In a way I think you are both right.

I read an article somewhere about a year ago that said that the Hayes Smallmouth from Dale Hollow was due the the fish from the river growing to tremendous size when given the oppertunity of having the forage base of the lake given to them after empoundment. After struggling for something to munch on they found food in abundance and some got huge.

Applying the same pricipal to walleye... If they dammed the river and formed a lake, larger than average fish should appear in 10 years or so. However, if they bred and stocked the strain in lakes no noticeable difference would probably take place. Even though they may have the genetics to grow to larger than average sizes the "nurture" part of the equation isn't there. Undoubtedly there would be a small jump in the sizes of a few fish here and there but probably nothing like the cumberland giant holding the state record (note the similar situation to the dale hollow fish). Eventually the normal course of nature would merge the two strains (erie/rockastle) together and what would emerge..... (suspense) a perfectly average walleye.

Just like birdstrike im no expert but this is just what I understand and have read from people who know alot more about this than me. Maybe if they took some small fish directly from the river and introduced them to a lake we could see some larger fish but the chances of any noticable fish showing up would be small. Out of several thousand fingerlings I wonder how many actually make it up to 5 lbs before they are eaten by us or other fish.... and of those that survive how many make it to 10, 15, 20? I would imagine very few or we would be knee deep in 15 pounders.

Apply this same knowledge to Cedar Creek. Newly impounded, moderate pressure, lots of cover, lots of bait.... My question is were there any bass in those creeks before the lake was impounded? If so I may be planning a trip say... March 20, 2010.