Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Smallmouth Pond

Hey guys,
I have a client in Central Illinois who wants to turn his 4 acre pond into a smallmouth trophy pond.

He is sold on the idea that fathead minnows are his best solution for supplementally feeding his prized fish. I would like to use something else that would be able to sustain a population.

We are killing out the pond this fall with plans to stock next spring? What would be the best forage for someone in this situation? I was thinking maybe yellow perch? Any thoughts?

Look into golden shiners, bluntnose minnows, and papershell crayfish. RES would probably? be an additional good panfish- reproduction is low and eating is good although catching can at times be challenging.

Is he planning for the smallies to be self-sustaining...or will he be stocking periodically?

This is important, because the fatheads will compete directly with SMB YOY's if his fathead density is high enough.

Maybe crayfish of some sort?

Not necessarily wrt forage, but have him check out the Archive SMB Bed Thread

Based on my experience thus far, the YP and SMB have been a good mix. So far the YP have not provided enough YOY young to help feed the SMB. I am now out of FHM and need to add some more into the pond to keep the growth going. I have had a strong growth of both YP and SMB but the drought and larger fish have taken its toll on the FHM population.

I also have added and continue to add Crayfish on a regular basis. I would say they would be a must for a balanced eco system. I would also look into adding scuds. From what I have heard here they would be very beneficial. I am looking at adding them once I get more water back into the pond.

I also like the idea of some Golden shinners. They get larger but will provide a better meal for the larger SMB.

Well thats my 2 cents!

I have about 150 plus smallies in a pond that are from 1 to 3 lbs. along with my largemouths, bluegills, and now very few yellow perch. I will be selling the larger smallies to Bass Pro Shops next month for their aquariums.

If I wanted a smallmouth pond I would purchase feed trained smallmouth which are what these are. However, not all feed trained smallmouth are created equal. These are from my third source and they have stayed on the pellets the best. The other sources didn't stay on the pellets very long. My best luck has been with feed trained smallmouth from Laggis Fish Farms in Gobles Michigan (southwest Michigan) and they are really clean healthy fish too. They grow just a little slower than the feed trained largemouths I have had.

I would not plant any largemouths with them (largemouths crowd them away from the feed) and probably no bluegills or yellow perch either as they may not completely control them due to their smaller mouth gapes compared to a largemouth. However I do know smallmouth will ravage small bluegills as I have seen them do so. In fact I've watched them herd and eat small bluegills while the feed trained largemouths appeared too lazy to do so.

I would plant the appropriate crayfish species with the feed trained fish and look in to Golden shiners as part of their diet as Bill says. They will also eat invertebrates and in some respects eat smaller items like bluegills do.

Nate good advice above. I would suggest that you read the 2 articles in PB by Doc Cornwell on the subject. They are excellent. There are several very good threads here on the subject.
MAY - JUN 06

STARTING YOUR BAITFISH COCKTAIL. M. Cornwell gives good basic information about stocking and growing fatheads, golden shiners and questions the use of bgills and gives guidelines for their use in smaller ponds north of Mason-Dixon line.



JUL - AUG 06

THINKING SMALL …. SMALLMOUTH BASS, THAT IS. Cornwell describes some smallmouth habits, good forage items for SMB, feasibility of stocking SMB and LMB together. Case history of a SMB and LMB pond is included.

n8ly - does the guy want primarily SMB or panfish too? You need to find out his goals before an appropritate stocking is done. It is all about goals. SMB in a 4 acre pond will be a challenge to manage to keep the bass growing well. Is there appropriate habitat for SMB or will the pond basin be basically a renovated LMB BG pond?

Does the pond have weed growth? What types? And how extensive?

Was fertilization used?

What has commonly been the usual water clarities?

Is feeding the fish an option for the owner?

Thanks guys for the advice.
The pond's #1 goal is big smallmouth bass. They want to catch big smallmouths.

It is going to be a fun project. We are draining the lake down, and sept 18 ken russel from the illinois dnr is coming with his electrofishing boat to salvage some nice fish from the pond.

Then he is going to apply rotenone to take care of the rest. We are bringing in truckloads of rip rap and recycled concrete, and are going to reshape the pond bottom.

Then filler up and stock with forage. I think they will restock forage every year if they have to. They want trophy smallmouths. They have many 15-17" smallmouths in the pond already, but can't get them any bigger on a diet of just green sunfish.

The pond owners have 1600 acres of strip mine lakes ranging from 1-40 acres. Their place would rank near the top of anybodies coolest places on earth list.

They have alot of water, and grow big fish of almost every species, but they dont have a clue about the potential they have with a little bit of "basic pond management"

I will keep you updated on the status of the project.
The Hybrid Striped Bass Pond is the next one on the list.

Nate -- you already got much good advice. However, in a 4-acre pond, I would still anticipate a need to selectively harvest small smallmouth bass if your goal is production of 18-20 inch smallies. You may be far enough south to not encounter our typical problem, but in small waters around here with no other predators, our smallies always overpopulate.

Dr Dave has good advice. Keep an eye on recruitment and Wr's for the bass in this pond. If recruitment is high the harvest of slot length SMB (small bass) will need to be done to produce good numbers of the target sized bass. The concept is very similar to growing LMB.