Not all should be considered doom and gloom.
A lot of us have stocked fish we didn't expect. In our local area of Northern Virginia and Northern West Virginia we've had a number of instances of problems with a particular dealer.
My first mis-fortunate/fortunate experience was when I thought my channel catfish were breeding in my pond. Long-time PB member CJBS looked at the photos and told me they weren't channel cats -- they were white catfish. (White catfish are actually bullheads.) That was a number of years ago, and I must say, I'm now glad to have them. Based on the size of the adults in their second year in the pond, I believe they were mixed in with a batch of channel cats I stocked the previous season. My other predator fish seem to keep them under control and we seem to have a nice moderate supply of them each season. They get to about 18 inches and 2-3 lbs. They don't seem to get hook shy, and they don't take over the pond like channel cats can when they get really big. Just today, I put four of them about 14-17 inches, that I've had in a cage for a while, into my put-and-take CC/HSB/HBG pond. If they do what they've done in the other pond, I'll be happy. It is also a pond I can drain and seine fairly easily if things get out of control.
I've got black crappie in one of my ponds. They were in the pond when we bought our place over 10 years ago. One of my neighbors proudly told me how her boys help stock that pond!!!
She was also very upset when I wouldn't let their family fish in my ponds. The crappie have not been a problem. We maybe catch 10 per year. Most that we catch are in the 12-14 inch range. No matter what their size, they never get thrown back. This particular pond is managed for trophy bluegill, so it has lots of starved largemouth bass and a regular supply of hybrid striped bass.
Besides getting an overabundant supply of largemouth bass in your pond, think about getting some hybrid striped bass. Fifteen to twenty would be quite enough. They are extremely fun to have in a pond. They grow very fast. It is like a tsunami at feeding time. They take feed with some extreme action and acrobatics. They are also voracious predators with relatively small mouths, so they generally won't be eating your prized fish, like your fingerling bass. Yet, they can decimate populations of slow moving schools of bullhead fry. They fight so hard that they either have to be revived with oxygen or taken in for dinner. They are delicious.
Lastly, bullheads are a delicacy in many places, especially in the northern states like Michigan and parts of Wisconsin. They are easy to catch. They are delicious if properly handled and properly filleted. Here is a long and fun thread of how some Pond Boss members helped alleviate a bullhead problem for another Pond Boss member:
Regional PB Gathering -- Somerset PA Good luck,
Ken
