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#251188 03/12/11 04:26 PM
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Hi, I'm a new guy and I'm stocking a brand new pond. .25 A. 20'+ deep at deep end. Clay bottom, roughly kidney bean shaped, sloping up from deep end (dammed) to grade. I prefer not to stock LMB and would like to raise good sized perch. Pond is fed by high ground water table and surface runoff. Would a few walleye serve as a good check on the perch? I plan to stock fat head minnows in a few weeks or so and add the perch in June. Any walleye would have to wait till the fall when available from the supplier. Any suggestions for stocking would be appreciated.

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Welcome Errick to the Forum, there are lots of people on here that have plenty of experience with YP so I'll let them guide you.
With a 1/4 acre pond I don't think walleye would do very well and you could manage your YP size with fishing and fish traps.
In addition to fatheads you might consider adding golden shiners for forage, they would probably last longer. Good Luck



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I wwould think 10-15 WE would be a nice addition and replaced if foul hooked or eaten. Nate Herman, n8ly here. could sure tell you the best rates and combinations to choose...he LOVES the less commonly stocked ponds!

NATE...WAKE UP!!! We've got a question tailor made for ya!!!

Last edited by Rainman; 03/12/11 06:01 PM. Reason: call the birthday boy


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Nate will probably check in here later, he's got that banquet tonight, remember?

The Walleye wouldn't spawn, but I think they'd make a good bonus fish.


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3/4 to 1 1/4 ac pond LMB, SMB, PS, BG, RES, CC, YP, Bardello BG, (RBT & Blue Tilapia - seasonal).
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I doubt that WE would manage the YP in a set up like that alone. In a 0.25 acre pond, I'd stock pellet trained YP. As has already been said, in a pond that size you could manage the YP yourself with fishing, egg manipulation and possibly trapping. A couple dozen SMB could be added to help manage the YP. They are unlikely to successfully spawn in the described conditions and can be removed and restocked when they become too large for their intended purpose. Pellet trained YP would be key for such a small pond IMO though. Must be some very steep sides to be so deep but only a quarter acre.

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Thanks for the suggestions so far. Yes the sides are steep especially in the deep end. If I could do over, propably larger surface area - less depth.

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If the summer temps are not too high, you might be able to stock trout too. If the pond is groundwater fed, that will help keep temperatures low.


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Errick - You are over in the region of Laggis Fish Farm (Gobbles MI 49055, 08988 35th St.). He sells walleye (WE) and very good quality domesticated pellet trained yellow perch (YP). His YP will get big (13"-14")in a small pond esp when fed pellets and managed properly. Check out the link for acronyms used on this forum.
http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=92442#Post92442

Plan to aerate with the bottom diffused method to keep water quality good top to bottom in that small quite deep pond. Fountains will not circulate water bottom to top in your deep pond. Good overall water quality will be needed for YP & WE or any other cool water fish. Go out and actually measure the depth with weight and rope to verify the depth for aeration needs and diffuser placement. Make a depth map. It will be useful in future years.

I think a few WE could do okay in a pond your size providing your pond is aerated. WE are surviving well in a few 1/3 ac ponds near me in NW OH. If not aerated I don't think they would survive long term and would need replaced due to periodic low DO sags. YP can much better tolerate low DO compared to WE. Give me a few hours to put together some info and reading material for your plan.

Quote from CB1 in another topic: """"and you live in Northern Indiana, Southern Michigan or Northwest Ohio I've always been very happy with fish from Laggis Fish Farms in Gobles, Michigan. You can't beat his feed trained yellow perch and largemouth bass but he sells walleye, smallmouth bass, hybrid bluegill, northern pike etc. although some of these species are only available in the fall.

I'll be picking up an order of 200 5 to 6 inch yellow perch in a couple of weeks to replace the ones I lost in a RAS mishap. Dan Laggis has told me orders are down a little so far so now's your chance to get some outstanding feed trained yellow perch while they last. One of these perch grew to state record size for me! They're originally from Ohio and are Great Lakes stock (Lake Erie).

Laggis Fish Farms
Work: (269) 628-2056 Days
Home: (269) 624- 6215 Evenings until 9.00 P.M.""""



Last edited by Bill Cody; 03/18/11 09:44 AM.

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Is there a chance the 5" to 6" "Laggis" YP would spawn this year if I planted them soon enough this sprng?

