Pond Boss
Posted By: jwetovick nebraska fish stocking suggestion - 04/20/17 05:32 PM
Hello everyone. Have spent many hours on the forum and appreciate all the info! That being said, there are many different opinions and I'm looking for suggestions. Looking at buying some ground and excavating a 1.5-2acre pond with avg depth of most likely 8ft with a couple spots 12-14ft deep. Will be ground water fed and soil is sandy. Will most likely feed once it is done. So, the hard part is my fav species are perch, crappie, gills, and bass in that order but not opposed to other species if needed other than catfish. That being said i have read plenty of bad stories of crappie and perch in this small of a pond. I have also fished many ponds this size locally that have super great crappie fishing so I'm up in the air on this one. Anyone have any general starting points for stocking. My goal is to try and manage it for large perch and gills with the occasional large bass. Any starting point would be helpful. Also plan to put an aerator in and sink some trees, etc. Thanks for any and all input.
Posted By: CMM Re: nebraska fish stocking suggestion - 04/20/17 10:27 PM
Jwetovic,

Welcome. Some one from your geographic location will be around shortly to offer advice. Sounds like you've been reading here a while. Glad you joined up.
Posted By: ewest Re: nebraska fish stocking suggestion - 04/21/17 03:57 PM
Welcome to posting. For your goal it will be imparative that you have one or more predators that will crop the BG and espicially the crappie numbers. While a fisherman may keep the bigger crappie in check the key will be in removing/reducing the 2-5 inch Crappie and 2-4 inch BG. That is not easy by fishing. Both LMB and HSB can help.
Posted By: jwetovick Re: nebraska fish stocking suggestion - 04/21/17 04:16 PM
I have never really fished for or heard of many ponds locally that have HSB in them. What are pros and cons of having both LMB and HSB compared to having just LMB or just HSB?
Posted By: jwetovick Re: nebraska fish stocking suggestion - 04/21/17 04:25 PM
Forgot to mention I also would like to stock some WE. Realize they will not spawn or grow all that great but figured as a bonus fish and also another predator to help keep perch in line.
Posted By: NEDOC Re: nebraska fish stocking suggestion - 04/21/17 06:11 PM
I'd hang around awhile until TJ responds. He is the Nebraska pond boss expert. He's excellent to work with and very knowledgable.

Where are you at in NE? I'm in the south central portion. I started a redear sunfish and smallmouth fishery a few years ago and love it at the moment. I've also had some experience with LMB and HSB coexisting in a .6 acre pond. It worked well for me.
Posted By: ozarkfisher Re: nebraska fish stocking suggestion - 04/21/17 06:21 PM
I second hanging around for TJ he was a ton of help on my project.
Posted By: jwetovick Re: nebraska fish stocking suggestion - 04/21/17 06:30 PM
Nedoc. I live near central city. I would really like to try redear and smallmouth. May i ask where you got yours? My issue is i want so darn many kinds of fish just for the suprises that come with what you may catch. Im sure are good and bad things about having too many diff species. Thanks
Posted By: NEDOC Re: nebraska fish stocking suggestion - 04/22/17 01:16 AM
I got my smallmouth from TJ. I'm not sure if he still raises them or not. I can trap you plenty of small redear if you don't have any predators already in the pond.
Posted By: Bill D. Re: nebraska fish stocking suggestion - 04/22/17 01:35 AM
Originally Posted By: jwetovick
.... My issue is i want so darn many kinds of fish just for the suprises that come with what you may catch. Im sure are good and bad things about having too many diff species....


I have the same goals for my pond and so far so good. IMO It takes more management than other, more limited number of species, ponds. My advice, consider each species you want to stock with respect to habitat, forage and predation required to make them thrive. Don't just toss a whole bunch of different species together and expect it to work. My pond is only around half acre. I have lots of different species but not many of any. IMO a bigger pond will be harder to manage with lots of different species. In my little pond, adding or removing 5 or 10 predators or adding some more adults of a forage species can make a significant impact on the pond dynamics. In a 2 acre....IMO that would get way more difficult.

Good luck! Hope you find that dream property. Please keep us in the loop as the project moves forward.

Bill D.
Posted By: NEDOC Re: nebraska fish stocking suggestion - 04/22/17 02:32 AM
Another thought is that if you wanna go multi species, look into building grow out pond while doing your main pond. Some years you could hatch out, or grow out one or more types of fish to avoid predation, then stock in the fall. Other years you could just use it to grow out fatheads.
Posted By: snrub Re: nebraska fish stocking suggestion - 04/22/17 03:40 AM
I second NEDOC in thinking about creating another smaller pond adjacent to the main pond. Small ponds can be as much fun as your main pond and provide lots of options for management.

List of specialty ponds, often used in conjunction with a main pond

Third the opinion of checking with TJ. A visit to his ponds is a treat. Has a great setup in Nebraska and has achieved some of the goals you are speaking of and more.
Posted By: snrub Re: nebraska fish stocking suggestion - 04/22/17 07:11 AM
To show you some of what TJ (Teejaeh) is doing in Nebraska, he invited the wife and I up to view his ponds while we were in Nebraska attending the Husker Harvest Days a couple years ago.

This is a link to the post with two pictures of fish we caught while at his ponds.

Post showing off our catch and proud papa TJ of his fish Click on the picture links that the link takes you. Should be first post on the page. The guy in the green shirt is TJ.
Posted By: Matzilla Re: nebraska fish stocking suggestion - 04/23/17 04:39 PM
Get this pond going and I'll bring some ice rods your way to try it up...same goes out to you and my pond here in Iowa
Posted By: jwetovick Re: nebraska fish stocking suggestion - 04/23/17 06:15 PM
Hey matzilla. Good to hear from ya and you will be more than welcome to bring the ice rods out to give it a try in a few yrs when the fish are in good shape. Take care and happy rod building to ya.
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