Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose Any advice on stocking new pond in PA?

Hi All!

I have a new 1 acre pond in NE Pennsylvania with a maximum depth of 12 feet and average depth of 8-10 feet. Elevation is 1100ft and the annual water temperature range is about 34F-72F (spring and runoff fed). My goal is to have a good sporting pond, Large Mouth, etc... Any recomendations on how and what to stock with this upcoming spring? I'd love to stock Hybrid Strippers but am not too sure of the temp range ... Thanks in advance for any feedback! Happy New Year!!!

Hello, 221.

Your water temps may be a little cool for Largemouth (LMB). They should be OK for hybrid stripers (HSB) and Smallmouth (SMB) if you are interested in them as well. Walleye would probably also do well at these temps, but are unlikely to spawn and should be considered a put-and-take species like HSB. So think about what predators you would like.

Your forage base is the first thing you should stock and hence needs to be decided upon. Stocking Fathead Minnows (FH) ASAP this Spring would be a good idea regardless of the predator(s) you will end up using. You are likely too cold to allow Redear Sunfish (RES) to do well in your pond, so you may want to think about putting in some Pumpkinseed (PS) for snail (and hence snail-carried parasite control). PS will not get real big, nor are they likely to overpopulate in the presence of a large number of predators. You may have trouble finding PS available commercially if you want to use them.

But you need to decide your main forage base, which I see as being either Bluegill (BG) or Yellow Perch (YP) for your water temps. The best choice probably depends upon which predator(s) you would like to use. I believe YP would go well with SMB, HSB, or Walleyes but there are some real YP experts (like Bill Cody) who will have a much better idea. Sunil is probably the best one to discuss SMB in PA, but I can't remember what his forage base is.

My personal thought is to stock forage fish Spring 2006 and add predators in Fall 2006 or Spring 2007.

Will you be feeding pelleted food? This will make a difference on stocking numbers, especially if you go with HSB.

Given your enthusiasm for HSB, I would definitely figure on using them as one primary predator. The cheapest time to stock them is of course in a new pond when you can safely put in smaller fingerlings without the risk of large predators eating them.

Theo,

Thank you very much for your advice! It's greatly appreciated!

I am up in Upstate NY and have similar water temps and conditions. I went with the fatheads and crayfish first then waited a year and introduced the Yellow Perch and then the next year the Small mouth bass. By doing so I have continued to have a great forage base in Fatheads and crayfish as well as YP. The bass are doing great and all is in harmony in my pond.

Best advice that can be given is do not rush to put in game fish. Build the eco system first and allow forage fish a time to establish. Once you have that you will have an eco system that mostly takes care of itself.

I am not sure that you can get HSB in PA. Cecil has the name of a good source for Yperch in eastern PA. I will try to get the name for you; however it may take some time.

Thanks Bill! That'd be great!

Here is a link to info on sunfish such as the ones Theo mentioned and a few more like the Redbreast sunfish which can do well in cold water.

http://www.cnr.vt.edu/efish/families/centrarchidae.html

Here is a link which will let you get info on all the fish mentioned.

http://www.fishbase.org/search.php?lang=English

Just type in the name , search and click on the species name when the list pops up.

Welcome and glad to have you on board.

To add to Bill Cody's comment, yes, Hybrid Stiped Bass are available/allowed in PA. I believe your temp. range would allow them, however, they have specific needs/preferences which are detailed extensively on the forum.

Everybody's comments are right on about establishing your forage base. Except for a few extreme cases, you probably can't do any wrong by getting fathead minnows established, as well as some regular bluegill (an example of a mistake could be stocking a lot of bluegill early on if walleye are going to be your main predator - anyone, please correct me if needed).

I would not be able to help myself but to dig some holes in the ice and dump several dozen fatheads and shiners into the pond now, as well as catching some bluegill & yellow perch from a local lake and putting them in now. If that would be a mistake, I'd like someone to correct me. But I still wouldn't be able to help myself.

Like Theo and others said, you have a lot of predator options.

I have been satisfied with a fish supplier out of Harrisburg, PA. If you want his contact info, I can send it to you. One advantage I get from this guy is that I can get fingerlings or larger fish from him. A few months back, I put in 12 HSB, and their total weight was over 20 lbs.

Do a lot of research and ask a lot of questions on the forum here. You could have a crazy-ass SMB fishery with reproduction like Eric is experiencing right now. In such a case, you may not want to ever introduce LMB. These are those tidbits of info. that can make all the difference.

Ewest & Sunil,

Thanks for all of the info! Everyone on this forum have been very helpful!

Sunil, if you can provide me with the info for your supplier in Harrisburg that would be great!

Thanks again!

pschneid221, I sent you an email, through your forum profile, with the contact info.

Congratulations on the new pond and best of luck with the stocking(s).

Here's the website of a supplier in PA.

http://www.buybass.com/

Cecil, I looked at the Schultz website and am impressed with his warnings about crappie and recommendations about bass size stocking. He appears to be a real pro.

I noticed that he only sells 4 to 6 inch and larger bluegill. Mostly we are only able to get 2 to 4 inch with almost all of them closer to 2 inch than 4 inch. Do you find that this is a regional difference due to shorter growing and spawning seasons?

HEY pschneid221 YOU ALSO MY WHAT TO CONTACT ZETTS HATCHERY IN WV, HE HAS A WIDE RANGE OF BASS, CATFISH, ETC. HIS PHONE IS 304-229-3654. ASK FOR ANDREW. HE WILL SEND YOU A BOOK WITH A PRICE LIST.

Dave,

I really don't know. In my area it's actually hard to find bluegills that are not hybrids.