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The 5"-6" YP will probably not spawn this year. But since I know the source of his 5"-6" YP and always mixed in with those fish are a few larger ones of 6"-7.5"ers with those 5"-6"ers. If not,, then Laggis has sorted out those larger YP which are a high % egg laden females. Then just ask to buy a few (10-30) of those bigger ones. Those will mostly be egg laden females and will spawn in April 2011. However, IMO it would be good to also buy a few fingerling YP (30-50) in fall of 2011 to insure a year class or group of perch for 2011. You can set a couple wire minnow traps and check for 2"-3" YP in August-Sept. Bait traps with stale bread and set them parallel to shore in shallow water 12"-24" deep. Traps should catch minnows and if common a few YOY YP (2"-4").

The YP from Laggis will eat Aquamax carnivore 500 since they were raised on it. Maybe ask Laggis to buy a 1/2 bag or bag of his fish food, but it may be Silvercup not Aquamax. High protein 40% is very important for growing YP properly.

Last edited by Bill Cody; 03/13/11 03:56 PM.

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Erric, You ask: “Would a few walleye serve as a good check on the perch? I plan to stock fat head minnows in a few weeks or so and add the perch in June. Any walleye would have to wait till the fall when available from the supplier”.
Here are some comments and several links to previous discussions about WE and YP in ponds. There are some good ideas and information in the discussions. At the end are some of ewests and my comments about YP & BG from previous posts.
About training wild perch to eat pellets:
http://www.pondboss.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=10;t=000054

Stocking YP, SMB, PS, and GSH?
http://www.pondboss.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=8;t=000005

YP and WE realistic combo in ponds with long discussion of WE stocking & growth in ponds.
http://www.pondboss.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=5;t=000042

Sources for YP in south central eastern US & tolerance to shipping.
http://www.pondboss.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=5;t=000046

Sexing YP, how quick to harvest, and several YP experiences in ponds.
http://www.pondboss.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=5;t=000103

Central MI, ¾ ac pond, YP and HSB?
http://www.pondboss.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=5;t=000174

NY small (0.2ac) pond, YP and what type of predators?
http://www.pondboss.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=5;t=000173

OH 0.5ac pond with HBG, RES, & minnows. Add YP and bass?
http://www.pondboss.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=5;t=000144

MD 1 ac pond, YP & HSB possible??
http://www.pondboss.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=20;t=002091



Yes I think some WE will eat some small YP in the pond. How many they will eat is the key item. I think WE require a little better water quality as mainly higher dissolved oxygen conditions compared to YP. Thus YP will generally survive where WE will not. So slightly higher water quality is best to both species together. Not a lot of pond owners have done WE pond stocking for long enough and reported back to us the results to get good dependable data and experiences.

As I learn and hear more about the status of WE in ponds managed mainly for YP, my opinions and ideas about WE are evolving from what I have posted in the previous posts. When growing YP and WE, as with any fish, AMPLE foods are important for both YP & WE to grow well in a pond. Sometimes it is not really important that the WE grow well. You want them JUST as predators eating small 2"-4" YP Both adult YP and WE should be considered predators that eat primarily small fish assuming small fish are the most prevalent forage. Fusiform shaped, soft rayed fish are IMO the best fishes for growing YP and WE in ponds. I generally plan on each WE eating between 200-300 small fish per year depending on what type and how many small fish are present. Each YP will often eat fewer small fish per year because they are opportunists and will also eat various types of invertebrates and some small snails in their diet. However in most YP dominated ponds the YP will by far outnumber the WE so as a group the YP could eat lots more small fish than the WE.

Firstly, I don’t think YP by themselves in weed free ponds can produce enough offspring to feed both numerous adult YP and some WE while expecting optimum growth rates for both types of the predators. Again optimum growth of WE may not be wanted. Good growth of both can work to varying degrees if fewer or each type are present and if managed closely. I don’t believe, and I have never seen a pond so far where FHM are the main forage fish and they are able to sustain high numbers as forage in the presence of numerous adult YP and some WE. For this, IMO it takes a diversity of at least two or several types of minnows/shiners to sustain constant predation by YP and WE. It also helps to feed the minnows to keep minnow production high and to visually monitor numbers of minnows and small YP.

This situation of maintaining enough ideal minnow forage and my numerous experiences are the rationale for my belief that the better YP dominated ponds with numerous big YP, will be those where at least the initial stocking of YP are trained to feed on fish pellets. Occasional, supplemental stockings of pellet trained YP will help keep numerous pellet eating YP present as older YP are harvested and experience natural mortality. I am convinced that having pellet feeding YP does help train some but definatly not all new YP to eat pellets. Pond size has a lot to do with this feature. The more pellet feeding YP that are present in a small pond the less predation pressure there is on the minnow community; thus, generally more minnows survive; a good thing. Large YP can be grown in ponds. But one will grow more and larger YP quicker,,, if the perch are regularly feed pellets, especially in the smaller pond. This is not a secret. The same thing tends to be true for other fish species.

