With all the stocking they have done on Leech lake in the past few years, is there anyway to identify a stocked walleye visually while on the lake, I mean with out some special equipment?

I seriously doubt it.

You won't know until you take the first bite of a fillet.

Aren't stocked walleyes marked with some sort of chemical that is similar to a water marking on a business letter? Can only be seen under a black light? That sounds familiar, otherwise I'm just talking out of my arse.

I just spoke with one of the fisheries guys at the DNR in Walker, and the answer is NO, there is no way to tell unless you cut out a bone and put it under a blacklight and microscope.

A great link to an update on Leech is at:

http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/areas/fisheries/walker/index.html

Here in s- mn they clip fins

Stocked fry are dipped in Oxytetracycline. It's an antibiotic that exhibits phosphorescence under a blacklight in a microscope. The phosphoresence shows up as rings in fish otoliths. Walleye fry are reared by the millions, so at that life stage they are not fin clipped. The only Minnesota-stocked fish with fin clips are hatchery raised trout. Clip marking is just too much work under most situations.

Awhile back on the Red Lake forum they were claiming it showed up under Black Light on there Ears or Fins or Something, without Magnification...don't remember what for sure though...

Yes in the ears, the bones in the ears are called otiliths, but you need special equipment to access that. The otoliths are pretty small, even on adult fish, and what does it matter anyway? As long as their are fish out there, and plenty of them, treat the lake right, and she will pull off some amazing spawns for you.