I recently purchase some property with a 2.5 acre strip pit, previous owner said it has plenty of catfish, bluegill, largemouth bass, and large crappie. I already asked the question if I should do any re-stocking and the answer is obviously not at this time. There is a "fish day" this Saturday at our local co-op and they have fathead minnows $36 per 1,000. Should I buy some fatheads to use for forage? This site is amazing with all the info available...thanks to everyone!!!

From everything I read it won't hurt but will probably be a waste. I keep hearing that you would be better off to spend your money on feed, than FHM, if you already have LMB. There might be another type of minnow or something else that would have a better chance.

I believe if you have plenty of suitable cover you'd probably have some minnows present already. It is my opinion if you add FHM in an established pond you need to have enough cover to support some of them reproducing. But I'm also ok with throwing FHM in anytime you have them available if you don't mind the cost. It's not hurting anything.

Snipe, thanks for the reply. I dont mind spending a little money to feed my existing fish. Just wanted to make sure it wasnt going to disrupt the current population or start something I shouldnt. I will probably pick up 3k-4k of them then. Again...thanks!!!

Sure.. The only thing it may possibly do is diminish some pressure on other forage sources but will be limited in time. The crappie and small bass will benefit.

I supplement my ponds with FHM when I have them in my forage pond, but I just trap them and transfer them over. My cost is the feed and aeration bill. I realize your situation is different, but the FHM will definitely be enjoyed by the predator fish. I do it whenever I have excess.

If I only had $50 to spend on feeding the fish, I would have to spend it on pellet feed...more bang for the buck.

If I had an extra $50 to burn on feed and already had pellets...FHM's would be my choice.

Shold you add some FHM's to the pond...add some pallets for swawning structure, maybe you'll get some to multiply.

If you have money to spend, I would add crawfish before fatheads. Way more bang for your buck there. If you can find them where the small ones are separated out, get those. They will continue to reproduce if you add 1-2 sacks per acre, even if the bass are already established. They are also obviously bottom feeders, and will help clean up decaying matter at the bottom of your pond.

The biggest thing to watch out for with crawfish is burrowing. If that is a problem then you just have to be careful not to overstock to where there is an infestation