Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose Trying to plan what to stock...

1st post here, but have been reading a lot. I have a small ranch around Brady, Tx and have always wanted a pond on my property. I met with the local guys from nrcs and they came out and helped me get started and now i have a pond that measures 130x115 and want what i read here is something i should not do. Under an acre LMB seems like a no no because you cant harvest much. My question is what if its catch and release on the LMB and only harvest BG. I have nothing against CC but i have read over and over that they get hook shy and dont want a pond full of fish that wont bite after its been fished a lot. I am mainly a hunter first, not really a fisherman but now that i have my pond would not mind a little entertainment...

Addl info. Max depth is 13 ft average is 7 ft. This pond is about 30 percent shaded. According to the nrcs guy that was out several times from the test hole to completion, the soil was outstanding all the way down and says that it should do real well year round based on everything they looked at.

The LMB also get conditioned(hook shy). The LMB can also over spawn and stunt.

I think I would re think the whole deal. How about some Hybrid Stripers, Hybrid Bluegill and a feeder.

I think if you do some catch and harvest and don't stick to strictly catch and relase you'll be fine. Yes, it won't support a large amount of LMB, but unless you plan on doing a LOT of BG fishing, they will be needed for BG control.

I am with Dave, in ponds that will get heavy fishing pressure... If you are willing to feed pellets and restock new fish ever year/every other year, then hybrid bluegill, hybrid striped bass and a hand full of channel cats is an excellent combination.

Plus they bite well !

Im willing to feed, not sure how much will be taken out. It would be mostly catch and release unless there is a compellng reason to remove fish. Just for kicks and giggles, what is a result seen most often when someone has lmb and bg in a small tank? I see lots of people managing for trophy lmb and understand that raising 8 lb fish is desirable and all but just have a hard time accepting something but not knowing the consequences. I assume you end up with much smaller fish??? Keep in mind that i really dont care to have monster fish, just want entertainment, and entertainment does not have to be big....i guess my question is whats the result most often seen when going against the grain and stocking a tank under an acre with the above. Thanks for the replys, i am learning...

OK, you're a rancher so we can think alike. I've always thought that the best cattle rancher is going to be a grass farmer.

A pond with fish is like a pasture with cattle. The cows are predators of the grass and the grass is the forage. If you stock the pasture appropriately, the cows will eat and fertilize the grass/forage and do well for awhile. But, you have to sell calves or over stocking will denude the grass base and ruin the land. On the way to that stage, the cows will lose a lot of weight and you will have to spend a lot of $ buying hay. Or, you could buy the neighbors land to keep from having to eliminate calves.

Like a pasture, a pond has to be appropriately stocked and the biomass managed. If not, you will end up with a stripped forage base and a bunch of runty predators. The predator/prey relationship has to be carefully managed the keep it in balance. Like coyotes and cottontails, nature will keep them in a symbiotic relationship. When the coyotes eat all of the cottontails, they try to find a place to move to where there are fewer coyotes. Left alone, the LMB will spawn and over spawn giving you a bunch of fish that are over running their environment. However, unlike the coyote, they can't leave for greener pastures.

To boil it all down, bass are really good at spawning and take a lot more room than 1/3 acre. And, they are eating machines that need 10 pounds of forage to gain one pound. They prefer and need prey that is 1/4 to 1/3 their body size. Most smaller ponds, stocked with BG and LMB with limited management, wind up with some large BG and a bunch of starving runty bass.

That helps explain things better' so my question is, if you fish the heck out of the place why cant the ratios be maintained? I dont so much really care about lmb, truth be told if the fish are biting I am just satisfied with that. On a friends place in oklahoma he has an old tank that has not been stocked since i have known him going over 20 years, no huge fish in there but the entertainment is there. My focus is on trophy whitetail but this fishing is just a bonus. I really would like to stock and forget it (i dont want to add somethng else to my plate to keep up with). What would the result be if you just stocked with cbg and cc. I want to stay away from hybrids. Would that work ok? Is it possible to only stock a dozen or so same sex lmb so that reproduction is not an issue.

