Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose I got a chance to spend somebody else's money lol.

A friend of mine just got his new 11 acre pond to the top of his spillway. He does not fish but he wants manage his pond for trophy (8 lb.+) bass. He knew I fished and offered me the chance to get his pond going. Financing is no problem. He has stocked fathead minnows and CNBG about a month ago. There is coontail starting to grow. What steps do I need to go to make this happen? I told him it make take a few years to get to where he wants, and he understands that.

I would definately add Golden shiners!

In general, in your part of the country you want to stock 1000-2000 BG per acre with maybe 10% of those numbers being RES. I would also stock 5 pounds per acre of GSH. Stock these fish ASAP. Sometime this fall would be ideal... Next spring, I would stock a full load of Tshad if you are seeing a decent bloom in the pond.

Then you can stock 50-100 LMB per acre next fall. In your area would go with half northern LMB and half F1 northernxFL LMB. If you are not too far norh, you may wanna give Todd Overton a ring and talk to him about stocking at least a certain percentage of his Camolot Bell LMB. Since you have a virgin pond to work with, you are in an ideal position to get some known double digit genetic bass in the pond. No other fish species need to be stocked. Keep crappies, CC or really any other species of fish out. So, that is GSH, FHM, BG, RES, Tshad and LMB. NOTHING ELSE!

When 50% plus of the bass are 16-18" plus, you can consider stocking a load of Gshad. That should be closely evaluated though as there is substantial risk in doing this.

When you see the bass are large enough to start reproducing, I would begin closely tracking Wr on all bass and BG caught. Any bass under 8" the first year you see reproduction should be removed and any bass under 12" the second year should be removed. Then you need to really keep hammering the bass. You really cannot remove too many if your goal is to grow 8 pound plus bass with regularity.

Establishing a feeding program for the BG will assist in increasing biomass and the pounds of bass you can grow. An aeration system will also help with water quality and growth potential of the bass as well. GOOD LUCK!

HSB with pellets for bonus fish?

Sorry to barge in. I thought this was a politically oriented thread.
Leaving now....

CJ, Greg has had good success stocking about 1,000 more CNBG per acre and 25 less LMB per acre. He also selects the "shooter" LMB to get them going quicker. I agree about the Camelot LMB.

With financing not a problem I would add tilapia on an annual basis.

On a similar note, if finances aren't an issue, how about stocking trout in the Fall?

Also, you could consider Lake chub suckers. They have been discussed a bit on the forum as a possible large bass forage. Maybe someone else could comment on how well they might do in your climate.

I would add crawfish too.

LCS may be an option. Sourcing them is the problem. With unlimited money, supplemental stockings of tilapia in spring, rainbow trout in the fall and crayfish are options as well.

Main thing is to be patient on stocking the bass and let the forage base grow and expand. You want it to be loaded with baitfish!

Thanks for the input guys. We are lucky to have two hatcheries within 15 min. of the pond. Would you transplant a 9-10 lb female to the pond? I have a lake that produces 10+ lb. fish and wouldn't be a problem to get to the pond. I would try catch her in the late winter (along with a few males).

Have you seen this article in the other part of the PONDBOSS website.

http://www.pondboss.com/free_articles.asp?id=31&p=2

I would NOT do that. That fish could eat 100# of fish and not even blink.

Do not add adult bass if you want a balanced pond.

Large predators don't usually thrive when moved.

adafire724, reviewing the posts, you have received good advice from knowledgeable folks.
Camelot Bell pure Florida Largemouth Bass have been mentioned a couple of times and I would like to offer strong agreement.
This strain of Florida LMB have been developed over some seven years for fast growth, catchability and confirmation.

Check out Overton Fisheries web site for info.
Below are photos of one pound, six month old "shooter" Camelot Bell LMB I stocked last fall.
Good luck on an exciting program.
George Glazener

I had mentioned Camelot Bell to the owner earlier. This guy is kind of like the owner of the Bell. He loves to grow trophy whitetails and understands it takes money and time. We are not too far from there so getting them wouldn't be a problem.

George those are some gorgeous bass! Are they pure FL genes or is it unknown exact heritage?

If he's really that into growing trophy bass, he could do well to hire a pond consultant because there are so many factors to consider. I'm sure someone here could give him a good recommendation...

Don't forget to add structure (lots, for an eleven acre pond) and get a few docks in.

Travis, the Camelot Bell program, to the best of my knowledge, is pure Florida Bass stocked by the thousands in a virgin lake with no possible upstream contamination.
Best of the best selected each year for some seven years for fast growth, catchability and confirmation.
I stocked them primarily for son Jeff - avid bass fisherman.
Spoke yesterday - culling plan is to remove every LMB that is not an original fin clipped stocker, has a mottled back or a spot on it's nose.

We should have had good spring spawn but who knows the odds of one on one CBs - all other LMB bass in pond are pure DNA tested Floridas. We removed some ~40lbs of Florida LMB prior to stocking the Camelot Bells.
Interesting stuff - thanks!
George

The lake at Camelot Bell was first stocked with 250 jumper Florida bass, imported from Florida from a specific source. Mike has a great lake and the conditions are perfect for trophy bass production. In addition, Mike Frazier has been harvesting bass with aggressive discretion. At this time Mike actively harvests ALL fish caught that are less than 5-6lbs, sometimes even larger fish. I can vouch for the genetics, as I have been in the business for 15 years now and had never laid my eyes on largemouth bass that have the consistent physical characteristics of those at Camelot Bell.

The lunker fingerlings production program will be rolling again in 2014, so if you are interested in fingerlings from trophy specimens, then please contact us to get on the list.

In a new lake it would be best to stock with fingerlings instead of adults, IMO. Since the age of adult bass stockers is unknown, you will have more potential by starting with age 0 fingerlings.

Thanks for the added details Todd.