Curious as to bang for the buck when it comes to stocking a good forage base in a four-acre pond.

Blue Gill and Red Ear
1,200 1-2inch BG and 400 1-2inch RE Cost- $850.00

Minnows
Pond is stream feed so there are already clouds of minnows in the pond. Cost-$0

Shiners
500 6-inch breeders for a Cost- $300.00

Crayfish
500 adult crayfish Cost- $150.00

Snails
1,500 assorted snails Cost- $125.00

Tadpoles
1,500 bullfrogs Cost- $125.00

There are no bass in the pond yet. There are 50 Blue Gill 4-5 inch, 4 Musky 14inch, 2 Bowfins 12inch and around 1,000 carp between 3-8 inches. The big carp were removed and the small ones where left for the 6 big Predators to eat.

Should I wait to add the shiners? Are frogs and tadpoles even a minor source of forage? Do snails add any thing other then a quick snack for the red ears?

JB,

My 2 cents (less than a buck )

BG, RES...big bang, small bucks

minnows...small bang, no bucks

shiners...medium bang, small bucks

crayfish...very small bang, high bucks

snails....no bang, high bucks

tadpoles...very, very small bang, high bucks

Given your unique situation, I think I would look into adult BG/RE.

Bluegills and redear may be a fine addition to your pond but I would have a hard time paying $850 for small fish and running the risk that you predators might eat many of them. I am a cheap bas***. BG spawn multiple times each year so a small number of adults can provide thousands of young. The 50 adult BG you have may prove enough to stock the entire lake but I would try to add a couple hundred more to make sure.

Snails harbor just about every parasite that plagues ponds so I would avoid them. They will show up on their own anyway.

Tadpoles are good food but probably just a snack. Frogs will probably stock themselves and maintain whatever density the predators allow.

If the stream supports minnows, I suspect it suports crayfish as well and they may already inhabit your pond. There may be more aggressive non-native crayfish that you could stock but they can cause problems and are often illegal.

I don't know a lot shiners. They sure fight like crazy when you hook one.

Good Luck

Thanks the snails are out. It was a little bit of work but 4 of us caught the 50 BG in about two hours. It wouldn’t be too hard to do that one or two more times. I do not have a source for RG because the ponds I know that have them also have HBG, GSF, and Crappie, so I don’t want to risk it. With all the little cousins and nephews available I could get the crayfish and frogs for free while providing hours of wholesome entertainment for them. If I do go with shiners should I stock them this fall or wait till spring?

Ml- agree with you and like the break down. Hey did you feel that the world just stopped turning Put in more of the big bluegill. that is really $ for 1-2 bg and re we sell for $200/1,000. However that might be goign rate for that area. However with the predaiotrs I think that is a $850 waste. Stock shiners in spring if avail.

Fish do seem to be a lot more expensive in this area. Thanks for the advice, with the help of two nephews and three little cousins another 35 adult blue gill went into the pond on Saturday morning. That afternoon we rounded up over 100 crayfish that were also released.
Two other friends of mine brought another 20 plus nice sized Red Ears. However when I looked at one closely it turned out to be a Red Breast, which is common in our local rivers. They fill a similar place in the food chain as the Red Ear but do not grow as big. Tomorrow I’m marshaling the troupes for another Blue Gill hunt. I will try to get 200 adult Blue Gill in before winter. The $800 for the 2 to 3 inches will go into lumber for a fishing peer for use by my crack team of fisherman. $800 should at least buy 3 or 4 posts (you thought fish were expensive!) at the local lumberyard.

JB, Regarding tadpoles- After many years of checking stomach contents of several fish species in several different conditons, I have never found any evidence of fish consuming any amphibian- not saying it doesn't occur-but after literally hundreds of searches-nothing

I have read "somewhere" that they taste bad and aren't really a favorite.

FYI- also have checked lots of bullfrog stomachs- #1 forage - crayfish
quite a few rocks too?

Do BF use gizzard stones?

Theo,

That would be bullchickens that use gizzard stones.