Fishing the heck out of it sounds good but the fish become conditioned and hook shy in smaller impoundments.

CC can't control any type of bluegills. That's why I say hybrids for a 1/3 acre, low maintenance pond.

If all you want it fast action, then over stock your LMB, knowing they will stunt. Then stock moderate numbers of CNBG. The LMB will always be hungry and ready to bite but will mostly be 8-12 inches in size. You'll get some good sized CNBG who will also cooperate for the hook. If you add a feeder, you can expect to grow even nicer CNBG. You can add a few CC every year or two to add to the mix...

Travis, here are my thoughts and it has everything to do with location.

Right now, he is probably about like me. More than likely he is either under a severe drought or extreme drought. Most of us are wondering if it's ever going to rain again.

So, thinking of biomass, I'm rethinking the LMB/BG mix with a few CC thrown in. His 1/3 acre pond could quickly become a less than 1/4 acre. I'm starting to think more in terms of hybrids to cut down on oxygen depletion. Spawning is not our friend with shrinking water holes and I'm looking harder at low maintenance hybrids with a feeder. CC's are OK because they're not likely to successfully spawn.

I may be all wrong on this and I've definitely been wrong before. However, I've also seen my share of fish kills in skinny hot water.

CC will often dig holes back into the pond walls to form cavities for spawning. Suppressing the spawning instinct is difficult. With lack of predators on the CC fry and fingerling, recritment of CC can occur to varying degrees. A 1/3 ac pond near me has only YP, RES and CC. CC are spawning successfully and numbers are stunted.

OK what you are asking is outside the box. You have gotten good advice above and they are viable inside the box answers. They do not seem to fit what you want and I'am not sure you can do what you want with the results you want at all with either an inside or outside the box answer.

So here goes. Are you willing to buy and stock a few adult CNBG and 50 HBG once every 3 years and harvest some LMB ? If so then consider 100 CNBG and 20 RES (best if they are 3 inches or better at stocking this spring), 5 lbs of FH and feed them. This fall add 10 10 inch LMB and 5 10 inch HSB and 50 adult HBG. Feed them. You can fish but don't remove any fish for 2 years except any HBG you catch after next summer. Starting in year 3 (summer 13) remove 7 lbs of LMB under 12 inches and any HBG or HSB you catch every year. After year 4 remove any LMB you catch over 4 lbs. Every 3rd spring (spring 14 , 17 etc) add 25 adult CNBG and 50 adult HBG and 5 10 inch HSB. It should come close to what you want with some effort and attention. The HBG provide fast aggressive action as do the HSB. They will both reach good size quickly on feed. The HSB will not reproduce and will help control the CNBG and the HBG offspring. The LMB will control the CNBG so some LMB will need to be removed and a few adult CNBG added to keep numbers managable. Some fast action with the small LMB , HBG and HSB ,some medium sized LMB and HSB with large aggressive HBG and a few large CNBG.

Thanks, i was always the one that had to know why something is the way it is and not just accept that it could not be done. There is one other answer, one i really didnt want to dea with.....i could just spend more cash and enlarge it to a size viable for the options i want....i do appreciate the replies.

And Ewest, thank you. That was exactly the type of response i was looking for. Basically doing what i want in a small tank is like making a yugo run 140mph....it can be done but its cheaper to just buy the corvette that can already do it.....

That is a good way to be ! It is the basis for growth. Keep asking questions ! Don’t be afraid to try something as small ponds are easy to start over or change directions with.

You can have a good pond at that size with aggressive fish to catch it just takes some thought and effort. Absent feed trained LMB or adding forage it is hard to have many 3 lb LMB and big CNBG with a pond that size. A put and take fishery in a small pond is a blast for catching fish using one of the plans the guys posted above. I can direct you to info on them. FWIW I would do a put and take fishery with CNBG , HBG , HSB , RES and FH. I would add at some point a few (3-5) adult female LMB with positive ID.