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Hey guys,
I am new here. I just moved into a house with a small 1/2 acre pond. It is loaded with 10-12 inch Bass but thats about it. A few adult sunfish but not many at all.
Tommorrow I am gonna stock 20 Channel cats from 8-11 inches and 5 lbs of Golden shiners and 5lbs of fatheads. I know forage fish is an issue.
I am thinking of adding about 10-12 1 pound hybrids to the mix. I plan on feeding them and the catfish every morning before I go to work to take pressure off of the forage and to grow them faster.
The main goal for this pond will be good fishing. I am a saltwater fisherman and very in to Saltwater striper fishing so it would be alot of fun for me to have some Hybrids right near the house.
Thanks for any help and I look forward to learning alot on this site.
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Why the channel cats? Do you plan to catch and eat them?. AS the cats get large expect the water clarity to diminish, but that is perfectly acceptable if you plan to eat catfish. 10lbs of shiners and minnows in a pond of 10"-12" LMB (possible 30 bass) will last at least a week. Okay I first thought you were referring to hybrid BG, you mean HSB. Why not thin and eat the LMbass and replace each one with an HSB that will eat pellets, grow fast, and provide great fishing for you? Condello and others here have produced HSB up 26"+ and around 10 lbs in smaller ponds. Once the HSB get to above 16"-18" they should be able to eat larger pellets of Aquamax largemouth which will keep them growing at a very good rate.
Sunfish are few in your pond due to heavy predatory pressure of the LMB. Any idea what type of sunfish they are?
Last edited by Bill Cody; 09/30/08 08:37 PM.
aka Pond Doctor & Dr. Perca Read Pond Boss Magazine - America's Journal of Pond Management
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I like the idea of someday having a couple very big channel cats in there someday for fishing. I am actually not that worried about water clarity. Its actually crystal clear right now other than some pond scum.
How do I know how many bass to remove?
I have honestly only seen one sunfish.
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I am actually don't care about having Sunfish in the pond unless people feel they are a necessary forage species.
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BG sunfish is the backbone or main forage of a LMB pond. Unless you use feed trained LMB it's usually recommened to have a thriving BG population.
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BG sunfish is the backbone or main forage of a LMB pond. Unless you use feed trained LMB it's usually recommened to have a thriving BG population. I was planning on using the fatheads and the golden shiners as primary forage but I guess the BG's would be more self sustaining. I appreciate everyone's input and I am really glad I found this site.
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Sunil should be able to supply the name of his HSB supplier.
With an established LMB group the minnows and shiners will be just temporary food. You will be lucky if the 10 lbs lasts 7 days; 3-5 days is more likely.
If you like to catch striped bass, and hybrid bass then I would remove every LMB that you can by angling. With good regular feeding of high protein pellets (not cheap catfish food) and if you remove most all LMB you could put 30 to 40 HSB in the pond. You may have to thin them as they get to 18"-22". With that many HSB aeration would be very beneficial to help keep the pond in a healthier condition.
Last edited by Bill Cody; 09/30/08 09:26 PM.
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Sunil should be able to supply the name of his HSB supplier.
With an established LMB group the minnows and shiners will be just temporary food. You will be lucky if the 10 lbs lasts 7 days; 3-5 days is more likely.
If you like to catch striped bass, and hybrid bass then I would remove every LMB that you can by angling. With good regular feeding of high protein pellets (not cheap catfish food) and if you remove most all LMB you could put 30 to 40 HSB in the pond. You may have to thin them as they get to 18"-22". With that many HSB aeration would be very beneficial to help keep the pond in a healthier condition. Thanks for your input. I am gonna start thinning the LMB. I also already have a supplier for the HSB. D Would it be ok to keep a few bass in there? Also are BG neccesary?
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Whereabouts in PA do you hail from Mike? You must be from out east as the saltwater fishing is limited up here by Lake Erie, heh heh. Good to have you aboard.
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Whereabouts in PA do you hail from Mike? You must be from out east as the saltwater fishing is limited up here by Lake Erie, heh heh. Good to have you aboard. I live right near West Chester, Pa. I am actually not too far outside of Philly
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Would it be ok to keep a few bass in there?
Also are BG neccesary?
Assuming that "a few bass" means LMB, you're not going to catch them all anyway. CC and HSB should do very well eating fish feed, but unless the LMB are feedtrained they will not do too well without BG for forage. You can see how things go and add BG later if you desire.
"Live like you'll die tomorrow, but manage your grass like you'll live forever." -S. M. Stirling
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How many BG would you add to a 1/2 acre pond if your only goal is to provide forage to the LMB
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I'd try 3 dozen adults 6"+ (7" & 8" better).
