Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose Gambusia vs. Fathead

George,

Just to clarify what I have:

The subject of this thread is a single pond, when full is 8.5 acres. It was drained down (leaky stand pipe) about 8 feet before the drought. Additionally the drough has it down another 4 - 6 feet. (I got about 2' rise with the last rains in January).

The construction of this pond is such that when it is 14 feet low - there are actually two separate areas of water.

One of the areas was down to about 12’ – 18”, but with the rain is now up to ~3 feet deep. There are not many fish in this area.

The second area is currently 6 or 7 feet deep. This is where I was fishing last Sunday.

Each area is about 1 acre in size, connected by a small ditch.

I have deepened some of the dry areas (as much as I could afford - $) around each side.

I am leaning toward stocking high rates of Gambusia and Fatheads + Large CNBG in the March - April timeframe…assuming we get more rain.

One last additional comment – this pond is creek fed. I will not be able to completely control what goes in…therefore another reason to go LMB heavy to control the “unwanted” creek visitors.

Gator, can you put some of those LMB in your 12,500 Gallon Cement Pond for a few months?

Gator :

How much will the water have to rise before the 2 parts become one ? If you have one part that is mostly empty of predators and will take several feet + of water to connect I would be temptd to put FH ,Gam. and small 1-2 in. CNBG/RES in it to grow. Enough BG/RES for 1 acre not 8 if you expect the 2 to remain seperate for 90 days. I would also start fishing elsewhere for BG and add the adults you catch to the pond. You could also use your small pond, if it has water to start to grow out any of the forage fish.

Post back what you expect on the water situation and I will try to come up with a plan that considers all you have set out above.

Sunil,

The 12,500 gallon pond is a reference to the Beverly Hillbillys "Cement Pond"...its in my back yard here in the city.



ewest,

The two sections will connect with about 2 more feet of rise. After the long drought last year, I am not sure what to expect or if we will get rain. The idea of raising the forage base in there will work...very few (if any) LMB in there. It is about 3' deep right now.

Gator

Here is a picture The section in the foreground is tha shallow one:

Gator:

I tend to favor ewest's idea - prep forage with minnows and bream in the mostly predatorless part. How much $ I'd spend depends on the weather forecast. If/when you get enough rain to connect the two parts, your bass spawn should be able to really take off in growth.

Ya'll got any o' them big pink chickens by your C-ment pond in the city?

Thanks for the clarification, Gator. I wonder if I was the only one who didn't get that.

That picture really helps with things.

In the same vein of thinking in regards to quickly making one pond just forage for now, I have a thought.

What if you culled the LMB stock down to just a few of the largest ones, maybe 10-20 of them, and leave them in the one pond.

Then do the forage thing in the other pond.

Then comes my question: Once the ponds combine, will the bigger LMB eradicate the smaller forage fish (ie/ fatheads and shiners) considering that a larger fish wants a larger meal when given choices? I would assume you would have a lot of size classes of bluegill in the forage pond too.

Mother nature would be the great variable.

Sunil,

You bring up a good point and that is the genetics of the existing LMB. On that point - it was suggested (by a reputable supplier) to add new F1 LMB to the preditor base. He suggested we test the current strain, add new - then retest later to determine the success of the new "blood" so to speak.

On your second point - I would have all sizes of forage base assuming I can keep the two ponds seperated.

That brings up a question - why would I need to cull the LMB?

I like everyones suggestions about keeping the two areas seperate and building up the forage base before the two sections combine.

Theo - I knew you would appreciate the cement pond reference... WOOOOOOO Doggie!

I stated eariler that I would stock with small fish - but I can go big instead.

Gator

Gator, my thoughts of culling were based on the idea of helping to get a forage base firmly established. I thought that if you had only a few large bass, they would not eat all of the smaller fish, but may target a mid-sized forage fish.

I suppose the truth is that you may not need to do a single thing, but it's fun to vicariously speculate.

sunil,

Since this is my first time to attempt this...I dont know. I do appreciate everyones input and advice - it is fun to speculate!

Gator