Back to walleye in ponds. Don’t expect WE to grow fast and get to trophy size in ponds. IMO their main function is to reduce numbers of smaller YP. Experiences are that WE do not grow fast nor trophy size (5lb+, >23-25”) in ponds, especially smaller ponds. This I am learning can be a good thing. For a YP dominated pond, IMO, it is better to have a non-reproducing predator and one that is slow growing and tends to say smaller because the predator is forced to eat smaller fish. Plus they are not reproducing and creating unknown numbers of numerous new predators, as bass often do. This is a good situation in a YP dominated pond because the top predators are not growing quickly to larger sizes and eating larger cleanable YP, and lots of new predators are not being added to over-eat the minnow forage base. Remember ample minnows keep the non-pellet eating YP growing rapidly to harvestable size. LMB esp the ones over 13” will eat larger YP and SMB will usually reproduce to annually introduce at least some new fish eating predators in addition to the common or abundant adult fish eating YP. Although at times, LMB and SMB work well in YP ponds. I've had SMB reproduce in a pond where SMB should not reproduce, i.e. hard packed clay bottom. In some situations careful harvesting of the bass & YP can help maintain an optimum balance.

Option 1. Lower number of WE. Normally I and others have suggested only several WE per ac, usually 15-20/ac in YP dominated ponds. WE were present to be a bonus fish and just HELP thin out the small perch while the owner helps annually to manually remove small perch -2”-5”. Manual removal of YP is with traps and angling. WE are caught occasionally. I normally do not stock WE until the YP have spawned one to three times to provide higher numbers of small YP for the WE to choose compared to minnows. This normally also allows the minnow forage base to become well established and abundant. Large YP will also eat small YP.

Option 2. Higher number of WE. I am seeing in some YP ponds that having more WE than 10-20/ac can be a good thing. WE numbers up near 50-100/ac with lots of minnows continually present with low weed cover does result in slow growth of WE who seem to effectively ‘target’ the smaller YOY and 1 yr old YP. Larger WE of 16”-18” will feed on 4”-5”+YP. Keeping lots of minnows present can be a difficult part of Option 2 . Shiners and other minnow species can help a lot to diversify the forage base. After time a majority of YP do not eat pellets. After 7-10yrs these ponds often have large YP and WE that are 19”-20” long. Periodic restocking of WE to replace those harvested is done. WE are caught more frequently in Option 2 ponds.

The amount of dense cover has a big impact on all fisheries including the one dominated by YP. Generally the more submerged weed growth, the more numbers of small fish that survive. Plant management is a key item – pro and con. Some weeds can be very beneficial (protection for small fish minnows) while too many weeds very detrimental because predators cannot locate enough forage (small YP) to keep them under control.
Having a good crayfish population present helps to diversity the forage base for YP & WE. A ‘good’ population of crayfish present also helps reduce to varying degrees the submerged vegetation.

Erric - I say, develop a plan, implement it, keep good records about your fish growth, the harvested numbers, and report back to us with your results. If the stocking / management does not work well, your YP-WE pond can be easily converted to a bass (SMB or LMB) - BG pond. Just add a pair of each species and they will in time definitely reproduce and eventually dominate the pond - guaranteed. But, you cannot covert a bass-BG pond into a YP pond just by stocking YP. Please keep us advised how things work out for you. We need more walleye data from small ponds.

Additional information.
1. Bottom structures will congregate perch for fishing. Bottom structures like tree branches in shallow water (2-6ft) will provide perch places to lay their egg strands.

2. One or several small gravel beds will provide smallmouth bass a place to spawn if you ever decide to stock SMB to help control over abundant numbers of small (2"-5") perch.

3. 5"-7" perch for $1 ea is a fair price. Where are you buying them? - the fish farm at Imlay City or The Perch Farm in Standish? or somewhere else?

4. You will have very little success feeding them unless they have been raised previously on fish pellets. BE SURE TO ASK AT THE HATCHERY IF THE PERCH THAT YOU ARE GETTING ARE PELLET RAISED. If you decide to feed them buy some pellets at the hatchery when you buy your fish. This way you will be sure to get the correct type of food and the perch will be familiar with the same food in the beginning of your feeding sessions. Pellet Feeding the perch will help supplement their diet and not as many minnows will be needed initially for proper and fast growth.

5. Eric gives some basic advice for raising perch. Read it carefully.

6. Initially stocking 200 of 5" to 7" perch is going to require a fair amount of minnows or some other type of food to get these YOUNG ADULT fish, in terms of health and good growth, through the fall, winter and early spring.

