Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Corrective stocking Stocking Questions

My pond is .5 acres and is approx. 10 ft. deep in the middle. The pond has lots of tiny GSF. I would like to get rid of them. I would like to stock some LMB and CC. Reading some posts, I have seen that some people have stocked some adult LMB. Is this a good idea? Also, will CC eat some of the GSF if stocked? Where and how do I start?

If you do not want GSF you could kill the whole pond and start fresh? Then begin the cycle to grow whatever type fish you want?

If you want to get rid of GSF, LMB will eat them. Don't know on the CC someone else will have to help you there.

What are your goals for the pond? Generally, LMB will out compete and nearly remove all GSF from the pond, especially when stocked in combination with BG. CC especially when larger will feed on GSF, however they have a small mouth size so they are limited to what size GSF they can eat.

I would like to produce trophy size LMB and CC. The pond has a mixture of BG and GSF, but more GSF than anything.

A pond can, depending on who you talk to, carry between (but not more) than 50 and 100 pounds of predators per acre. Of course this also considers the BG that prey on other smaller fish.

It seldom pays to stock larger fish. They seem to have trouble acclimating to new environments.

We also have to consider that the amount of water can vary. Rain just isn't all that dependable. I personally think that we need to stock and maintain the biomass of all fish at 2/3 the max rate. Call it insurance against a DO crash.

So, what do we/you call a trophy? Lets use 20 inches long as a trophy. That fish needs a continuous diet of 5 to 6 inch prey. Emphasis on the word continuous. If it ever makes it to 24 inches, its needs then shift to 6 to 8 inch prey. Once it has eaten the prey that is appropriate, it has to go for smaller prey. That isn't real efficient and it uses up too much energy for the calories it gets for all that work. It's own progeny are eating the prey before it gets large enough for the big girl that we want to grow. So, its own progeny keep us from really growing the trophy that we want.

What to do when you want a line buster in a smaller pond? Start with a feeder. If it were me, I would either stock a half dozen 8 to 10 inch HSB and use the feeder. They will still be a BG/GSF predator and help control the biomass. Or maybe 12 to 25 CC. There are always a couple of them that get so hook shy that they turn into line busters. Their spawn is almost always eliminated by the BG. Another possibility is 6 to 10 female only, feed trained bass. Along the way you have to not catch or harm them until they turn into true trophies.

You can obviously try other fish or combos but I think this is your best chance of raising trophies in a small pond.

If you want to really enjoy fishing, forget about trophies and just go for having fun.

Dave for me, at 15, I'm realizing that I shouldn't try for the trophy, but rather make the sport enjoyable. If I want to just have fun, but also some larger fish what would/should I do?

If I wanted to have fun and could either afford a feeder or afford to hand feed I would put about 100 Hybrid Bluegills and about 25 Hybrid Stripers in. The Hybrid bluegills should go in at about 4 inches each and stock them anytime but before the Stripers. That way they could let them grow large enough to escape predation when you add the stripers about 6 months later. The stripers could be about 6 inches long. The stripers will pretty well clobber the GSF and create an interesting fishery. OK, that's the long term solution to having catchable big fish without letting anything else, like BG and LMB, overspawn.

To have fun: I would ignore all of the above and toss about 10 to 12 foot long(approx) LMB in there and let them start chowing down and clobbering the GSF. The bass will overspawn in 4 or 5 years and mess up everything. However, until then you will have a ball. Also by then, you will be old enough and experienced enough to make a decision about the next step. If you keep hanging out here you will get a pretty good education in ponds, fish and fishing.

How many would you say for a 1/2 acre pond?

About a dozen or so. Maybe 20.

You do want to stay around hear and learn, as I had not found this site before stocking mine and boy did I stock it (over stock that is), but the people selling me the fish thought a $1 was more important I guess.

Now do not get me wrong, it is a great place for me to take my girls if I want some action, but the problem is they like to keep everything and it has taken 2 years to get anything of size, and I think that we could have had some in as little as 1 year had I not stocked so many fish.

I do however have a cheap hanging feeder so that helps ths GSF, BG, HBG, & CC grow faster to eat. I am now taking all catfish I can catch since I stocked 100 of them in my pond. I think I have taken between 15-20 out so far, does not seem like much, but I think there should have only been about 5-10 of them stocked since my pond is only .25-.50 acre.

So decide what you like to do with the pond and fish and keep us posted.