Hi, I'm glad I discovered this forum. I just got a new, promising pond dug in pretty solid red clay, which is just starting to collect water.
I don't know exactly, but I think it is about 340' long and 100' wide, 8' deep.
I am in North-Central Arkansas, Ag Zone 6B, elevation 1700'.
The pond is non-commercial, for swimming and light fishing. I do not anticipate using commercial pellets much except maybe at the outset.

I guess I have time before I need to make decisions. I have been doing a bit of reading and my mind is spinning.
I think what I want is HBG, LMB, and minnows (flathead?) but I want to get the most reliable strains.
Maybe RES too.

My main question is, who to buy from. I was considering Dunn's or maybe Sunrise Fisheries if they deliver this far.
Sunrise says
http://www.sunrisefisheries.com/stocking/
"If the body of water is less than one surface acre, the best choice would be to stock channel catfish or hybrid bluegill. Since limited reproduction will occur with either of the species, channel catfish could be stocked anywhere from 50 to 200 per acre and hybrid bluegill up to 300 per acre. This rate is based on waters that are void of fish. Fathead minnows could be added for forage."

Am I better off forgetting about the bass? I thought this pond would be big enough but what do I know.
Also my understanding is that catfish are hard to clean and not tasty unless they've been stuffed with pellets.
I haven't fished since 1976 so I am pretty ignorant.

I have 2.2 ac and managing the LMB is still a pain in the butt. If I had a brand new 1 ac pond I would look into managing around HSB instead. (Hybrid Striped Bass)

Just my amateur opinion. One of the pros will be along shortly.

Welcome to Pond Boss.

Your pond is about 3/4 acre. I would put in about 75 channel catfish and feed them pellets. I did that in my 1/4 acre ponds and have been harvesting channel catfish of 2 to 5 pounds since last fall, and the fish were first stocked 21 months ago. My mistake was too many catfish, and I have been forced to harvest a great many this summer, well over 60 pounds since mid June. The second 1/4 acre pond should be ready for harvesting by early next summer. We like to eat catfish.

Welcome to the forum. Soak it all up there is a wealth of information here. I am from around Harrison and I have used several hatcheries in Missouri such as raccoon valley and Harrison fishery for specialty fish such as HSB,YP,SMB etc.

I can feel your pain Lou, I am in a similar state of decision making. Small ponds can make great blue gill factories, but they all need predators to keep them in check. My research on the subject suggests that if you go with HBG, they need predation just not as much as regular BG. Then people start talking HSB. It appears that this scenario (HBG/HSB) requires at least supplemental feeding. On the other hand, BG/LMB may require more culling and more actual hands on management, but not necessarily any feeding program. I do not believe you would be happy with just HBG as there population could grow out of hand eventually with NO predators and you would have a lot of stunted hybrids (The HBG breeds, but with mostly male YOY) It is common advise to include RES in the mix which ever way you go to help reduce snail populations that host a number of fish parasites.

Now with all that said, I put off the decision for a year by concentrating on stocking a forage base and desirable vegetation. I have stocked about 1000 FHM (in April in my 1/4 acre hole) and installed 7 pallet structures for their breeding habitat. I don't see many of the original stocked fish, but there are thousands of fry of different sizes. I will also be planting some plants in the next few weeks to get them established for the FHM to hide in. The FHM efforts should yield a great head start for my first stocking of game fish and the plants should help the FHM last a little longer (And it all helped put off the "Big" decision).

HSB do not need to be fed pellets. Feeding them pellets tends to make them grow faster, have more of them, and you can better have an estimate of their density and sizes because you see them at feedings. However they will do okay without feeding. You can mix then in with largemouth at about any initial stocking ratio of LMB:HSB. HSB do eat sunfish and can control their numbers when the HSB are abundant enough. Their stocking density really depends of the type of forage fish they have to eat and control.

Regardless of what you decide stock, this late summer or fall or next spring stock some fathead minnows to kick start the fishery. Initial stocking of them in 0.7 can be 4-8 lbs. If the pond is full in October then you could also stock the sunfish HBG and/or RES or wait till spring. HSB could be stocked in spring. If it were my pond I would first stock the HSB for a year, see how they performed then later when you start to see small sunfish around the edges (1-4yrs) stock some LMB 5"-7" to help the HSB thin down the excess small HBG. It is doubtful the RES will ever become abundant enough to be considered common in the fishery.

Thanks for all the tips.
So I guess I will stock FHM this fall, and if the pond is full enough. HBG and some RES.

