Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Stocking an extremely small pond

I have a 30x100 x 5' deep pond that I've used for breeding and raising ornamental fish (koi) for the last few years but with the way the economy has been it's becoming more work than it's worth.

I'm looking into the idea of stocking some gamefish so the kids and I could soak a worm in our own yard so to speak.

This pond has fairly steep sides at almost 1-1 but it still only holds approx 75,000 gallons of water as per the water meter on the initial fill.

I'm looking for some ideas on what types of fish can be easily kept in this type of puddle with success besides ornamentals. I've brought the koi indoors over the winters but the couple straglers that were left in the pond last year were still alive and kicking fins this spring when I drained it. The pond is fishless now until I decide which way to go this year except for the 50,000,000 tadpoles.

http://www.pondboss.com/articles/Small-Ponds-with-a-Big-Purpose-How-Small-is-too-Small
Have you read the free Pond Boss articles ?

thanks for the link, I hadn't seen that one. Unfortunately that article is still talking about ponds that are 15x the size of mine. I get the principle of keeping stocking levels within what the pond can handle and I can aerate this puddle in the heat of the summer but It still brings me back to Is it feasible to have game fish in this size pond even if it's only 50 bluegills or a couple LMB

Hardly any fish crap more than Koi, so you can stock higer numbers as long as your water pharameters alow it.
But some fish are theritorial and need some space fore that reason.
5 feet deep means that themperature also will be something you have to consider.
Look up on your local supliers what kind of fish they can offer, then see wich one suits the habitat and you.
The supliers also can give you 1. hand details on all needs to the specific speice and combinations of such.
And/or if you need any permits to stock

If you are O.K. with feeding the fish, I think you could get some larger fish pretty quickly. With the steep sides, and small pond size, I would manage it strictly as a put-n-take fishery.

Hybrid Bluegill
A couple pellet trained LMB
A couple of Hybrid Striped Bass
Channel Cats

Rats, I just remembered you are in Wi. That might kill the HSB idea.

The LMB would be a catch and release deal, but the HBG and CC would be catch and keep, especially the CC. They will get smart quick, and once they are caught a time or 2 they won't be easy to catch a 3rd time. They are cheap to stock, so it'd be easy and inexpensive to restock when the time comes.

That pond is about quarter acre, so you should be able to handle 125# of fish in the pond if you feed and aerate. The number of fish to put in the pond will be determined by their size. I'd shoot for 75# of fish or so, that'll leave room for tadpoles, minnows (FHM, GSH or both) and room for the fish to grow.

The shallow depth might mean problems carrying fish over thru the winter. If that was the case, then I'd look at those fish species, but get larger ones in the Spring to ensure the fish are big enough to hit the table, and look into stocking some LMB from surrounding waters (if legal) because they are pretty expensive to buy 12" or so LMB every year.

That far north couldn't he also use a SMB and Pumkinseed combo? (It is too cold for RES in WI?).

All male BG pond?

Yellow Perch in the mix somehow?

Trout?

Is the five foot depth gonna be a limiting factor?

Depht is a limiting factor in it self on some factors.
If the pond is a traditionaly build koi pond they often have a black liner that will atract the sun heat (fast heating)
If it is buldt in concrete you have a material that is holding the heat (heat magazine).
Heat = DO isues.
Koi ponds often dosen't have hideouts because you want to see the fish.
All these things can "easely" be converted if so.
But it might be a mudpond joust dosen't sound like that, since it have 5 feet vertical edges, it might be joust the pic I get in my head from the description.
Post a pic of the dam gives a better visual for us.
Do you have some sort of filter set up?

This is a mud pond that's been used only for raising koi fry for one season with agressive feedings. I've had good luck spawning them in late may or early june and getting 5-6" of growth by October when I would bring them in for the winter.


I've had luck with the pond easily supporting 300 4-6" fingerlings after agressive monthly culling. If you guys think this size water body can handle up to 125# maybe I've been way off on how many fish this could actually keep. I would guess the koi fingerlings are maybe a few ounces each so at the end of the seasons I might be up to 30 lbs at the most.

Now I'm getting excited about this. I'd really like to be able to fish here in my back yard but I would never throw a hook into the water with koi.

You moste defenitly have a good BOW for raising game fish I would say from looking at the pic.
However water quality is the clue.
I think CecilB is the man on trout(???????), he will probably see your thread, drop in on it and give you some advice?
Or turn it around look at his threads/posts his ponds are smaller than your and doing good.

