Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations New guy question wanting to add sportfish

Hello, I have an 1/10 acre pond (about 12 feet deep) and we had a winter kill about 5 years ago. The next summer we added a dozen gold fish from a bait store and now have hundreds of goldfish, as well as a couple turtles.
I have been lurking and have been thinking about adding some bluegill and possibly a few bass and/or catfish. My wife likes the goldfish, but she doesn't care if I add some predator fish and their numbers plummet. I primarily want a fun little fishing hole for my young girls and I to enjoy. I don't have an aerator, but do run a fountain that converts in winter to keep the hole in the ice to prevent another winter kill. I was wondering what I should stock and what numbers for such as small pond? I also was wondering if anyone had any experience with D.N.I. Fish Farm in WV? They are the closest to me. Thanks for your comments.

At 1/10 of an acre your pond may be too small to have a successful bass fishery

Can you post a picture of your pond?
The bass will love the goldfish.
Do you have much aquatic vegetation?
Would you consider enlarging pond?

If you can get single sex LMB, you could stock a dozen of the same sex.

You could also stock a couple dozen CC, a small number(around) 5 HSB and a hundred or so HBG and feed them.

I cannot enlarge the pond as it sets on a hillside and our home and driveway set too near the pond.
I don't have much aquatic vegetation. There is a little grass creeping in on one corner of the pond, but it is actually above the water level now because we have been pretty dry here lately.
What kind of feeding program do you recommend?

I would go with CJ's recommendations or at least a variation of it. HBG, CC, HSB, and if it were me with a small bucket feeder and some Game Fish Chow or Aquamax. I would throw in some FHM right now if it were me maybe a pound or two they would probably start spawning pretty quick.

Then again I would probably add (not recommended by others I am sure) 1 of each crappie, LMB, SMB, Drum, Gar, or any other local fish you have that is not illegal to stock. Now this would not be recommended by most, that is just something I would do if I had a small pond at my house, just to see how the 1 fish is doing if you ever caught it again, plus if it ever got to a size you wanted to keep you could take it and add another if you would like, at least this way you would not have to worry about them spawning.

I hope to get my hands on a few drum soon to add to my pond anyway just to see what happens. I was going to try an experiment with them, but since the pond is not void of fish like we had thought and I do not want to kill it off I will just have to wait on this for now.

Good luck with your venture and keep us posted on what you decide to do?

My first concern is depth. Is 12' deep in a 0.1 ac pond by actual measure? Have you measured the true depth lately with a rope and brick? A 60'X60' pond has to have very steep sides greater than 2.5:1 to be 12'deep and not have the bottom a V. If it is 12' deep your chances of a fish kill are again very good using only a fountain for aeration. Most fountains only mix the top 4'-6' of the warm layer of water and leave the deeper water without oxygen and developing toxic hydrogen sulfide. If the pond is over 7ft deep invest in a cheaper homemade style of bottom aerator.
http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=245867#Post245867

Others have provided several workable ideas or options for stocking additional fish into the pond. Consider stocking some just male BG or other single sex fish. BG are one of the easiest fish to accurately determine male & female esp during non-spawning time.

For some information about recognizing the difference between male and female BG, read, study and learn from this thread:
http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=286856&page=1

Many times the BG needs to be a full 7" or 8" long to usually detrermine the sex.
Keep in mind that the overall body hue or darkness of colors can vary widely from pond to pond due to water color and bottom composition. BG tend to have most vidid body colors and markings tend to darkest during spawning season. Gill flap or ear lob does not change shape during the seasons. Thus the gill flap will be the same size and shape in winter as summer. As the BG gets larger the gill flap increses in size proportional to an increase in body size. I can almost always recognize a male BG by the size & shape of the gill flap and the dark tiped scales of the nape (forehead). Sometimes these dark tipped scales extend back and down across the male's body as in the 1st picture by B.Condello in the link above. Compare the dark tipped scale pattern of fish in the 1st and last BG picture in the thread. Sometimes the overall body hue of the male with be so dark that the dark tipped scales are not readily apparent. This usually occurs in clear, brown or tannin stained water.

You can check what you have learned for sexing BG by posting a picture your B and a guess as to male or female. Once you are confident of your opinions you can catch several males from a local pond and add them to your pond.
You also need to be able to recognize a green sunfish and not put them in your pond. Sorry to JHAP & GSA members.