Good Afternoon
I juust purchased a property with a 7 acre pond. The pond is 9 years old and was never stocked. But somehow has becomne infested with sunfish / warmouths...
I need asistance in how to stock this pond......
It was recommended to me by a hatchery to place the following stock:
500 12 plus inch channel catfish
500 1 to 3 inch largemouth bass..
They state the catfish will clean up the surplus of warmouths and the small bass will survive..
Thanks
Charles
What are your goals for the pond? What do you want to fish for?What you end up stocking will be based on what you want to do with the pond.
If good bass fishing is the goal you need to stock a forage fish that will provide enough food for your bass. Bluegill and Redear Sunfish are the standard for most bass ponds. I'd try and catch a few of the sunfish that you have to determine what species they are. If you have BG and RES you should be good to go with a bass stocking. Just make sure the bass you stock are big enough to not be eaten by the fish you currently have in the pond.
I'd only stock catfish if you want to catch some, otherwise they just take space away from your bass.
Ok...I appreciate the advice....Bass fishing is what I enjoy..I really dont care to catch catfish and was only considering them for small fish control. Sounds like you are recommending larger bass(5 to 7 inches) that are large enough to not be eaten by the sunfish etc..
Thanks
Charles
I'm thinking (250) 5 to 7 inch largemouth bass...Hopefully this will be enough to populate the pond and lessen the sunfish population...What are your thoughts?
Thanks
Charles
Yeah LMB that size/numbers would be good. I'd fish it some this fall just to see if by chance something is in there besides the sunfish. Your stocker bass would be expensive snacks if they aren't the biggest fish in the pond.
For now I'd determine what sunfish species you have and then stock BG or RES if you need to. If you end up needing to stock them I'd stock the biggest ones you can find. Numbers depend on the size you can get.
Another vote here for not putting in the Channel Catfish if you won't be specifically targeting them. The fish that they'd be eating can go to LMB growth.
Warmouth can eat fingerling LMB, so I also agree with stocking larger LMB. 35-50 per surface acre if there aren't LMB in there already.
Catch some of the sunfish and post pics of them. We'll ID them for ya!
Update:
The fish in this pond are not warmouths..They are spotted sunfish...Very small fish..Largest I caught was 5 inches at tops....Ive decided to go with a smaller LMB and stock it with Bluegill as well....
Any idea what type of sunfish this is?
Yupp. GSF. Have taken a few hundred 2_4" of those via trapping out of my old pond so my BG can get established. Finally starting to see a BG recruit in the traps once in a while, so making progress.
Ok...Thanks...Hopefully good food for my bass...Or more hopeful my bass are not food for them...
LMB will certainly utilize GSF as forage if sized appropriately. The greenie's large gape will allow it to utilize other (yoy) fish, however.
Charlescw, where in Virginia are you located? I have never seen a green sunfish in this area. We have a few warmouth. Take care.
With GSF in your pond your will for sure want the larger bass. GSF will eat 3 to 4 inch bass. And I bet you just may have some bigger GSF in there. I would stock every bit of 7 to 9 inch bass heavy on the 9 if I could. And if you could get 4 to 6 inch BG then they would be spawning for you next year for sure! Hey good luck and congrats on the pond sounds awesome!!
RC