My pond is 1/2 acre with the depth ranging from 4-8ft. It is aerated and I have an automatic feeder that is set to feed once a day. Last spring was the first stocking of the pond. I put in 150CC 4-6in., 300CNBG 1-2in, and 1500FHM. This spring I plan on stocking my LMB. I'm not sure how many fish have survived since the initial stocking, due to predation from GBH, and overflow. I do have screens on the spillway, but since the initial stocking have had several rains that raised the water level over the 12" high screens. I have taken approx. 20 CC from the pond with the intention of taking more but that's all we could catch before the water temps dropped. I know the GBH were wreaking havoc on the CC and the CNBG when they were first stocked, and I'm sure there were losses due to overflow. My questions are, do you think 300CNBG and 1500FHM were enough to establish a forage base for the LMB, even with the losses from predation and overflow? Should I stock more when I stock my LMB? When and how often would the CNBG and FHM have spawned since the initial stocking. My concern is not having enough forage for the LMB.

If I had to guess (which I suppose I do), I would think you are OK with the forage base, however, you might want to consider adding some more CNBG along with the bass depending on what size of LMB you are going to stock.

What size of LMB are you getting?

GBH will seldom keep up with the spawning of BG. I would bet that you didn't lose a high % to overflow. Have you started the feeder? What does it look like?

Sunil, I haven't thought about the size of the LMB. I don't think the local hacthery has anything but fingerlings. I was wanting to add some more CNBG and FHM just to be sure, but I didn't know if I was just wasting money. After the heavy rains I noticed hundreds of small fish ( not sure what they were ) on the ground and the drainage ditch that my spillway overflows to now has a healthy minnow population. How many LMB do you think I should stock?

Dave, I have an Aquapro feeder that I have had since I initially stocked the pond. It has been feeding once a day even through the winter months. I have not noticed the CC feed since the water temps dropped, but the CNBG have never slowed down their feeding. Now that the temps are coming up, I'm waiting to see if the CC start feeding again.

Kent, stocking numbers for LMB will depend on the size of LMB you can get. If you get fingerlings, you will most likely lose a good bit to the CC and maybe even the CNBG.

Let's see what some others have to say.

What size are last year's CNBG stockers now?

I believe your CC should have made an appearance at the feeder. Mine have and I'm further North than you.

If they CNBG have been feeding, I expect that you have plenty. A very low % of the small fish go downstream.

If you can only get fingerling bass, I would probably put in about 75. Small fish have a pretty high mortality rate. If larger, I would stock less, maybe 35 or 40. Of this assumes that bass are your goal. If you are looking for larger sunfish, stock more predators to clobber the smaller ones.

Theo, the CNBG are are probably 6" they have grown way more than I expected. I was thinking like David, maybe stock 75LMB to compensate for predation / mortality. What size LMB should I try to stock? I don't think the hatchery has anything but fingerlings. I will ask if I get get larger fish. I hope the GBH don't get after the LMB. I put a GBH decoy on the pond and it works for a while. I have to keep moving it. If I let it stay in one spot too long the GBH get used to it and will stand right by it. Larger bass is my goal. I had originally stocked the CC just for the grandkids to have something to catch while the LMB are growing. I really would like to eliminate them altogether and just have CNBG and LMB.

Kent can you assess the CNBG population ? Are you seeing several sizes from 6in to 1in and a good # of them ? If so and you stock 2-3in LMB then you will not need to add more CNBG now. I would stock 75 LMB that size and assume 25 will not make it. If you need to you can add more CNBG or LMB later. If you can get 4-6in LMB then go with 50 in May.

It sounds to me like you should have a good initial forage base established already.

50-75 LMB sound good, unless you are one of those big bream nutcases like me. Then I'd go 100.

Ewest - the only CNBG that I've seen are the ones my grandson caught. I don't let him fish the pond that often I'm trying to let the fish grow. So he has strictly been on catch and release except for the CC. The CNBG that he has caught have all been in the 4-6in. range. I have not seen anything smaller. That's why I was concerned about loss from predation / overflow. There is no evidence of smaller fish, unless I'm not seeing them. I just talked to the hatchery and they said all they have is 1-2 LMB fingerlings. They said they may be able to get the 4-6in at $3.00 each. They also said that I probably shouldn't put in more than 30.

Theo - establishing a good forage base was my plan, that's why I've waited a year to stock my LMB. It has tested my patience because now I'm a year behind in LMB growth. I hope it was worth it!

Kent what do you see around the feeder when it goes off? What about around the pond edge ? Do the small fish you mentioned look like this?

Ewest, what I see around the pond edges appears to be minnows. It's hard to tell what's around the feeder when it goes off, all you see are fish striking the water surface. You can't see how big or small they are. They are good strikes so I assume they are bigger fish. The only difference is the CC. Their heads actually come out when they are scooping up the feed. I haven't seen any feeding activity from them since late November. The bottom picture looks a lot like the fish that I've seen on the ground in my spillway after a hard rain. Do the young minnows and the BG look a lot alike at that age? What would be a good way to try to asess the CNBG population? I sure hope I haven't been losing my CNBG.

If you've had itty-bitty CNBG wash out, don't sweat it. You've got 100,000's more.

I have trouble telling all those little fish apart with the naked eye.

Can you do a seine survey ? I am trying to get a feel for if there are multiple year classes of CNBG. If there are you are in good shape as your LMB at 2-3in will not be able to eat your reproductive forage base. If your first CNBG spawned last year then by the time you stock LMB you will have 3 year classes. All of those last year yoy would not have washed out as per Theo's post.

Thanks Ewest and Theo. I won't stock anymore CNBG. I'll just add my LMB in May.

Kent, I have not seen my cc either my water is getting in the upper 60's and they have not made an apperance yet this spring. I hand feed everyday, and have been looking for them. Cause they should be big enough this year to be invited to a fish fry.

John G. I still havent seen my CC feeding. Yesterday the grandkids fished for about two hours and they caught one CC. So, it's still a mystery as to whether they are not feeding yet or I don't have anymore! If you've been feeding those fish since you stocked them, you'll be amazed at how big they are. I stocked mine last spring and fed them daily. The last ones we caught back in Sept. were 12-14 inches. I didn't think they could grow that fast! They were 6-8 inches when stocked five months prior. So yours definitely should be big enough to be invited to the fish fry.