Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose Yellow Perch/Walleye pond

No dye in the water and those perch were tasty. They got booted out of their safe spot by the VIP dock by the Hybrid Striped Bass. At my place the VIP dock is the only safe zone for fish.

Errick,
I dont see any downside to trying to get minnows established. Your plan is very sound for your goal! If your talking about a small scale fish farm, you can easily grow 150 YP in a 4x4x4 cage. You could stock your fish in your pond and then grow some in a cage up to your preferred size and then release them into your pond for put and take angling.

I had considered HSB for my pond but I don't think they are allowed in Michigan.

I think you're right Errick. Not allowed in MI.

A fairly dense number of WE as N8ly suggested could be a good option to keep small YP reduced. Egg collection and removal is also very helpful to reduce numbers of small YP. My main concern with adding too many WE is they over eat the minnows which are also important for imporved growth of YP. Although, occassional restockings of pellet trained YP or cage raising of small YP andrestocking does help a lot to reduce the lack of minnows problem.

I also have been raising YP. I find that very few come to the surface to feed. Bill, when I was at your place last year, you were feeding stuff that sank. Is that different stuff from my Aquamax 500? You were showing me the minnows with the white tips the day that Scott and I came over to get fish and lilypads.

Errick, another thing to keep in mind when planning your pond: be really careful about what you put in there. My pond is about 1/2 acre and 15 feet deep. I am working hard to manage (it is fun, though) LMB, BG, YP and SF. This winter I caught a GSF that must have come in hidden in the BG or my minnows. The advice about checking the minnows and such are really important.

I think you have a good plan, and the best advice found anywhere. My problem was when I went to the fisheries, I got those big eyes and wanted to put everything in there. Sometimes I think about blowing the pond out and starting over.

Coach - the sinking food you saw was hydrated pellets of Aquamax carnivore 5D06. AM 5D05 (500) will hydrate the same as and a little quicker than 600. When damp it will not sink unless it is broken into smaller pieces or the pellets are rolled or squeezed and air is worked out of the pellet. YP generally will not feed at the surface when water temp is less than 48-49F, although they will readily eat sinking pellets at those lower temperatures. Surface feeding becomes a little more aggressive once water reaches 50F. Surface feeding activity of YP increases as water approaches 60F.

Did some reading on the forum/web. I am considering eel grass monoculture to start my pond out with plants. I'll see what naturalizes after that.

Picked up 300 YP from Laggis today. I also picked up 240# silvercup. The fish had a 2 hour ride home with 21 degree ambient temp.- they were very lethargiic when I released them but seemed to perk up a little bit when I got them into the pond. I had to break 3/4" of ice to let them in. Hope they make it.

Errick did you put any structure in the pond for them to spawn on?

I intend to lay some tree limbs and old christmas trees down into the water from the shoreline. I figure I've gat a little time to do it. Dan Laggis said the YP should't start spawning until water temp gets up 50-52.

Sounds great, you shouldn't have to wait long once we reach normal temps., I've heard they can start spawning at 45 degrees. Good Luck

Ice is out again as of yesturday afternoon. Threw some pellets in today - about 1lb - no takers-?? How long before the new fish start taking food?

General wisdom around here seems to suggest that your water needs to be into at least the 40s to see much feeding activity. I saw just a little begin from my bluegill when my surface temps hit 42. Give it a little while yet. It also seems that by 50 degrees, they should be much more active across most species.

Often when one purchases new pellet trained fish and releases them into a new or an older established pond, the fish do not right a way show up to devour the pellets. This could occur and does occur for numerous reasons.

In this specific instance, I have some inight into the apparent problem. I know the history of the fish that Errick purchased.
1. These fish will be one yr old this April (2011) which means they did not learn or commence eating pellets until the water was fairly warm - imprinting to pellets for only 5-6 months (May-Oct).

2. The OH hatchery where these YP were raised does not feed pellets until the water reaches 55-60F because the 'farmer' has had fish deaths from feeding dry pellets to his fish at low water temperatures <50-55F. The new perch could still have some of last year's body fat which will allow them to function without eating for at least several weeks.