For trout smaller is better as it takes less cold water inflow to cool the pond. Your steep sides are a definitely a plus to keep warming down. That said, you would need a dedicated well pumping most likely 24/7 up to 6 months of the year and a place for the overflow to go. However, with a dedicated well -- with the water being aerated after it comes out of the well -- (packed column or simply splash it on rocks etc) keeping trout for the kids to catch year around would be a no brainer.

But if you don't want to go to the expense of a well you can plant trout seasonally when the water is cold for the kids to catch.

I have three 1/10 acre ponds. One was used as a holding pond last year where I held over 100 11 to 12 inch perch, 50 large bluegills, and thousands of fatheads. There was even some bluegill reproduction. I also fed the fish pellets although the perch went off feed eventually probably due to all the fatheads. Granted I took the most of the perch back out via hook and line -- mostly in early summer when I moved them back to their original pond after repairs -- but with a diffuser going nightly I think I could have made it work through the summer.

Presently a different 1/10th acre pond holds approximately 180 six to eleven inch male yellow perch (there were 200 but my nephew, his son, and I, took out 20 for a fish fry). And about 200 mostly female 6 to 8 inch bluegills. I'm feeding them heavily once a day with no problems so far. I run a diffuser in the pond at night and I have the pond dyed with aquashade. I will be thinning them out via angling over the summer though. IMHO the amount of fish you have in mind wouldn't be a problem at all.

It's not unusual for aquaculture facilities to keep up to 5000 lbs. of fish per acre (although 2500 is a safer amount), but they do do some serious aerating with massive surface aerators, and they maintain a safe algae bloom to mitigate ammonia levels.

Running a well continiously isn't an option at this point. I've got several tanks and other ponds that are running for the koi and my saltwater clownfish breeding system, and the electric bill is already to much.

It sounds bad but I'm not really that enthused about eating fish. I've always been fascinated with fish and I really enjoy catching them but not eating them. My wife and kids on the other hand love fish, but I know trout will be out of the question.

I think perch would be a great fish for the table but will they take feed or do they need the minnows?

The perch will definately take minnows, and some guys are reporting seeing them feeding on pellets. The water looks good, and I believe you can do more than you think with that BOW!

I didn't look at Andy's links but feed trained perch are definitely available in Wisconsin. Most likely they were first feed trained in Wisconsin! The yellow perch I feed trained myself are voracious feeders at feeding time.

As far as eating fish i didn't like eating them much as a kid growing up but I sure liked catching them. In retrospect my mother really didn't now how to cook them although she is an excellent cook otherwise. Once I took it upon myself to learn different ways to prepare them and now I absolutely love eating fish!

Oh no.

Now we've done it.

hehe, don't feel bad, it was bound to happen sooner or later.

I've been reading here on PB all day and I think now I'm more confused as to what types of fish will work the best in my puddle.

Well, in Wi., you might be more limited on what's available than some of us. Have you done any searching to see what IS available? If so, let us know.

Oh jeez, you see Tnoble, this is how it starts. You start reading. Then you start thinking. Then you start posting. Then you make a plan. Then you start working on the plan. Then you start obsessing. Then you do some more thinking. You subscribe to Pond Boss magazine (which you should do by the way) and you buy a bunch of books. Then you travel half way around the country to meet with other folks to do what - - talk about ponds. Then you start posting more. Next thing you know you're closing in on 6,000 posts and you can't remember how you got there.

Yep you're gonna fit right in around here.

Welcome to the asylum.

Cecil, is there a specific farm you know of in Wi. that has feed trained perch?

Ya thats funny,

With the full time job working 60 hr a week (equipment operator). 30 hrs a week dealing with koi, another 30 hrs a week dealing with saltwater clownfish, I'm sure the wife wont mind me spending the last hrs of the week playing with more fish.

I'll be calling around to some local hacheries this week to check the available fish but I'm wondering if this pond could support FH minnows YP, BG and next year put in a couple LMB

I would think just about all of them do. You may have trouble getting them this time of year though.

If it was me I'd put the fatheads in now and add bluegills, yellow perch, and just a few largemouths next spring.

well, I havn't had a chance to get a hold of a hatchery yet but what would be some amounts of YP BG and LMB to stock in the spring, and will just a couple pounds of FH be enough to get things started this year?