Then down the road, a few LMB and HSB. I really don't know if I like catfish; if I stock a few Channels later on they won't create a problem if I leave them unharvested, will they? I imagine the other fish will keep their offspring down.
I know I like sunnies; I can remember fishing out a mess of tiny ones as a kid and spending time cleaning them. They tasted good.

I envision a pond that does not require much management yet will provide some fish for a few people.
I guess I will need to make some habitat for small fish. I can get pallets for free. I also have a few dozen unused concrete blocks laying around cluttering up the place.

Where to get the FHM and sunnies this fall? I would be willing to drive some distance to get good fish.

Channel catfish can when larger become BIG pellet hogs. I have seen in ponds where they actually dug back into the side to create a cave cavity for spawning. If you don't feed the fish their night time predatory nature will prey on fish thus they will compete with bass. Channel catfish are not bottom cleaners eating organics, leaves and muck off the bottom.

In my opinion, CC gives a lot of bang for the buck. Back in Feb, I stocked one hundred 6" fingerlings and in that short time, I have some that are eating size now. Of course it helps if you like to eat them. If I didn't like to eat them, I wouldn't stock em'.

They are fun to watch and have given My Mom and I many hours of enjoyment. Take today for instance, we walked down to bank and they started flipping and churning the water cause they love to be fed. It's a site to see them coming right up on the bank and then right back to the water.

I'm pro-Catfish!

I also like CC, at least in my first 4 years of pond management. But lots of people on the forum don't much like them.

If you want just a general fishing pond or if table fare is important, CC can be a solid choice. If a person is going after trophys of other fish, they eventually take away from that goal and complicate management towards that goal.

We are in the situation now of eat the CC or lose some/most of them. Have now removed over 66 pounds of CC this summer. Over halfway there I think. We have been eating catfish several times a week for the past month. They are getting more and more difficult to catch.

Way to go John! I could probably start harvesting some myself, but was trying to wait till at least Sept to give them a little more time to grow. They are amazing to watch!

Your CC probably need a little more time. In my opinion, eating size is a minimum of 16 inches, 17 inches is better. Most of mine are around 18-19 inches.

Bill, when you say have more of them, are you talking more survive, or better reproduction? I thought HSB reproduction was nonexistent in almost all ponds, but it wouldn't be the first time I was mistaken.

I believe Bill means you can stock and maintain more fish in the BOW due to the added food source. Of course, that is if you also have the correct balances of all the other conditions such as, enough aeration, minor water level changes, water quality, etc, etc.

Qtracre is correct. "More of them" means you can stock and maintain more fish per acre when they are fed pellets. This concept is very similar to growing farm animals and having wildlife. More can be raised per acre or pen when they are hand fed. Only under special conditions will the HSB reproduce in a pond.

What special conditions are requires for HSB to breed in a pond, and what will the offspring be like?

Flowing water- current?

The guy who dug my pond told me one can just go down to the river here and catch some Yellow Perch and toss them in. No need for minnows as the little perch act as feeders.

He said they get to be the size of a big man's hand, 2" thick, and taste great.
He says that even when his pond almost dries up, they survive.
Probably cannibals, I guess.

Now I'll see what this forum says about YP...

I didn't know there were any native yellow perch anywhere in Arkansas. Supposedly they have been stocked in a couple of Corps of Engineers reservoirs here. He's probably talking about green sunfish. Avoid them.

Lou - be careful what you believe from who. as JohnF says the guy is talking about green sunfish not yellow perch that are famous in the more northern states.

RAH - I only know that healthy HSB will develop eggs as seen by Cecil Baird and myself. I have a pond near me that has several small HSB that have not been stocked with the original larger ones. Apparently from the information in the links below it takes special conditions of moving water and water quality for the eggs to survive and hatch. The people that own and manage Stubby Steve baits have HSB spawning and recruiting hybrids in their pond which is not supposed to happen. I think I have the name of the pond owners correct as posted on the Pond Boss forum.
http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=177718&page=1

http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Main=14608&Number=177647#Post177647

http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Main=26165&Number=335069#Post335069

I agree with JohnF on the YP. Most of the YP in Arkansas reservoirs were brought in accidentally when game and fish stocked walleye. YP do not thrive in the lakes here but are caught from time to time.

First time I've heard of HSB being able to spawn. I thought they had been "gelded".

Cody Note: 'Old Dogs' can learn new tricks. If Stubby Steves is at the PB Conference talk to them about their fertile HSB.

Yeah, y'all must be right about the yellow sunnies. He said they were shaped like a man's hand.
Said he fished them out of the Little Red River, or a fork thereof.

Seem to be working out so far for him, though. Says he gets good-sized ones.