Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose Stocking a Renovated Pond

I am new to this forum and Im still trying to figure out how to post. I think some of my inquiries have gotten lost or more likely I'm doing something wrong
I would like to grow some decent size bass in this northern climate. I would like to stock Largemouth Bass and Bluegill
How many should I put in The Pond is actually about .6 or .7 of an acre. Several 14- 16 foot deep spots. Can you tell me if I should put in hybrid blugill or not or just some hybrids. Are crappies OK? What about a few Walleys? Too many predators? How many of each. How many Fathead minnows? I just want the grand children to have fun catching some nice fish.

Not lost, Dan, just overlooked.

If you want large bass, do not stock HBG. Their very low reproduction rate provides insufficient forage for bass growth.

Crappie have proven to be generally a problem in ponds. To date, an established 100% sure-fire means of successfully managing Crapppie in a BG/LMB pond is not IMHO available (there ARE 2-3 very promising approaches being studied using alternate predator strategies. See the archive Crappie thread for more info.

Walleyes do not do well in ponds in that 1) reproduction is usually nonexistent and 2) they need numerous, fusiform (torpedo-shaped) soft-finned prey to grow well. A few 'eyes might not hurt anything, but would be outcompeted by LMB and don't like eating BG all that well anyway.

FHM are great start-up forage for most every stocking combo and would be a definite boost for you.

Here's my shot at a stocking plan:

1) 5-10 lbs FHM ASAP next Spring.
2) 300 BG/100 RES (Redear Sunfish - BG cousin that grows bigger and eats snails that host many fish parasites), 2" - 3" in length in the Spring.
3) 50 LMB, 4" or so in length, in Spring 2010.

We (the Forum) can throw stocking numbers back and forth all day; you get to pick (or cut and paste) from the proposals. My list above is a low cost, no hurry plan. If you wish to catch bigger fish sooner and have the money, we can tailor it that way for you as well.

Thank you so much Theo! Can I stock everything now?

It may be too late in the year to haul in WI - it's getting real close to it here. Note the dates above.

P.S. Sunil will tell you to put in a few FHM right away, regardless. It prevents Winter insomnia.

Yep Dan, you fit right in here on the forums.

Keep on posting and if you don't get an answer then bump the post to the top. Some folks here have short attention spans and

hey what is that shiny object on the floor?

Welcome, Dan! This place is awesome and has more info than you can shake a stick at!

JHAP, I love the shiny object comment! The best t-shirt I ever saw was in a store window in New Orleans. It read, "People say I have ADD, but they just don't understand . . . oh, look! A chicken!" The oh, look, a chicken statement is standard fare in our home every time someone is chatting about one thing and then, without segue, changes to another topic. Our kids are even saying it now, calling us out on our lack of focus!

I like chicken......wrapped in bacon!

"Edit Reason: Who is Dan?"

Why, he's "the man" silly!

What part of Wisconsin are you in Dan?

I'm smack dab in the middle of the State. Marshfield Wisconsin. I want to stock some fish before freeze up.Thanks everyone for answering my posts.

How do you bump apost to the top?

Is It OK to stock my fish now?

I would not stock the fish this late in the season... Stocking fish when water temps are this cold is too stressful. I would just be patient and wait until spring.

If you are in the middle of Wisconsin, RES may not do well that far north as well. I am not exactly sure what the exact cut off line is, but I think middle Wisconsin is a bit too far north for them.

Here are my recommendations:

Skip the crappies, they'll be more problems than they are worth.

This spring stock the following:

10 pounds of FHM
300 2"-4" BG
50 2"-4" LMB

Optional but feasible:
10 pounds of GSH
100 2"-4" Pumpkinseed sunfish
15 2"-4" walleye
100 2"-4" YP

You MUST stock the FHM to give your newly stocked bass something to eat until the BG spawn. I would also recommend the GSH for this reason as well. However, you want to get the bass in the pond with the BG or you'll end up with stunted overpopulated BG as they will get too big a jump start on your bass. The pumpkinseed sunfish are not a necessary addition, but they can add some variety to your pond and will tolerate northern climes better than the RES which probably won't. The YP are also an option to add to the pond. They are completely optional as are the walleye. Keep the stocking number low, with 15 at the most. You can then stock then every year or every other year as they will not naturally reproduce. After the second or third year you'll have to stock larger sizes as they will become bass food if not.

Just MHO on which route to go with your pond...

Dan, to bump a thread to the top of the category list, just post another message within the original thread. Most people will either restate their original question or even just write "bump," as any post will move that thread back to the top of the listings.

Sounds like Travis (CJBS2003) gave you pretty good advice on stocking. Good luck with your pond and keep us all in the loop with what you've got going on.

I know that it's best to do things right the first time, instead of trying to fix things afterward. With the increasing availability of HSB, I'm wondering if an overpopulated stunted BG pond would recover quicker if HSB were stocked vs. some of the other remedys.

With the warmer weather that we have been having this year, I think Dan could get away with putting in FHM this year at the very least, and possibly GHS. I'll bet his water temps are in the high 40's if not the low 50's.

Thank you everyone. I'll try to put some pictures up sometime.You guys are great.
Dan

Dan, you're doing a great job "bumping" already :). Great questions .