During winter, perch need a fair amount of fat and or food so their eggs develop properly. Eggs are laid in early spring which will be around mid to late April in the thumb area of MI. I estimate that each 5"-7" perch will eat approx 50-100 minnows before perch spawning time. Many of the minnows will be eaten in March, and April of 2006 when spawn time is near. Some excess minnows should be initially stocked so perch have food when spawn is over and to maintain perch until a minnow spawn starts in May or early June. Minnows may need to stocked again in April or May of 2006 if you don't see minnows around the edge in shallow areas. To calculate; 200 perch x 100 minnows each = 20,000 minnows. Approx 300 2" minnows per pound = 66 lbs of minnows should supply enough food until the next minnow spawning season. You may not want to stock all young adult perch right away in your pond!

Typically in a new pond, I recommend first stocking minnows and allow them to spawn several times to FIRST build up an abundant supply of minnows; THEN later stock perch so they have abudant food and produce good growth. Another popular option is to in spring (March-Apr) of 2006 stock some 2"-4" (50%-70%) perch and some 5"-7" (30%-40%) perch along with an abundant supply of minnows (10Lbs-30Lbs). Hopefully most of the minnows will survive through the summer to spawn and provide a continual supply of food to feed existing perch and maybe some that are newly hatched from the 5"-7" original stockers. With ample food the 5"-7" perch will grow to 8"-10.5" by late fall of 2006 and a few larger perch can then be harvested for table use.

I think in a pond primarily stocked with y.perch, it is important to maintain a sizable population of larger 9"-12" perch. This is done by selectively harvesting certain sizes of perch and releasing other desired or protected sizes. These larger perch (12"-14") will not only provide exciting panfish angling but they will eat fair numbers of newly hatched perch (young of year) and thus help control the numbers of youngster perch. In many instances, the large perch need help in reducing the abundance of small perch so young perch do not become too crowded that will cause a growth slow down (fish stunting). When this happens, and as a fix, usually an appropriate type of predator is added to eat smaller perch and small perch are ALSO manually removed. Doing both methods will quickly put the perch population back into a better balance so proper fish growth resumes. Knowing what sizes of perch to remove can be a somewhat tricky task and help can be provided here when the time arrives. Proper predators are discussed in some of the topic references noted above.

As Eric says, perch and many other types of fish will stunt and become over abundant without proper population control. Perch are not unique to stunting of growth. Perch often become overabundant when lots of weed growth is present and not enough large perch are present (due to overharvesting) to help eat most of annual production of small perch. Numerous things can contribute to an over abundance of yellow perch in a pond.

I have written 3 magazine articles for beginners about raising yellow perch in small ponds. M.todd if you would like to have copies of them and if you email me I will send them to you.

Post by EWEST:
U. S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, Stanford University, California Burton P. Hunt
Michigan Institute for Fisheries Research, Ann Arbor, Michigan

Abstract.—During the winter of 1940-41, 1,128 bluegills and 211 yellow perch were collected from the rather productive Cedar Lake, Washtenaw County, Michigan. Analyses were made of the contents of the stomachs of these fish.

Bluegills consumed very little food during the winter. The average stomach contained 133 organisms of which 124 were plankton. The average volumetric content of these stomachs was 0.036 cubic centimeters. Foods consumed were predominantly aquatic insects (mayfly nymphs) in early winter; changed to plankton (Cladocera) in midwinter; and tended again toward aquatic insects as spring approached. There was some correlation noted between prolonged periods of warm weather and an increased rate of food consumption.

Yellow perch ate much more food than did bluegills during the winter. The average volume per stomach was 0.26 cubic centimeters. Young bluegills constituted the great bulk of the perch diet. They formed over 60 per cent of the total volume throughout the winter. Ostracoda were eaten in great numbers in midwinter.

Winter predation by perch on young bluegills certainly must be an important factor in regulating the bluegill population.


Last edited by Bill Cody; 03/18/11 09:57 AM.

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Two more links to YP.
http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=249432#Post249432

http://www.pondboss.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=20;t=002122#000004


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Wow! What a post. Thanks Bill, It will take me awile to study/ponder all the info you provided. Soon as I put my plan together, I'll post an update. I believe I'll give Laggis a call tomorrow about buying some YP.

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When you call Laggis ask about his walleye and availability. Also maybe ask his opinions on forage for WE & YP??? Report back to us his comments.
A several more recent links dealing with YP:

WE and YP in MN discussion with some growth info.
http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=213409&page=1

NY new YP pond. Record sizes for YP.
http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.ph...true#Post210305

YP and WE stocking report & update - MI
http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=201668&page=1

YP and stocking options
http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=201283&page=1

YP and LMB or SMB?
http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.ph...true#Post197409


Last edited by Bill Cody; 03/13/11 07:30 PM. Reason: edits

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They call him Dr. Perca for a reason!

