We plan on stocking catfish , minnows , blue gil . and grass carp in our pond tomorrow temps will be in mid 50 and pond was froze last week but thawed out now ,,
problem is it will most likely freeze over thursday will this hurt our fish its about 5.8 foot at its deepest part and im sure will only freeze a few inches
Welcome to the forum, scatterlandsfarm!
As long as your water is not frozen over at the time making it hard to get to the water, and the fish are acclimated (water temperatures matched) and tempered (waters mixed to equalize pH and chemistry differences), those fish will do fine.
Is this a new pond stocking? If so, I would not add grass carp as there is likely no plants for them to eat yet. What is your overall stocking plan? (Numbers/species) What size pond is it?(surface acres) What part of Arkansas are you in? What are your goals for the pond and fishing?
tks for the quick reply ..not a new pond actually probally 40 years old and has lots of vegitation in the summer
just purchased the land and really dont know what happened to the fish all i have ever seen is minnows and maybe a couple bream , i have passed this pond every week for 14 years and do know at one time had more fish, it is spring fed and in summer holds about the same amount of water in winter it runs a lil higher than normal
its about 3/4 acre and deepest part may be 5 - 6 ft
located in hill land so farm run off isnt a factor
we have to pre order fish around here and have no control on the weather or when they will arrive normally this time of year cold isnt a issue
also we just want a place for the kids and grand kids to catch a few fish in the summer we use the land for hunting and figured buying this place would help justify the cost as well as help pass the summer ,, catfish and bluegill is what we hope to raise
oh yes sharp county which is north central ar
Keep an eye out for otters and cormorants. They can eat a LOT of fish in a hurry.
Are you sure there aren't any larger predators in there, like LMB (largemouth bass)? If so, some of your fingerlings may end up as food
I would suggest that you habituate (protect in netted area or with thick brush etc ) the stocked fish for a day or so if possible.
Not sure how much habituation they need in cold water with reduced metabolism but in warm temps they would likely be expensive fish food for the existing occupants if not habituated.
Look at the links below for info.
http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.ph...ite_id=1#importhttp://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.ph...=true#Post26019
Tks for the replies..
my catfish were released today they are 6 - 8 inches long ordered 150 but only got 121 someone missed counted wasnt me
Had 1 white one and i set on the bank for 2 hours watching them and all swam into the deeper water [ about 10 took a spell ]
the copper nos blue gil i didnt count but looked about right on the count 1 died that im aware of and they vanished into the cover quick as did the flat head minnows
the 5 carp disapeared instatly
this is a remote pond and has no bass and that im aware of nothing but bream and minnows