Identify this freshwater fish

In My Humble Opinion
1

Seems straight forward, but actually a bit tricky. Yesterday was a beautiful day. I decided to clean up my rods and reels. Then I thought about the pond back in the woods. The owner of the property died recently (he rolled his tractor and crushed himself, probably surviving a while, until the UPS guy spotted him during a delivery 48 hours later).

I’d always meant to ask him if I could fish (catch&release) his pond. It is too late now, so I stopped and cast a dozen or so casts, mainly to help clean my gear. I had no idea what might be in the pond, but assumed bass, bluegill, and bullheads.

My third cast I caught this fish:


Seems pretty straight forward, it’s a walleye, right? But I fish mostly local lakes from my kayak and have never caught a walleye before. Plus, this is a pond in the woods. Walleye live in rivers and big lakes, right? Google Lens says Walleye or Sauger.

BTW, the spinner was just what was on the line and the rubber worm thing was just added for weight.

What says you?

2

Textbook walleye.

If you slowly but firmly say “Wall” to a real walleye, it will reply, “Ehh” in their distinctive walleye barks. True fact.

hides in bushes, hoping to see @kayaker shouting at fish

3

I believe that’s Fishy McFishface.

4

But have you ever heard of a walleye being caught from a pond? I wish the guy who owned the property was still alive so I could find out if he stocked the pond.

5

Looks like a walleye. A lot of trout look like similar to that but the skin pattern and colorization are typical of walleyes.

Also, when lakes and streams are stocked any variety of trout might show up.

6

No but if it looks like a walleye and barks like a walleye …

Did the owner (RIP) fish the pond? If so, stocking with good eating fry is a pretty neat idea.

7

The previous owner (who died 20 years ago) was friendly with my gf and her ex. They had parties by the pond and swam. She says there were bluegills and bass back then.

8

God, that’s awful.

9

I mean the owner who died recently, whose stocking efforts aren’t 20+ years old.

10

Never met him. He bought the property but never lived on it.

11

Is “barking walleye” a euphemism for something?

12

Sounds more like a town in England.

13

You sent me to Google. There are a couple of places named Barking in England, one of which was in the Domesday Book. I didn’t find why they were called barking.

There’s a missile range in Hawaii located at Barking Sands. According to a Navy website, " . . . the grains of Mana sand are tiny, hollow spheres. When rubbed together, they give off a popping sound similar to the barking of dogs."

14

Oh, that’s Howard. Wondering why he wasn’t down Pub lately.

You Bastard!

15

It comes from Berecingas, which probably means “town by birch trees” or possibly “town named after someone called Bereca”.

Billy Bragg, the singer, is from the eponymous London borough and is known as the Bard of Barking (U2’s The Edge was also born there).

16

Or a type of cheese, e.g., Stinking Bishop.

17

My sister used to live with her (now ex) husband on a piece of land with a pond that wasn’t very big, not much larger in area than a swimming pool. It had some surprisingly large fish in it. My sister said she heard from neighbors that the previous owner used to go out fishing, bring some live fish back, and throw them in the pond. So yeah, that guy probably stocked it.