I just received my one year renewal for Pond Boss magazine and I've been lurking (learning) here for a while, so I decided it was time for my first post.

Our pond is about 1.3 acres, averages about 5' deep with max depth of about 10'. In July, 2008, I stocked 4000 FHM, 600 CNBG, and 50 CC from Kenneth Henneke Fish Hatchery in Halletsville. I have been feeding since. It contained no fish before this stocking. This will be a family fishing pond. I am more interested in more catchable medium sized bass than a few lockjawed trophies. We live 3+ hours away from the pond, so fishing pressure will not be heavy most of the time (one or two weekends a month).

This spring, I want to add LMB. I have been leaning towards F1 bass, but would northerns fit my goals better? In a pond of this size, is it reasonable to expect a few northerns to reach 5+ pounds in a few years and to keep my goal of lots of catchable sized fish? How long will it take the bass to reach catchable size (10+")?

The catfish stopped taking feed when the weather cooled, but the CNBG are still eating once a day in the afternoon. Should the CC be 1-2 pounds this spring/summer? My 11 year old son has been patient, but is ready to start fishing in the pond.

With the FHM and CNBG already in the pond, is there any advantage to putting tilapia in with the initial bass stocking? I was thinking that I would wait a couple of years on the tilapia until the FHM have been wiped out.

I see a lot of people use golden shiners (GSH?). I read a publication specific to Texas that listed GSH as "undesirable species" in a new pond because they are "heavy consumers of fish fry and eggs." Therefore, I didn't put them in with my initial stocking. At what point is it advisable to add GSH (if any)? If my CNBG continue to do well, it seems that tilapia may be a better supplemental forage in the future.

I know that's a lot of questions. Sorry, I'm just learning all this (and it's a lot of fun). I also know that the complete answer to a lot of these is "it depends....", but I'm looking for general answers to those (like size of fish over time).

Thanks

Welcome (or should I say congrats on your first post!) D-3.

Holding down reproduction of certain species is not all negative.

I think GS are a great addition.

The timing of adding GS may very well depend on the size of LMB that you stock.

If you are not after the biggest bass you can grow, but would like to catch lots of good fighting/edible fish, I would not stock GSH. OTOH if the shear volume of fish caught is important, GSH are very catchable. Not much fight, but I used to pull in several Shiners on successive tosses of a small in-line spinner back before my GSH were depleted. It has it's own kind of fun to it.

I think Northern LMB would accomplish your goals. Perhaps F1s might be more prone to becoming hookshy? I'd get a Southern perspective(s) on that.

If you fed last year your CC should be over a pound unless you stocked them as fry. You can target them pretty selectively on stink bait, without messing up your other fish, if you'd like. CC are not particularly prone to being foul-hooked IME, so C&R is very doable with them.

In your situation I would use some of each northern and F-1s. I would hold off on the GShiners and consider a few adult (4-6 inch) tilapia around May (65F water temp)25 should be enough this year.

If you pay attention and cull after the 2nd year, you could easily expect some 5 pound Northerns. However, I like Ewests idea also. In a pond that size, with adequate forage, I doubt that you would ever get any benefit from shiners. Tilapia should be a better choice.

Thanks to all for the input.