Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose transporting fish

getting a new lake dug and had a few questions on transporting fish. Instead of buying small fish i was wondering if there would be any problem in transporting fish from other ponds. I got a couple of ponds close by that i can catch 6in LMB about every cast. It is full of them. I caught about 30 in less than an hr. Same for bluegill. Would it hurt to catch these and bring them to my lake when it fills up.

There are things to consider when transporting fish from one BOW to another. First and most obvious is introducing a potential disease or non native plant into your new pond. If you are confident that this will not be an issue the other thing to consider is the condition of the fish you'll be transferring. Why are these numerous LMB only 6 inches? Could it be because they are stunted? I have read, and I'm no expert so let someone who is elaborate, that when a LMB becomes stunted they will never grow to their full potential, thus leaving you with a fish that will never be large, or as large as you might want them to be. Checking body condition, and possibly verifying age of the fish, may help you determine if this type of transfer is beneficial to your new pond or not.

In addition to what Omaha said, just dumping fish in willy nilly with no regards to ratios can cause you to end up with a pond that is out of balance from the get go. Your ultimate goal is to have a pond in balance that produces the results you want.

That said, stocking fish from wild waters can work if you know what you're doing and plant the right quantities and ratio. I did that with my original bluegill as I couldn't find a producer that sold them vs. the hybrids.

Educate yourself and ask questions here on stocking ratios i.e bass to bluegills before you do something you may regret.

Please don't take offense at this but I've seen people spend thousands of dollars on a pond only go on the cheap when it comes to adding fish. Not saying that is your impetus but just bringing that up.

Additionally if I was you I would establish a forage fish base first and then consider adding other fish.

Thanks for all the info will keep reading and try to do the right thing

Thanks for all the info will keep reading and try to do the right thing
what r stunted fish. Money isn't a problem just didn't want to wait years for little fish to grow

Stunted fish are fish that have too little food to grow properly. They appear to have very large heads and eyes relative to the rest of their bodies. Stunted fish come from ponds with too many fish relative to their food source.

If you're catching 6" bass every cast from a pond, it probably means that the bass have too little to eat, and are stunted. This is a concern for two reasons: first, the bass you're getting have been damaged by spending their first year or so without enough food, and will never hit size potential. Second, if fish go through a few generations experiencing stunting, the pressure may actually cause genetic selection to occur, with bass that grow slowly and stay small being favored to survive. Thus, their descendants in your pond would be smaller and grow slower than average bass.

If money isn't an issue, you can usually purchase bass of 6" or greater from a hatchery, for about $3 each. Smaller bass will cost less. I would not worry about it: bass grow fairly quickly. Just plant plenty of bluegill and fathead minnows, the bass will get catchable within a year. If you really want nice bass quickly, try to find feed-trained bass from a hatchery and feed them.

Stunted fish are fish that generally do not have enough forage to grow as they normally would. Usually this happens in an overpopulated pond, where maybe you have too many LMB. They will remain small and possibly could remain small(er) their entire life, simply because they did not get the food they needed to continue to grow as they were meant to.

When looking for fish to add to your pond you might consider advanced fingerlings. Call around to your local hatcheries (or depending on where you live see if there's any other PondBossers to help you out) and see if this is something that is offered.

What are you goals for the pond? Large LMB?

My goal is to have catfish lmb and bluegill. I would like to have big lmb and have enought bluegill where kids could come fish and it be easy to catch fish for them Haveing a lot of bluegill would be a easy catch for the kids wouldent it. My lake is going to be about 1.5 acre Thanks for all the help.

I would go to a hatchery. Stocking is the cheapest part of the process and yet one of the most critical.

Stocking strategies vary, and certainly refer to any expert opinions before my own, but I've been instructed to get a good forage base established before stocking your predators (LMB and CC). That means getting those BG in there and probably some fathead minnows (FHM) as well, just for a jump start to give your LMB something to fatten up on and take pressure of the BG so they can get a good base going. After a season of your BG spawning, say you stock in the spring, you can go ahead and introduce your LMB. Certainly look for larger fish if you can find them and don't mind spending the money to be able to catch them right away. As far as CCs go, feeding them would get them growing up very quickly so I would suggest that for you, as would a number of fellow Pond Bossers who feed their fish. Good luck and keep us updated on what you decide to do.