My 2 acre pond is 12' deep at its deepest point. My plans are to fertilize and feed but not aerate. My goals are to have a balanced pond with a variety of fish that we can eat plus have a fun time catching. Having the opportunity to catch 1 lb plus CNBG and 5lb plus LMB is also a goal but I am not trying to grow 10 lb plus LMB. The fun to catch is important because my 8 yo son loves to fish and renovating this pond has become a father/son project that he enjoys and is excited about. This was my plan before I started reading about HSB on this forum last night.

January 2013 stocking
2,000 CNBG
400 RES
125 CC
4,000 FHM

June 2013 stocking
125 F1 bass
25 Florida bass

My questions are:
How well will HSB do this far south?
How do they fit into my goals?
If I wanted to add HSB to my stocking plan how do I need to adjust my original plan? I would gladly eliminate the CC if I could replace them with HSB just for how hard they fight.
How many HSB and would I need to reduce the number of LMB?
Who sells HSB near north Alabama?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

HSB will do well in north AL. We have had good success in central MS with them. May want to reduce the LMB #s and add some HSB. Lots here on the subject.

Contact Greg Grimes he has some in GA raised in low alkalinity water most likely like yours.

Cut the LMB #s in half and add 25 - 30 6 inch HSB. Can reduce the CC also in half.

Seining 5-6000 on Wednesday and taking some at some point to west TN so let us know if interested but think you need to add the forge first. Thanks.

Thanks Greg. Unfortunately my pond is less than 1/3 full right now. I plan on stocking the CNBG and FHM as soon as the water level is high enough. I hope it is before January. Will you have some available in the spring and how big do the CNBG need to be before stocking the HSB?

How big will the CNBG get with feed?

the whole hsb idea has intrigued me more and more...the benefit of not having to worry about over populating with them is the best benefit...and the fact they fight like maniacs being a close second...

It all depends on water quality, etc. but I think they're pushing 3# in Richmond Mill Lake.

http://kingfishersociety.com/fishing.html

You should expect them too be pushing a pound, pound and a half pretty reliably.

You need to have either supplemetnal feeding or shad/shiners to grow the HSB. The cnbg will be plenty big by next spring. We hope to sell all our HSB now but we may indeed have some next spring.

You're always better off stocking fewer predators initially.

I wouldn't stock more than 50 LMB per acre.

Also, I agree with Greg. You should add more forage as the base for your pond. With any body of water you need to make the most resource efficient decisions.

For example, crayfish are a great forage choice. They occupy an area of the pond that isn't used by other species. They feed on dead matter and plants. They will provide food for your largemouth bass.

Grass Shrimp are also great for your bluegill. They need small leafed plants like pondweed in order to thrive, but I think that they should be in pretty much every pond.

Golden Shiners are another species that I would look at adding. You can stock up to 1,000 per acre when you stock your fathead minnows. They will be good forage for you LMB and your HSB and if they eat a few LMB eggs along the way they will help you control your bass population as well.

I would also cut back your channel cat numbers. I would stock 100 channel cats TOPS in your two acre pond if you are going to have HSB and LMB. I would also try to remove any structure that your CC could spawn in. If they start spawning its not hard to end up with a pond full of stunted CC.

If this were my pond I would do this:

January 2013
20 pounds of Fathead Minnows
2000 Golden Shiners
100 pounds Crayfish
Grass Shrimp (don't even try to count them LOL)
Lake Chubsuckers (as many as you can catch)

January 2014
2000 Coppernose Bluegill
400 Redear Sunfish

June 2014
75 F1 Largemouth
25 Florida Largemouth
50 Channel Catfish
25 Hybrid Striped Bass
1/2 Load Threadfin Shad

I am still in the learning process with all of this, but from the research that I have done and the advice that I have gotten this seems to be what the gurus have shared with me. A diverse, highly productive, food chain will help you have great fishing for years to come.

Does anyone have any pics of some HSB from ponds? small and big? would love to check them out

See this thread http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=255277&page=1


At 10 mths this fish was 10-12 inches , at 20 mths 20 inchs +- and 3 lbs and now at 30 mths 7 lbs and appx 24 inches.

That kids got the Condello technique perfected at a young age..

NIIICE....bet that bad boy ws fun to bring in!

My pond is now 2/3 full! So I finally have to make up my mind on what and when to stock. This is what I decided to go with:

Within the next 30 days
1,500 1-2" CNBG
500 3-4" CNBG - Decided to add some 3-4" from advice I got from another thread
300 1-2" RES
5,000 FHM

June 2013
60 1-2" northern LMB
25 1-2" F-1 LMB
15 1-2" Florida LMB
50 1-2" HSB - Too much upside not to try to grow some HSB.

Changed from mainly F-1 and Florida, to mainly northern and a few F-1 and Florida strain due to the northern being easier to catch(more info that I got from tis forum). Like I said in my original post, I am not trying to grow 10lb LMB. I decided not to add any CC. This cuts down on the number of predators and from what I have read on this forum they will eat too much feed and will become hook shy quick. I plan on fertilizing and supplemental feeding the CNBG and HSB. Now I just have to decide where I am going to purchase the fish from.