Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose 18+ acre lake in northern Indiana

I have read through the articles on stocking new ponds with various fish, but have not seen anything for a larger lake. My dad has an 18+ acre lake that is now finished and has about 6' of water at the deepest point. There is probably about 12 acres covered with water already. Is it too soon to stock? How should we stock it?
We appreciate any help that you all have.

Wave, I'm not a docter....

..but I play one on TV.

Just kidding. I'm sure that someone will want to know what your goals for the pond are before they can start giving answers to your questions. What kind of fish do you want? etc.

Forage fish now. Preditors next year.

Test PH and alkilinity first. Fertilize if needed but only if needed. Fertilizer can give a beautiful jump start but if you overdo things can cause a gut wrenching DO induced fish kill.
But, make sure you have the right water quality of micro organisms to feed them. New water can be notoriously barren or be loaded with suspended sediments.

Then do what Ric says. Fatheads and blue gill are outstanding sources of renewable protien. Sunil has it right on the next step. Having your game plan ready determines the mix and timing of the next step. Bass, catfish, Hybrid stripers? Want to work your butt off building a trophy water hole or just enjoy fishing and/or swimming? Notice the problems associated with a larger water hole; hard work fishing just to correct overloads of bass or? The problems/opportunities of a large pond are magnified which add up to work and $$$$$$$. Look at the postings on this site by guys that have good sized ponds/lakes. Look at Buzz Tatoms post about having to cull bass to achieve equilibrium. It ain't all fun.

If your water quality is right, it's not too early to stock forage.

Thanks guys for the start. We are looking for a good fishing & swimming/watersports pond. My uncle also has a large pond that we play/fish on, but his was a dredged out swamp land that was built 30 years ago. He has great crappie fishing along with smb. We are looking for something similar in ours. Nothing that will scare the kids from swimming!

Thanks again for the help.

Fertilizing a northern pond can be very tricky and also expensive when dealing with 18 acres of water.

Your PBoss forum profile is lacking. What part of Indiana are you located; near what city?

Most soils in Indiana esp northern half or 2/3 are limestone based and relatively fertile. Your watershed runoff (lots of farm ground in IN) that feeds the "pond" should contain pretty good amounts of dissolved minerals and nutrients. Thus you should probably not have fertilize in your region to get good fish growth providing you maintain a balanced predator-prey fishery.

I suggest you first decide or determine what species or type of predator you want to be dominant in your pond and then stock forage items and fish that will best produce those predators. Do some reading home work as to which fish predators best meet your needs and or pleasures.

The September to early November stocking will be plenty soon enough. Fish in you area will grow very little if any during Nov. 04 to March 05. Even waiting until spring March-April in Indiana will be also okay. This wil give you time to research what you want to do.