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Errick - I don't think Laggis will have those 5"-7" YP ready until after Mar 25.

Last edited by Bill Cody; 03/13/11 07:27 PM.

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I called Dan Laggis today - had to leave voice mail. I'm also going to call Anderson Minnow Farm - I want to ask about GSH and FHM.

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Laggis often has FHM. Some bait shops carry GSH. Check into local availabity. Shop may not have them but they might or should know who does and is fairly close (25-100mi) to you. In a new pond with YP, you will not need lots of GSH at initial stocking (1-2 doz) to be brood stock and eventually produce lots of GSH. Be aware, that if you use small live baits to fish for YP, the adult GSH will be bait stealing PESTS! I prefer special forage fish such as bluntnose minnows or spotfin shiners as very good additional forage for YP.

Last edited by Bill Cody; 03/15/11 10:07 AM.

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I ordered (300) 4"-5" YP from Laggis. He stated I could have stocked much higher than this with pellet feeding and aeration. I'll see how it goes from here. Will probably not add any WE until fall next year - I want to get more experience. Dan Laggis didn't recommend I get FHM from local sources - said too big a chance of getting unwanted species in my pond. YP and pellet feeding for now.

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Errick, if you feel confident enough, just order a small amount of FHM and hand sort them... You'd be amazed at how fast FHM multiple without predation. Only a few dozen turn into thousands in a summer without predation. Hand sorting a few dozen to remove unwanteds isn't too rough...

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Hand sorting even 100-200 FHM is not that time consuming. Get yourself an aquariurm net 5"-6" wide, dip out 5-10 minnows at a time and quickly visually check each one as they are transfered. For sorting you are looking for unwanted: sunfish, catfish-bullhead types, sticklebacks, maybe a bass. If FHM were raised by the farm very doubtful there will be carp, suckers or shad present as could be the case with bait shop minnows.


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Errick Offline OP
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Thanks for the FHM input, I'll try to get some from Harrietta Hills in June - they're having a fish day in my county - cut down on the drive - reasonable price.

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Those 300 original perch are your bread and butter fish. Take good care of them! I would take every effort to not allow natural reproduction in your pond. Trying to manage baby reproduced fish in a small pond is the hardest way to grow big fish. Its way easier to grow a young 4-6 inch stocked perch into a trophy than it is to grow a reproduced perch in your small pond into a trophy. Simply stocking 30-50 adult perch annually or biannually (if you plan on harvesting some) will help sustain a trophy perch fishery

I like to overstock predators like walleye and do not want them to do 'well' or grow very big if managing for big panfish is the goal. That is the biggest misconception that people just simply can't get over. You hear that walleyes dont do 'well' in ponds so don't stock them. Those are people thinking that the goal of every fish in the pond is to grow them into a trophy. Not the case, the goal is to stock them as a tool for wiping out as many of the YOY fish as possible. Keep them small, overpopulated, stunted, and skinny. When or if the walleye grow to over 15 inches long I would remove them and stock new ones.

25 walleye in your .25 acre pond would be what I would recommend and I would definitely wait until you see perch reproduction to stock them. You dont want those walleye competing with your perch food for awhile.

Pellet feeding even a small amount is more necessary the smaller the pond is. Also if you really want to have some fun make yourself a small cage or trap to store minnows and start feeding your perch off your dock every time you go down. It wont take long and you will have them babies eating right from your hand. Once they really get trained to feeding live minnows you can sub cut fish and they will gobble it up.





Last edited by Bill Cody; 03/18/11 09:33 AM.

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Dang Nate, do you have those perch named also?

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Errick Offline OP
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Hey Nate, thanks for the input. Do you recommend not trying to establish a reproducing minnow population? My goal is not to have "trophy" YP but to be able to harvest a good number of eaters every year (small scale fish farm). I would like to stock the YP to the maximum density that is appropriate for a pond this size. Pellet feeding as well as a permanent population of minnows was how I planned to do it. I expect the fertility of my pond to be good as there is some nutrient caryover from my cattle operation. I was thinking a thriving plant and small fish (minnow) population would help capture and recycle some of these nutrients to my benefit as food for the larger fish - still researching right kind of plants to stock. Stocking WE was my idea(maybe niave) of preventing over population and stunting of YOY in the pond.

p.s. Those are some mighty tastie looking perch you got there mister. Do you use any dye in that water?

Last edited by Errick; 03/17/11 05:24 PM.
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