Pond Boss Forums INTRO New Forum Member Introduction Hello from S.E. Indiana

Elsie:

Welcome. There's a LOT of reading to do here!

Search the archives, especially for the commonly used acronyms. We use a lot of them here instead of the whole fish name. Bluegill (BG) need a predator to keep their numbers in check or they will overpopulate and stunt. Largemouth Bass (LMB) are good for that. But, you are the ultimate predator, and need to remove some LMB every year or they will eat themselves out of house and home, eventually stunting also.

Or, you could go with a put-n-take fishery with Hybrid Striped Bass (HSB) Hybrid Bluegills (HBG) and if you want, Channel Catfish (CC). The HBG will reproduce, but not to the extent of regular BG, and the HSB should be able to keep up with the offspring. It would be better to feed in that pond if you want to maximize the fish growth. I would also stock Fathead Minnows (FHM) as soon as there is water in the pond. They will be the primiary food source for the fish that you stock. If you go the hybrid route, I'd also look at the pros and cons of stocking Golden Shiners (GSH) too. Keep track of what fish were removed from the pond, and restock those fish on a yearly or bi-yearly basis.

Birds stocking the pond (I believe) is an old wives tale. I'll bet there are many, many more cases of flood waters (even a large rain event that lets water flow over the ground) and people dumping fish into a pond with a bucket than by any other "natural" means.