Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose Central Iowa Pond

We have a new 4-5 acre pond and would like some tips as what to stock. We would like blugill, channel cat, walleye and bass. The pond is about 20 feet deep in the deepest spot, and 4 foot in the shallowest. A slow running creek runs the lenth of it.

What are the fish that I can get away with in it, and about what numbers should I stock? I first need to develope a base forage for the occupants, what would be the best source in this climate?

Of your listed preferred species, only the Walleye are likely to be trouble. They are very unlikely to spawn in ponds and can have trouble thriving in them. WE experts from the Iowa-SD-NE area will have the best idea on how they might do in 4 acres up to 20 feet deep.

Per acre, I'd start with 5-10 lbs of Fathead Minnows and 500 intermediate BG next Spring. Use Redear Sunfish for 20-25% of the BG total. You could also put CC in then as well - decide how many catfish you would like to remove and eat in a three year period, then stock half that number. CC will get bigger than you might think quickly and are about the cheapest fish to restock after their numbers are depleted (assuming they do not spawn).

I would add the LMB Fall 2007, 50 to 100 per acre (fewer if you want big bass, more if you want big BG.

Now - how many WE can Jimmy put in and when would be the best time?

Theo,

thank you so much for your help! So, you say that I could put the FHM in right now?

Also, I made a mistake on the pond. I was going by what I thought, and not what the owner says is the size. It will be 3 acres. Should I just subtract 40% then from the total fish? Adding the channel is probably what we will do, as he likes them a lot. He would probably eat fish at least 1 time a week, so probably 3 or 4 catfish a week I'd say around 1/2 of the year. Bluegills he will probably eat 5 months a year, about 4 lbs a week (6 or 7 , 1/2lbs or better), and bass probably 3 months a year at 5 lbs a week (3, 16 inchers). He could eat less, but I know he likes fish, and that is his major reason for having a pond, but he also wanted it for exersize.

Thanks for all your help!

Jimmy

Personally, I would wait until Spring to put in the FH; They spawn at water temps at or above 60 deg F and your water would be considerably colder than that now.

For stocking for 3 acres, multiple the FH, BG/RES, and LMB numbers by 3, not 4.

3-4 catfish a week for eating - that strikes me as very do-able, at least with feeding.

Removing 5 lbs of bass a week sounds nigh well impossible - let's check some math: 5 lbs/week for 12 weeks (3 months) is 60 lbs of bass. Making a rough guess based on the excellent writings of Bob Lusk ("Buy the Books!"), that could easily be 1/3 of the total biomass of LMB in the pond; I don't think removing that % of bass each year is advisable or close to sustainable.

Growing a half-dozen 8 oz BG to remove each week is also a tall order (although closer to the realm of possible than with the LMB). I myself have a 1 acre pond in the 4th year of trying to grow big BG; while I have some pushing 1/2 pound, if I ate them at an equivalent rate of 2 per week I would easily run out of them over the course of a Summer. I LOVE to eat BG, but I'm pulling the smaller ones, usually between 6" and 7" (3-4 oz tops).

I believe your desired BG yield would be sustainable only if the biggest BG were larger than 8 oz (you can't take out the largest BG without adversely affecting the population). Bruce Condello is perhaps our most preeminent large BG grower. If you pick up the back issues of BG from the last year, you can read 4-5 articles on growing big BG that he (and Cecil Baird and Bill Cody) wrote and glean a lot of useful info from them.

Just how many pounds of BG one can remove from an acre while managing the fish well is an interesting question. I am working slowly up in quantity each year myself while keeping a strong hand and eye on improving the quality and size of my BG at the same time.

Theo,


Thanks for the help. I guess I might have been over exagerating on how much he would eat. LMB he would probably want to take a meal a week for probably 3 2 months. Probably 3 fish.

The bluegill he would probably want a little less than what i mentioned. The channel cat is where it would probably stay the same. He likes his cat! I think by this time he would probably get sick of eating fish, but you never know.

Thanks for your help! From the way it sounds we need to stock the FHM in next spring, and wait a till around october to stock the bluegill and catfish, and then the following june stock the Bass. A long time before the fishing gets any good, but thats what makes it all the more worth while.

That's the long, safe approach: building the forage base from the bottom up, including all the microscopic and macroscopic invertabrates we don't always talk about that are the first layer right above the phytoplankton. It does take a while, but it gives you lots of time to study and learn from not only human sources like PB, but from each layer of the food chain as you add it on. There are fascinating things that you only get an easy chance to see when you are starting up a new pond; the next layer of the food chain covers them up, obscures them, or eats most of them and they aren't as obvious in a mature pond.