Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Creating the food chain Introducing wild minnows to pond?

There is about a 2 acre pond close to my house that I have gotten permission to mess around with. Right now it is loaded with stunted BG, HBG, and GSF. I started feeding the fish about 2 months ago, and they are looking a little better. I have put in about 15 LMB between 6 and 17 inches. It is mostly (about 3/4) less than 6 feet, but at one end it goes down to about 10 feet. Anyways, I was wondering if it would be safe to put in creek chubs, and spotted shiners from a creek right next to the pond. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

Jason,

First, welcome to the Pond Boss Forum.

Your description makes it sound like this is a pond that people have already "messed around in" quite a few times. I would not add more fish types to the pond until I knew what I had.

Few of us here would probably promote adding unknown fish from a public source.

Let us know what you would really like to achieve with this pond -- your goals. Big bass? Recreation? Big Bluegill? Lots of food? Etc.

Since you know a little bit about the pond's contour, I'd personally be inclined to bring in a pump, especially at this time of year. It should refill over the winter. I'd lower the pond level by several feet, to the point where most of it can be seined. I'd seine and cull the nasties out -- like the GSF and HBG. I'd determine what the current bluegill and largemouth population looked like.

I'd start from there -- once you know what you would like to have in the pond by late next summer, and beyond.

Regards,
Ken

Nasties? HBG are nasty? How come no one told me? I'd like to make a request of someone in tech support, could I please get an animated emoticon of me beating my head against the wall? Sure would save me a lot of typing.

Seriously though Jason, I do agree with Ken on one point. You should spend some time deciding what you want this pond to be. It's tough to tell which direction to travel until you have a road map.

Now if by some chance you should decide that growing a large-gaped, colorful, hard fighting, aggressive, virtually non-stunting type of BG fits in your plans, then by all means drop me a line......

Nasty indeed! now I won't be able to sleep

I am only 14 so I don't have the option of pumping it, or doing too much else. Basically the only thing I can do is feed the fish, take fish out, and put fish in. I am hoping to just get quality bass and bluegill, since I don't have many resources. In my opinion quality is lots of 15-20 inch bass, and nice hand sized bluegill, with some bigger fish mixed in. I have fished there for bass with all types of lures on lots of different days, so I'm pretty sure there are no bass in there (besides the ones I have put in). Also there are lots of big snapping turtles in there, should I take them out or just leave them?

Jason,

Kudos on taking an interest in the pond, and trying to improve it. That's quite an ambitious project for anyone, let alone a 14 yr. old! Well done!

Since you're probably operating under a limited budget, I think you're on the right track with adding the Bass, and removing the smaller, stunted BG/HBG/GSF. I assume that you're moving the Bass over from another pond? There are risks involved in this maneuver, but I think in your case the potential gains outweigh the risks. I would continue to add Bass while removing the BG. Try and determine what the largest size class of BG are in the pond. Can you tell the difference between male and female BG? If not study up on it. You will want to remove all female BG, and all smaller male BG, while releasing the largest size class of male BG. If the pond truly is overrun with stunted fish, there may not be much difference in size classes. In that case, I would concentrate on removing all BG. There have been some very imformative threads on here about building fish traps - I think that would be a great idea for you also.

What are you feeding the fish? I believe that is one of the best things you can do to try and improve their size.

As far as the turtles go, if you want to harvest them for food then I would take them out. If you're worried about potential damage to your fish, well, I don't think you have much to be concerned about.

Female BG are paler than males right? I am removing all of the BG out right now, because the largest fish are 5 in. and really skinny, and those are the HBG and GSF. I am just feeding some catfish feed, because that is all my dad will buy me. In the area where I am feeding they are much fatter though.

Females can be lighter than males, especially during spawning when the males are the brightest. However color is not the best way to determine gender, especially since as cooler weather approaches both sexes will tend to fade out some. Is there someone who could provide some links for Jason pertaining to sexing BG? I have never had much luck with the search function here. In the meantime, I would continue to cull all the BG.

Catfish feed will definitely help the BG out, I would keep it up for as long as your water temps permit it, or until the fish quit feeding. Once water temps drop below 60 degrees I usually stop feeding.

There's a sunfish identification thread in the archives.

Thanks for the help guys, also should I put in some catfish if I have a chance?

The information on sexing BG can be found here:

http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=104013

ewest has some great pics and a chart that should help. I believe it is the 11th(?) entry (page 2). Jason, you can search for more info on Google by typing in “your info site:pondboss.com” in the Google search. For example, I found the above info by using the Google search

sexing BG site:pondboss.com

Jason, I won't stock them again in my pond. I have found that if they are caught once that they are VERY hard to catch again. A neighbor has the same problem, except his haven't been caught. They come up for food (pellets) and if a buddy is caught, they disappear for the remainder of the day.

But, everybody is different. Lots of people do stock them, so it really is up to you. I just wanted to point out a down side to them that I've seen.

Well the only way for me to get bass in their is to catch them. I just want to put in chubs and shiners for the bass to eat.

Jason, I wouldn't worry too much about the Bass not having enough to eat. If the pond is as full of stunted fish as you describe, they won't have any problem keeping their bellies full. You want the LMG foraging on your BG - not on an additional food supply. (chubs and shiners).

Thanks for all the help guys, but I have another question. There are some small LMB, topping out at about 8-9 inches, in the same creek and I have put about 10 in the pond. Will they get as big as LMB from ponds and lakes, or will they not get much bigger than they are?

All depends, if they are young fish they may have a lot of growth left in them. If they are older and stunted, they may not get much larger than 12"-14".