"The success at this point in time is that the fish are out there in numbers and have good growth," he said. "Obviously, if they weren't growing or out there in numbers we'd be unhappy."

But rather than being unhappy, they have much to celebrate, according to recent warm water fish sampling done by the DEC's Region 4 fisheries crew.

During the sampling, 124 walleye were caught - outnumbering all other species.

"The numbers are comparable to the best walleye lakes in the state," Harman said.

The average length was 15.25 inches and the largest was 19 inches.

More than 60 percent of the catch was already at the legal size of 15 inches or more.

As a bonus, the walleye are feeding heavily on alewives - almost two-thirds of the walleye had alewives in their stomachs.

Harman said most of the walleye were captured at the middle and north end of the lake, however, all nets set around the lake caught walleye.

This winter, ice fisherman are expected to harvest some of the walleye, Harman said, but he hopes that anglers will limit the number they keep so that there is an increased chance the walleye will spawn successfully I the spring.

Mark Cornwell, a graduate student at the field station who also works in SUNY Cobleskill's Fish and Wildlife Department, has been responsible for the program's implementation said he is doubtful it will be possible to establish a self-sustaining population of walleye.

Cornwell said it is likely the large number of alewives in the lake will limit the survival of the walleye fry.

"If you want to keep the walleye population, it's going to happen through stocking," he said.

The walleye stocking program was funded by Lou Hager and Gronewaldt Foundation.

The field station, in conjunction with Cornell Warm Water Fisheries Unit and the DEC, stocked approximately 80,000 fingerlings in each of the last three years.

The DEC provided the walleye fry at no cost to commercial producers who raised the fry until they were large enough to stock. The cost for the fingerlings has been $25,000 annually.

Harman said that meeting scheduled in the near future with the DEC and Cornell will help determine the outcome of the stocking program and whether it will be continued in the near future.