Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose General Food Chain questions

Our new pond is covering about 1 1/4 acres now but if it ever fills up will be about 2 1/2 acres. The deepest portion of the pond is about 10 feet now and will be about 20 feet deep full.

It started filling last Thanksgiving from underground spings and rain. I am pretty sure the springs are no longer running under the pressure of the water. The water has suspended clay and is slightly reddish in color. I noticed today that about 5-10% of the surface has an algae bloom floating on the top of the water.

About a month ago I stocked 500 CNBG and 2,000 FHM. This past weekend I fished a neighbors pond and caught so many 7-9 inch CNBG I couldn't help myself and had to put 15 of these larger fish in my pond.

I believe that I will hold off on stocking bass until a bit later in the year. When I do I am tempted to catch 8-10 inch bass from my neighbors pond. He has an outstanding pond - in addition to the huge bluegill that I mentioned earlier, last summer we caught two 13 pound and one 12 pound LMB in the same day. Smaller bass are everywhere in his shallower water.

Questions: Does it sound like my water will suppor the fish I put in there so far? Will the larger CNBG eat the FHM or CNBG Fry? Was it a mistake to put the bigger fish in there? When bass stocking time comes - can I put the larger bass in there safely?

I think 15 adult CNBG will have minimal, unnoticeable impact on the offspring from FHM or other CNBG.

When stocking the bass remember 2 things: 1) They will need food big enough for them to eat, and 2) you don't want them eating your stocker CNBG. How big were the 500 CNBG you stocked? If they reach 6"+ by the time you add 8" - 10" bass, they should be safe from predation. That size bass would probably prefer to forage on 3"-4" BG; they may have to subsist on FHM for a while (I don't think that's too much of a problem).

I agree with Theo.

Question 1 -- yes

Question 2 -- yes but not to many by 15 CNBG

Question 3 -- Not a mistake IMO if the fish were clean (no transported pathogens).

Question 4 -- You can use larger LMB only if you add enough adult CNBG to offset the loss of the smaller CNBG they eat and the LMB stocking #s go way down. I would say no more than 25 adult LMB and 1/3 of the original small LMB as planned. But only if you add more adult CNBG.

A bonus you will get from adding the adult CNBG will be an extra year class of CNBG by this fall. I would add some more adult CNBG from the neighbors pond (male & female) and hold off on any adult LMB until November. If you are going to do that anyway then reduce the # of small LMB to be stocked.

Captain1,

Sounds like your neighbor has a heck of a pond...13 and 12 pound LMB in a pond is doing something right. Outstanding!

If it were me, I would want some of those genetics in my pond(heck I'd love to have some). However, my strategy in your situation would be to catch some of the YOY LMB this fall and stock them in your pond. Your neighbor will probably gladly part with the small bass and you will have a more manageable situation than if you stocked much larger fish.

Also, consider stocking Tilapia next year about this time to control that algae and supercharge your forage base.

ML makes a good point. You would do better seining/catching some 2-5in LMB yoy this fall and using them rather than 10-12in LMB. LMB seem to do better if they grow up in your pond from a young age. The process is also easier to manage (gauge the right amount) with smaller fish. If you do use larger LMB a good method to be sure there is enough for them to eat would be tilapia. They would help take the pressure off the BG.

Theo, The 500 CNBG that I stocked were about 2 inches in size.

ML - my neighbor does have a heck of a pond! He is an older gentleman in his 70's who built and stocked his pond about 15 years ago. He hasn't fished in there for years, but allows a few friends and family to fish. He told me today that they have only fished for bass and crappie - yes - his pond is also full of large crappie as well. He said that I am the only person to have ever caught bluegill out of his pond in 10 years. He said he knew he put them in there but never caught any. Of course he never used worms to fish for them either. I think the reason his pond is so healthy is because of the good clear springs that continuously flow into and out of the pond. I caught five eatin' size bass from his pond, fileted and skinned them and delivered them to him last night. He told me he and his wife ate them for dinner and that they were the best fish he had eaten in years.

So I think that what I will do is let the fish that I have stocked so far in my pond grow and reproduce and then introduce a limited number of the smallest bass I can catch from my neighbors pond - the smaller the better. I will also likely put in some fingerling bass from Tyler Fish farm which is where I got the other fish. I am not in a hurry to put bass in - I really want to make sure that my pond is teeming with forage fish first. If I can find Tilapia I'll put them in. Our family eats farm raised Tilapia twice a week already!

Update: Based on the reccomendations that were given from this post in May, I am in the process of catching small bass from my neighbors pond. I fished about 30 minutes yesterday and caught 6 bass in the 8-10 inch range. I also caught 6 more giant CNBG that I couldn't resist relocating into my pond. I am finding that a small inch and a half spoon such as a little cleo works best at catching small bass in the desired "slot". I am tempted to keep some of the 12-13 inch bass that I am catching and dump them in too - but I fear losing too many of my breeder CNBG that I stocked earlier this year. I may try seining next weekend to see if I can catch smaller sized bass. This is fun stuff!