Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose Bonus predator?

I'd first address the fact a somewhat shallow BOW in WI runs a high risk of winterkill without aeration. I'd focus on resolving that along side your stocking strategy.

What species do you want featured in your fishery? You're limited due to the size, stocking a prolific Lepomis species like BG will represent a significant biomass and tie up a lot of carrying capacity.

If you were my client, I'd recommend a SMB/YP/HBG/GSH fishery, with a few bonus WE or HSB added for fun. Employ feeding program to help boost growth of SMB, YP, HBG and HSB and will improve recruitment of GSH to feed those species. I'd recommend a different shiner species but they are not commercially available yet.

If you were my client, this would be the stocking plan:

Spring 2016

250-500 Papershell crayfish
100-200 Adult GSH [3-4"+]
1-5 G small/medium FHM [small/med are young or females]
200-400 HBG
200 feed trained YP

Fall 2016

Install aeration system
25-35 feed trained SMB
5-10 WE

Summer 2017

5-10 HSB

You can supplementally, or "ladder stock" additional HSB and WE as your harvest/mortality/fish performance dictate annually.

SMB prefer rocky substrate in which to spawn, and it helps improve recruitment, but I have SMB that successfully spawn on beds made on clay bottom in my pond. You may have recruitment even without SMB beds or rocky areas. If you're not seeing recruitment, you can always supplementally stock down the line to keep your populations at the level you want.

If you want to stock a Tiger, Muskie, or NP for fun and the occasional trophy catch, you could do that. Be aware, BG and PS are highly fecund and may present a population management issue down the road due to lack of wide gape predators - but I agree with Rex I'd go PS way before BG.