Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose Pond Stocking???

How big do you think the 4" 25 LMB I just put in my pond will be by the end of summer?

It depends on a lot of things but forage (food ) is key.

Best guess if you have a lot of forage 10 - 12 inches by Oct 1.

4" bass that makes me nervous. Those fish are a yr old and only 4"? Agree if forage is right might get to 10". Just hope you did not get the bottom of the barrell fish.

I hope they are not a year old and from a hatchery at 4 in.

I'm not sure where anyone got the idea the LMB I stocked were a year old.

The LMB came from Carolina Fish Hatchery and how long it takes them to get to 4", well I have no idea.

http://www.carolinafishhatchery.com/

At that size and this time of year they would have been born last year. The question is when. Were they late born in Sept or were they born last spring and just not fed enough and or were they runts of the spawn. That is the question Greg is pointing out.

thanks for clarifying Eric. Diesel just ask them when were the bass I bought spawned. My guess is May or so last year. This is why I talk folks into waiting a little later last of May or early June and getting 2" fingerling bass from this year instead of last year fish. You shoudl be able to grow them quicker in your pond than crowded hatchery setting. GL

IC

Will there be a difference between the the two types you mentioned in by next year?

Many hatcheries that are capable of it will induce spawning also by recreating the temps and photoperiod along with the chemical inducement to ripen/lays eggs.

The supplier I use for feed trained bass have little or no natural reproduction in their grow out ponds.

I do not know of a hatchery in the SE that does not produce bass in late March/April or latest into May. Not a big deal I guess you just only got 4 inches in about a year. GL

The other day after throwing the fish food out into the pond. I walked around the pond and on the opposite side from the fish food noticed a couple of fish (about 6") going after a couple of shells floating in the water.

I guess I can assume that these were a couple of my Shell Crackers. When I first stocked the pond I put in 500BG and 250 Shell Crackers.

I guess that there is enough food in the pond that all the fish don't come a running when the food gets thrown in.

RES don't pellet train easily and usually don't come from the hatchery pellet trained. Thus chances are, the RES have no interest when your feeder goes off...

Well I know about how big this LMB got in a year. My big question is why would it have died we have not had a rain that was more than a sprinkle in the past +10 days? Eailer this year in Febuary we had a turn over that killed two other LMB and 1 or 2 BG.

This LMB wasn't dead yesterday when I was fishing in the evening. The turtles were enjoying it though.

Could it have been a female that was spawning that got hurt while spawning?

Diesel that is who I got my fish from. My bass were stocked Oct. 2010, and are 12 inches average and fat. Started eating pellets well too. I did however wind up with a few HBG that I didn't order. But all the fish have done great thus far. I put several bags of fatheads, and shiners in to help them along.

I'm happy with the fish them the smallest of the three dead ones was 14".

Hate to hear they died. Do you aerate?

No not yet and not likely to this year.

To me, that fish looks like it's been dead more than 24 hrs. It might have died a few days ago, and sunk, only to float when decomp generated enough gasses inside to float the fish. What's the black spot behind the anal fin?

I'm not sure the turtles were snacking on it when I found it.

Could it have been in the spawning process and been hurt?

Possibly. If it's a female, then it looks like she dropped her eggs already. I've never seen Males with really swollen bellies during spawning. Spawning stresses the fish, and sometimes fish croak for reasons unknown to us "after the fact". I know it's upsetting to have your prized fish go belly up, no matter how small, but I look at it as a fact of life, even we do the best that we can to prevent it. From hatching to reaching adulthood, look at how many fish don't make it.......

Well I caught my first LMB from my pond tonight right at dark it was about 16" long, so at least one is okay.

I have found a new wrinkle in my pond we were fishing Saturday evening and a friend caught a catfish from our pond about 18" long. I can only think of a few ways catfish got in our pond.

1 - Previous ower put them in (he said there were no fish in the pond)
2 - Geese transported catfish eggs to our pond
3 - A couple catfish were in the BG/Shell Crackers or LMB when they were stocked.
4 - Someone else added them to the pond.

How will having catfish change how I manage my BG and LMB

Well at least my LMB and BG/Shell Crackers are doing fine it seems like.
http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Main=22658&Number=288238#Post288238

I would say 1, 3 or 4 was a greater possibility than 2.

How to manage? IF there are no cavities for them to use as spawning sites, then just catch and remove every one you catch. If they are bullheads instead of catfish, then LMB in sufficient quantities will eat the YOY. You might never get them all out of the pond if they are BH.

I think you are correct 1 might be the most likely since he had to boys that were less than 18 when the pond was built.

I think I might bottle fish for the cats.

Are they CC or bullheads?