3. Many of the new fish that Errick received were fertile and 'ripe'. At this time of year they could be focused on sex more than food.

4. New fish in a new pond almost always have to become accustomed to completely new surroundings which often takes time.

5. New fish in a new pond often have a good amount of natural foods to sustain them for several weeks until they become hungry enough to locate the pellet feeding station and time of feeding. The two have to occur together. Low amounts of natural pond foods helps 'push' fish back into seeking and eating pellets.

6. Sometimes pellet trained fish that are less than 1 yr old will not readily seek out pellets to eat. The degree of habituation to pellets that the fish poses has a big influence on how quickly the new fish will return to eating pellets. I prefer to have fish habituated to pellets for 1.5 - 2 yrs before they free roam in the pond. This is just my preference.

7. Water clarity can influence how well the new fish can find or locate pellets. IMO cloudy water slows the time required for new fish to find and feed on pellets. Others may see this as a benefit.

8. Are the pellets being tossed out at the same time or location that the new fish have been previously accustomed to eating pellets? Fish are very much creatures of habit. New feeding times and locations will have to be re-learned by these new fish. Pellet flavor and protein content can also play roles here, which is why I always ask what the fish were accustomed to eating.

9. IMO and experiences YP are inquisitive, but relatively dumb fish compared to other fish that I have worked with. Relearning to take pellets can take some time. Other roaming fish such as trout, HSB, often LMB and BG will much more quickly find and locate pellet food tossed into the pond compared to YP.

10. These fish have not eaten pellets since last fall - 5 months. There is probably some relearning to do.

11. New YP start refeeding on pellets a lot quicker in a pond when existing fish are already feeding on pellets and older experienced fish can lead, train or tutor the new fish to the pellet feeding activity in the new pond. I call these older fish 'teacher fish'.

12. I received siblings of Errick's YP. My fish are in cages. They are very shy. At this time (8 days after removal from grow-out pond), they will not come to the surface for pellets - water temp 45-50F whereas older experienced YP will feed at the surface. But new caged YP, will cautiously eat soften, rolled pellets after they sink about 2 ft deep. In 2-3 weks, and as water warms these YP will be more accustomed to their new surroundings and the new feeding schedule. Then they will gradually become braver and take pellets from the surface. Light intensity seems to have a big affect with this process. I usually feed pellets at sundown.

In summary, be patient, let the water warm to 55-60F, resume feeding pellets near dusk when YP are less shy, feed from same location, maybe make a 'little' ground or water noise before feeding to attract attention of fish. Crush some of the pellets at beginning of feeding for minnow feeding. Often the feeding activity of the minnows will refresh the memory of the YP and help reduce the hesitancy to feed by the YP. I always feed my new YP in a cage for varying times to get them accustomed to the new conditions and feeding process before they are relased. Resident YP 'train' newly released YP to "how its done" in Cody Pond. All these things insure a high percentage of fish that eat pellets.

That post there should be an article in it of its self!

Tried feeding pellets again yesturday. They showed up for dinner!! They ate 1# over about 20 minutes.

Walleyes too?

No WE yet. Plan to add them in the fall. I would like to get 15-20 if there are enough YOY to warrent it. The YP in my pond are exhibiting alot of breeding activity. I plan to set some traps as Bill Cody had recommened in a few months to see how the spawning went.

English was always my worst subject.

Jack,

You're listed as a resident of UK but your website is not a UK website. And your contact button gives no contact information. What's up with that?

Your contact number for returns is also bogus:

123-456-7890

I realize you are probably a spammer, and just doing something you've been paid to do, but I am compelled to ask, WTF are you actually trying to say here??? If you want to blend in and sound like you might actually belong, thus surreptitiously keeping your posts with unapproved links on the site longer, try using proper grammar, syntax, tense, and sentence structure. What freaking pain it causes me to read your senseless drivel. STOP ALREADY! GO HAUNT ANOTHER FORUM!

Love it, AP!

My head hurts after ready that gibberish!