Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose New Pond Stocking Strategy

I've spent quite a bit of time reading all of the past posts on this topic, but I would really appeciate the comments from the forum before I act. We recently built a half acre pond behind our house in Wichita Kansas. It is 14' deep at the deepest part and has another shelf that is 8' deep. The pond will have a waterfall that will be running almost all of the time. The pond is fed from rainfall drainage and from a natural spring. It was completed in February and filled even though we had only about 1.5" of precipitation that month. My goal is to have a pond that is relatively self-sustaining without pellet feeding although I don't mind re-stocking forage fish periodically. My second goal is to be able to fish for and catch a wide variety of sizes of BG and either LMB or HSB. Based on the past coverage of this topic I'm planning to stock the following fish as soon as possible:
5 Lbs of FHM
250 Blue Gill
50 RES

Late in the Summer I will add either LMB of HSB.

I would be very greatful for your thoughts on this much-discussed topic.

Howdy, Joker. Welcome to the Forum.

That sounds like fairly good stocking numbers for 1/2 acre, assuming you are thinking of smaller fingerlings (the typical 2"-4" sized BG/RES).

You will probably be alright stocking bass this Fall, if they are also smaller fingerlings. If I am way off on your planned stocker sizes, let us know.

You may have trouble utilizing only HSB for predation in a BG pond, and you may not get exemplary HSB growth without pellet feeding. So LMB could be a better choice of bass. There are several PMs here who will have better info on this situation than I do, however.

How much water flow-through do you have, Joker? Also, do you know what your water temps are?

You might have a lot of different options depending on some factors.

Thanks for the quick responses-you guys are really great to share your experience. I'm not sure what waterflow and temperature is going to be like throughout the year. The spring that I mentioned before is actually under our house and the sump pumps the water out to the pond 10-12 times per hour (on a dry day)with about 2-3 gallons per shot. Today the water in the sump is 59 degrees and the pond is 52 degrees. A submersible pump in the pond will feed the 15' waterfall. Below are the average high and low temp and preceipitation by month.
High Low Precip
Jan 40.0° F 20.0° F 0.84 in
Feb 47.0° F 25.0° F 1.02 in
March 57.0° F 34.0° F 2.71 in
April 67.0° F 44.0° F 2.57 in
May 76.0° F 54.0° F 4.16 in
June 87.0° F 64.0° F 4.25 in
July 93.0° F 69.0° F 3.31 in
Aug 92.0° F 68.0° F 2.94 in
Sept 82.0° F 59.0° F 2.96 in
Oct 70.0° F 47.0° F 2.45 in
Nov 55.0° F 34.0° F 1.82 in
Dec 43.0° F 24.0° F 1.35 in

OK, I thought you might have so much water going in and then also going out which would create a slightly different situation. If that was the case, you might be able to maintain slightly cooler water during the summers thus facilitating a Smallmouth/Yellow Perch gig.

I agree with the assessment that LMB would be a better predator than HSB, but I'm sure that if you added LMB this fall, or next year that you could put in a dozen or so HSB just for the fun of it. HSB will not, however, be able to stay ahead of your BG and RES reproduction. And if you have more than a few they will probably get really skinny in your particular system.

The whole thing looks like it's going to be beautiful!

Hi Joker, Happy Easter.
Sorry for the late response but I waited for others to advise on stocking rates dependent upon your water source.

I am familiar with your area and would like to revisit your water source comments.
From your pictures it raises questions in my mind as to whether your water source is a spring only source, or is your pond actually fed by the major aquifer associated with the Arkansas River?
If so, others can advise better than I, but if your pond is associated with a major aquifer, would this not be the same as a “flow thru” water source?

Nice area – many beautiful homes and ponds in some of the new Witchita developments.
Good luck and keep up the pictures.

PS: After noting the fly fishing picure, if your water source has high enough alkalinity, I would stock non-reproductive species with a good feeding program....
A male only CSBG/HSB pond...

Happy Easter George and thanks for the interest.

I'm not sure if I can answer your question regarding the water source but I'll tell you what I know. The area that I live in is one of the few places in the county where no one has had success trying to drill a well. However, when they dug the basement for my house they hit what I've been calling a natural spring, which keeps the sump running even during the longest dry-spells. When it rains, the 2 sumps run like crazy and the drainage across my property is sometimes knee high and 3 feet wide. Since February is one of the dryest months of the year, I was amazed to see the pond fill almost immediately. I'm guessing that in every other month there will be at least twice as much water flowing through the pond as it currently holds. Attached picture shows a view from my practice green back to the house before the pond.




The sump used to empty down where the cattails are in the picture but now just empties into the pond.

Thanks for the comments on fly-fishing. I grew up fishing for trout in the Big Horn Mountains of Wyoming and I'm definitely a novice when it comes to fishing for other kinds of fish. Yesterday I was reading some posts regarding stocking trout into bass ponds when the water cools off in the fall to provide incremental forage for the bass and fun and food for the fisherman. I thought I might give that a try but assume that I should wait a couple of years until the bass get some size?

Well, I know of a spring in Austin that flows in at around 60-65 degrees year round due to the depth of where the water is coming from. If your water coming out of the sump is in the mid 50's, it is very likely that the temperature may stay around that level year round. Now I know a half acre isn't exactly small, but having a constant source of water coming in from the mid 50's would do a great job of keeping the temperature down even during July and August. This opens up all kinds of possibilities for your stocking strategy. I am interested to see what you decide.