The catfish pond .7-1a. has been stocked:
12/07/04 3000 FHs
200 coppernose bgs

3/19/05 2000 FHs
100 cc 4-6"
200 bgs
25 lmb 6-8"
Question, just added another 2500 FHs this week. Feeder activity decreased and couldn't find a minnow anywhere! Could this amount of fish eaten 5000 minnows? They were active at feeder until first week of Aug. Thought warm weather had them deeper...

I see this as (arguably) two separate questions:

1) Could the CC, LMB, and BG have wiped out the original 5000 FH and all the offspring they had this year?

2) Could they have eaten 2500 additional FH in a week?

I'm not sure which of these you are after so let's tackle them both.

1) I sure think so. In a pond with LMB and BG, it's not really a question of will the FH survive, more like how soon will they be wiped out. FH are slow, and even intermediate sized BG can feed on the young FH. In my 1 acre pond, the FH and GShiners had a whole year head start on the BG, LMB, and CC. The pond was thick with FH before the other fish went in. I have not seen a FH since the end of the first warm season since stocking the predators.

2) Probably. That's 200 FH for each LMB (ignoring other predators since your unstated size BG may not be big enough for adult FH, and your CC may not be very predatory yet). If it was only 100 FH per LMB, I'd say quite likely. (We once had an 8" HBG in an aquarium who could polish off a dozen penny goldfish in under 24 hours.)

And your title question - "Did I stock enough minnows?" For starting the pond out, I'd say yes. Nobody but the wealthy or the indulgent pond boss (OK, that's pretty much everyone here) can stock enough FH to keep them in a pond long term. As Bob Lusk says, FH are just a snack for the bass in an established pond.

Theo
12/07/04 200 coppernose 1-3"
03/19/05 200 coppernose 3-4"
Have not fished and not sure of their size now. Pond is muddy. I have seen more surface feeding since 2500 FHs added 10/29. Bass and BGs?
I do recall (I believe it was yours) a post describing your pond's FHs as so thick you could walk on them. Some of the piggish CCs look to be a foot plus. I didn't realize the FHs would be gone so soon. I plan next year to add Mar. 2500 Jun. 5000 and Oct. 2500. Have a supplier 1/2 hr. away. Would adding cover help? Appreciate your insight.

al

ps Have observed 2 "blooms" this summer. My time and research has been on construction. Now with water I have alot more to learn!

If you want to maximize the impact of the FH you stock, I'd say don't bother putting them in except when the water's warm enough for them to spawn. And provide lots of spawning substrate (they like the under side of things) like pallets around the edges of the pond. But you'd be ahead to think about higher impact and/or longer term forage supplements (Tilapia, Threadfin Shad, Golden Shiners, for example) now that you're past the starting out timeframe.

BTW, my daughter, who weighed about 40 pounds then, could walk across on the FH alone. I had to step mostly on the larger GShiners.

ahvatsa,

I have the same experience as Theo, i.e fatheads disappear quickly, even with structure.

Possibly an alternative source of forage to consider would be Tilapia....they will not disappear, except when they die off in the winter, they provide fringe benefits, e.g. algae eaters and they are the most prolific fish I have ever seen in ponds. I love them and will not ever be without them in my ponds again.

I assure you Tilapia are in my plans. Esp. when the Bass pond fills! We cast net them at Calaveras Lake (power plant heated water). Many 2-3 pounders. Great eating!

Theo amd ML you are on target, I stocked FH only for 9 months in a 1 acre pond in Ohio and started with 25 lbs. Spawned like mad and they knew no fear. I started 25 LMB that were about 2-3 inches in size so the FH would possibly keep up and I was in no hurry for big bass (I realize that seems odd)I had and have structure and protection for the FH but seems they are destined to be fish poop.The bass line up outside the gaged protected floating cedar spawning areas and the FH swim right into "history" I stopped stocking FH and try to keep up with regular blue gills and that can be a balancing act.They are however a great little snack for the LMB.These 25 bass have wiped out all of the FH from what I can tell.

One of the behavior differences between small BG and minnows is that when a predator like a LMB gets near, the BG will freeze and go motionless to avoid predation, the minnow will not. Over a short amount of time the minnows usually dissappear quickly while the small BG have a much better chance of survival. That is the primary reason minnows do not last long in ponds, they are very easy prey to capture for most fish.

My experience with FH was similar to Theo's but I have not restocked. I stocked 10# in March of 2004 an provided structure and feed. They multiplied like crazy. We stocked 25 bass in late summer of 2004 after the bluegill spawned. At the time I was fearing overpopulation of BG and FH. They were thick. Right now things seem pretty well in balance with several sizes of BG feeding on pellets which I am relying on for forage for the bass. There are still a few, very few FH. Just to put things in perspective, my friend has a 75gal aquarium with 5 bass. When they were about 5"-6" long they would erradicate 100 minnows in less than a week.

i would of waited till i saw young gills and FH before putting the bass in. i made the same mistake by putting in 50 bass with cats , HBG and FH. after couple weeks the bass had nothing to eat. next spring i put in 100 6 to 8" regular blue gills. every bass caught was pitched. by mid summer i had tons of small gills and FH. next spring i caught about 10 small bass from 4 diff ponds and stocked them. i'm a firm believer in diff genes. i would not want all my bass the same blood line. everything is cool in the pond 2 years later. catching nice fat bass and 6 to 10 pound wipers (they went in with the bass). i use to feed the fish in morning and evening. last fall i was in bad motorcycle accident that left me in a chair. now i'm teaching my sons how keep eye on whats going on in the pond , their doing great job. nice balance of everything. except for bullfrogs , that damn heron. lol

Ken

I did fish a little yesterday (grandkids coming for thanks.) worms and bobber, and a few cats is all I could manage. Saw a few bass (or BGs) surface hits on FHs just put in. NOT A SINGLE BG! 400 stocked. The cats were VERY fat and healthy. Next stocking I will follow Theo and have them thick enough to walk on. Water is murky and cats were very light in color, but again I was impressed at their condition. Gamefish chow seems to be working well!

Lost my wife's little brother in Sept.(Okla.) to a Harley. Was the classic turned in front of T-bone...didn't see the bike coming...

I too like mixing the gene pool up.

Wonder if I need more BGs?

ML will the Tilapia do ok in muddy water?

A couple of times a year I buy a pound or so of fatheads and turn them loose. I'm probably wasting money because they don't last long. But neither does enchiladas or beer.

ahvatsa,

Yes, they seem to be able to survive anything I put them in...and you will probably see many more offspring survive because of reduced predation...at least it works that way in my ponds.

Five pounds of Tilapia will produce orders of magnitude more forage than five pounds of Fatheads.