does anyone know how fast walleye grow ?

[Mikejr]

   Does anyone know how fast walleye grow? Many lakes in my area are now being stocked with walleye that are 2-5" inchs in  length .and they have been doing it for many years

[fishstalker]

Walleye are very very very slow growers. I caught a tagged walleye last year that was 29 inches and it was 16-18 years old

[csklaus44]

All depends on the body of water.  I know a few bodies of water that they grow almost a pound a year and others that grow much slower.  So it depends.

[Adam Bomb]

From what ive read, the rate a walleye grows varies from lake to lake as well as where its located geologically. From what i gather there are several factors that are involved in growing walleye, or any fish for that matter. Forage type and availability, size of the water body, as well as the length of the growing season are some of the biggest factors. Cooler waters slow growth, but walleyes generally live longer and have a lower natural mortality as well as more abundant forage in these conditions because the cooler waters have less diversity throughout the predatory food chain in comparison to warmer water regions.

So, i guess it varies. 

[fishybill]

3 years for them to go from fingerlings to legal size is typically a good rule of thumb.

[fishman79]

they are growing faster than ever in the great lakes, lake ontario and st lawrence river around here have 2+ year olds that are right at legal length, all thanks to the goby... easy food year around.

[Northeastfisher]

3 years for them to go from fingerlings to legal size is typically a good rule of thumb.

2-3 years to become legal sizes

[Dfrenzy]

On lake erie we had the largest hatch ever in 2003 so they were easy to watch grow. In august of 04 we started catching them and at that time they were about 10 inches. The following year in 05 they were eveywhere at 14 to 15 1/2 inches. By 06 we still had to watch but most were on the 18 inch range and only a few were smaller. (when i said we had to watch we have a 15 in limit) Now here in 07 they were 22-24 inches and most days if we left the dock at 6 we were back at the dock before noon and wondering how it could have happened that fast with a six man limit. I had one day we left the dock at 6am and at 7:30 we had put NO 28 in the box and only had three rods left trying to slow things down a bit.

[Adam Bomb]

 I hear that...same story here on Saginaw Bay....The 2003 hatch was an awesome one. Been pretty phenominal every year since too.

[chummer16]

   Does anyone know how fast walleye grow? Many lakes in my area are now being stocked with walleye that are 2-5" inchs in  length .and they have been doing it for many years

They grow very fast at the start about 7" a year for the first three years then it slows way down to about an inch a year.  I recently took a walleye charter from Captain Tony Buffa and that is what he told me.

[Icewarrior]

as fast as they can eat