"Live like you'll die tomorrow, but manage your grass like you'll live forever." -S. M. Stirling
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Sunil should be able to supply the name of his HSB supplier.
With an established LMB group the minnows and shiners will be just temporary food. You will be lucky if the 10 lbs lasts 7 days; 3-5 days is more likely.
If you like to catch striped bass, and hybrid bass then I would remove every LMB that you can by angling. With good regular feeding of high protein pellets (not cheap catfish food) and if you remove most all LMB you could put 30 to 40 HSB in the pond. You may have to thin them as they get to 18"-22". With that many HSB aeration would be very beneficial to help keep the pond in a healthier condition. Why do you recommend the aeration. Will the Hybrids have an ill affect on water quality?
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Mike - I suggegsted aeration for 2 reasons - briefly: 1. Bottom diffused aeration will help the pond maintain overall better water quality bottom to top. Without a good bottom aeration system that completely mixes the entire water column the bottom water in a pond 8 ft and deeper will become septic during the summer. Although good water will return to that area in fall when the pond completely mixes as cold windy weather sets in. 2. As your total fish poundage increases each year as the fish grow and you add more feed, this puts increasingly more water quality stress on the pond expecially the deeper waters. Nature also adds pollutants to the pond from external sources such as from the water shed and visiting waterfowl. Aeration TO A POINT tends to help reduce the stress of biopollutants on the pond ecosystem by allowing the pond to naturally process those pollutants. Each fish added and the bigger each fish is then the more biopollutants that are produced within the pond. The pond will naturally only accept a certain level of pollutants before the water quality begins to deteriorate. As the pollutants increase the more the water quality deteriorates.
Last edited by Bill Cody; 10/01/08 09:41 PM.
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Mike - I suggegsted aeration for 2 reasons - briefly: 1. Bottom diffused aeration will help the pond maintain overall better water quality bottom to top. Without a good bottom aeration system that completely mixes the entire water column the bottom water in a pond 8 ft and deeper will become septic during the summer. Although good water will return to that area in fall when the pond completely mixes as cold windy weather sets in. 2. As your total fish poundage increases each year as the fish grow and you add more feed, this puts increasingly more water quality stress on the pond expecially the deeper waters. Nature also adds pollutants to the pond from external sources such as from the water shed and visiting waterfowl. Aeration TO A POINT tends to help reduce the stress of biopollutants on the pond ecosystem by allowing the pond to naturally process those pollutants. Each fish added and the bigger each fish is then the more biopollutants that are produced within the pond. The pond will naturally only accept a certain level of pollutants before the water quality begins to deteriorate. As the pollutants increase the more the water quality deteriorates. This makes sense. I am going to look into it.
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One thing I forgot to disclose is the deepest this pond gets is 5 ft? Is that too shallow for Hybrids?
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Added 20 adult BG's this weekend.
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MikeC, I just had a crew of ironworkers over your way a couple of weeks ago doing some bridge repairs on SR100. It's a pretty area. You have some nice trout streams over there too.
5' max isn't very deep. How shallow have you seen it? Do you get much ice/snow cover in winter?
I don't think bottom diffuser aeration will do you as much good as a surface agitation aerator would since you're only 5' deep max. Not much if any stratification at that depth and bottom diffusers are better suited for deeper water.
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MikeC, I just had a crew of ironworkers over your way a couple of weeks ago doing some bridge repairs on SR100. It's a pretty area. You have some nice trout streams over there too.
5' max isn't very deep. How shallow have you seen it? Do you get much ice/snow cover in winter?
I don't think bottom diffuser aeration will do you as much good as a surface agitation aerator would since you're only 5' deep max. Not much if any stratification at that depth and bottom diffusers are better suited for deeper water. Definitely some nice limestone streams around here. We really only get a couple weeks of ice if any. Last year I think it only snowed once. We have had some pretty mild winters as of late. If you are ever in the area again let me know and I can direct you to some great spots on streams.
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Definitely some nice limestone streams around here.
We really only get a couple weeks of ice if any. Last year I think it only snowed once. We have had some pretty mild winters as of late.
If you are ever in the area again let me know and I can direct you to some great spots on streams.
You mean like this?
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Definitely some nice limestone streams around here.
We really only get a couple weeks of ice if any. Last year I think it only snowed once. We have had some pretty mild winters as of late.
If you are ever in the area again let me know and I can direct you to some great spots on streams.
Where is that? You mean like this?
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It was somewhere outside of Hanover. There was a small town nearby that looked as if time had passed it by. The town had pond right at the edge of it that was very clear with a few fisherman in small boats. The stream was stocked with rainbows, browns and goldens.
"The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge." Stephen W. Hawking
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