDFW Walleye page http://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/walleye/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ponds 1 and 2 are closed to walleye fishing. Are walleye present in the other ponds? If so,is it worth targeting? A quick look on the map suggests these are pretty small bodies of water but curious to see if it might be worthwhile.

[PokeyPrasch]

I've fished ponds 1, 2, 3, & 6 quite a bit and have never seen a walleye there but have also never targeted them.

Here is a link from 2001 that has a few snippets about walleye, that they were stocked in some of the ponds and the numbers. But it's an old report and I don't know how well it reflects the current ponds.
http://wdfw.wa.gov/publications/00258/wdfw00258.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I don't think walleye would do well in such small ponds.

[kevinb]

It gives me an idea. I will be doing several musky seminars across the region and I'm getting curious about hitting some "new to me" areas but really keeping an eye out for some walleye spots. I like Potholes,Moses etc but after finding that brief mention on the WDFW site, wondered if it might be worth a quick pit stop. I appreciate the information. Thank you!

[fishinChristian]

Haven't caught a walleye there in 5 or 6 years. I really don't think there are many down there. I've fished those ponds regularly for 20 years or so, and caught maybe 20 total, if that. The biggest I've caught from there was around 5lbs. Not sure why there's a can't fish walleye rule in 1 or 2, I've never caught any in either, and have fished styles that should have had incidentals. Guess if there aren't any, you can't fish 'em! Bass, panfish, and stocked trout are the mainstay, with some catfish here and there, especially pond 6.

[kevinb]

I'm going to assume that I-82 ponds are not likely to break the Washington walleye record Thanks for the info. I might give the spiny rays a try there at some point.

[PokeyPrasch]

I dunno, maybe there's a monster down there, fat from feeding on all the pumpkinseeds.

[fishinChristian]

That'd be like the pond on the farm where I grew up, or tried... 6 goldfish were tossed in, and a couple years later in the AM the pond surface looked gold. It was about an acre. I put other fish in there, but caught very little back. When we decided to get rid of the goldfish, in case any eggs got through the filter in the drain, we began netting them out. sold lots to a pet store! But my point, and I do have one, is that when the goldfish were no longer thick enough to let the predators open their mouth and let a goldfish swim in, I tried some lures out and caught a bass that went over 9 lbs. the thing was freaky fat, looking closer to a basketball than a football. So, yeah, maybe there is a huge one waiting alongside the giant catfish... And for the legal beagles, private pond, game warden approved!

[tluedeke]

They ought to jam a few into Pond #6. There's far too many stunted perch and bluegill in there, IMHO partly due to the bass fisherman keeping their fish and disrupting the predator-prey balance. Or how about a few tiger muskie...

[fishinChristian]

That'd be nice. Too cold for alligator gar!