Hello everyone,
Can someone tell me how many pounds are in a gallon of minnows?.
That's how they sell them here.
Does anyone know when Blugills and FHM Would spawn in Central Wisconsin?

Dan:

There are different sizes of minnows, so the # of fish in a pound will vary.... I'll see if I can dig up a chart, I know I have one here somewhere.

Here ya go, look at Post #99252 by ewest and #99253 by bill cody:
FHM

IIRC, BG typically first spawn sometime in spring when water temps hit 67 degrees Fahrenheit and will spawn up until temperatures rise above 82 degrees.

Would Hybrid Striped Bass be good for this type of pond?

I'm just asking because they seem to do well in cool temperatures, and their numbers can be controlled much easier than LMB, preventing overpopulation in a small pond.

Also, is there a difference in size of forage and type of forage preference between HSB and LMB? I was wondering whether HSB might be more desirable in a northern pond being managed for BG/YP/PS because their mouths (appear to be) smaller than those of LMB. Would HSB thus hammer the tiny "piranha perch" that seem to develop in some upper midwestern bodies of water, allowing survivor BG/YP/PS to get really large? Do HSB prefer GSH or YP while LMB prefer BG/Tilapia?

Yes, IMO many ponds under an acre or 2, HSB would be en excellent candidate over LMB if the owner is willing to restock fish every year or every other year. Their inability to reproduce keeps them from overpopulating and stunting like LMB often do when not heavily managed...



You are exactly right... That is the nice thing about them. If only they came up with sterile LMB, a myriad of options would open! I am good at sexing LMB, but not confident enough to take the risk... All it takes is one goof up! We've been through the sterile LMB idea before as I recall though and it seems there either 1, isn't enough demand for sterile LMB to make it profitable for hatcheries or 2, the technology just isn't there yet to produce 100% sterile bass which would be needed.



IMO, HSB would do a poor job of controlling BG and PS numbers. They're mouth size is as you said much smaller than LMB and they just couldn't keep up with the BG reproduction rate. They probably would feed moderately on YP as they are more fusiform. However, most pond owners heavily feed their HSB with pellets which IMO would reduce their desire to feed on small YP, BG and PS.




HSB are an open water fish relating less to structure while LMB are a structure oriented fish. This means they utilize different niches, but can still compete for the same food. HSB will feed on small BG and a big HSB may even eat a larger BG, but not nearly as much as LMB. Most BG aren't going to be swimming in open water areas. They're also a structure relating fish. LMB are in that structure hunting them down with their over sized mouths. A BG with it's anal and dorsal spines fully erect can be quite the mouth full! GSH are often found in open water areas and thus are often heavily preyed upon by HSB. They are more fusiform and can therefore be more easily swallowed by their smaller mouths. LMB even if they have larger mouths aren't going to turn down a fusiform meal like a GSH. This is also why YP often don't do well in smaller ponds with limited cover with LMB. The LMB heavily prey on them as they are very fusiform compared to a BG. Basically, both HSB and LMB prefer more fusiform soft rayed fish like GSH. However, LMB are more adapted to feeding on rounder spiny fish like BG and tilapia. This doesn't mean HSB won't eat BG or tilapia, they are just less adapted to it and can only prey on smaller size classes of those fish. There are lots of factors that play into what species of fish are being eaten, as it often said on here... It all depends!

How many times will FHM spawn in a season?

CJ, this is not to contradict your input, but I want to qualify the statement about restocking HSB every year or every other year. This is so we don't scare anyone off from enjoying the HSB due to fear of costs.

If you are going to be harvesting the HSB, or if the HSB/pond is prone to poaching or yearly fish-kills, I can understand the yearly or every other year stocking of HSB.

But without these factors, one could go 4 years plus without restocking. Granted, everyone of those 4 year old HSB could smash your fishing rod!

On a side note, I've seen HSB in my pond utilizing more than just the open water areas. Granted, this is only in my pond, but I was surprised to see all the different areas where my HSB were hanging out.

The idea behind stocking every year is so you have multiple year classes. There is nothing wrong with skipping multiple years classes like you have done. You just have gaps in fish size that is all. If you are using HSB to manage other fish populations, that can lead to gaps in sizes of prey being eaten. You can stock once and never stock again, that is the joy of HSB. You know they aren't gonna have babies and you end up with fish you don't want. If you don't like them, you simple stop stocking them and fish the ones you put in out...

What areas of your pond did the HSB surprised you?

Here's the info in the archives.

Good points, CJ. I suppose another option to get to your goals, and still spread out some stocking costs, would be to try and stock a few sizes of HSB at a time. Seems like that option is available a little more now.

I also didn't consider using HSB as the main predator fish as was mentioned.

I've had HSB hanging out in brush, some pretty heavy brush, up against shorlines.

Every HSB I've ever caught was in shallow water within 20 feet of the shoreline.

How big are your HSB Theo? Snmaller HSB, say ones under 5 pounds are less open water in nature than are larger ones.

In thinking about HSB stocking ladders ( yearly or otherwise)keep in mind their natural morts resulting from a fairly short lifespan (5-6 yrs).