Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose New pond Owner1

Hey guys yes i'm the newest member and i have just bought a piece of property that has a 1 acre pond on it that has a spot in it that is 18feet deep. This is my first pond to own and me and my girls have been going out and trying to see if there are any fish in it by just throwing fish pellets. i saw one catfish come up. Where do i go from here, i would love to know how and when to get some fish put in this thing or find out what i already have. the pond has been there for about i'd say 9 years that i know of. Any help would be greatly appreciated. i have been around ponds all my life but know nothing about what it takes to keep them up. All the ponds that we have in our family have mostly been bass ponds. I am an avid bass fisherman and would love to walk around my pond and catch some fish but would also like to throw some kind of perch in there for my little girls to catch.

Welcome Deep Blue. Glad to have you on the PBF. You will find the greatest collection of scientists and experts here. They all are pond owners and speak laymen's language.
My advice is to find your area of interest in the FORUM section and then follow a few threads. There are a lot of folks like me who have benefitted from each other's experiences. They will chime in pretty soon so be patient. Keep looking here and asking question. This is the best place I have ever found for help and honest interest in my situation.
Shelby County ( Shelby County, Texas south of Shelbyville 9 miles)

Hey Deep Blue welcome. I too have a 1 acre pond and it can be exciting and overwhelming at times. I like you 4 years ago was excited to have my first very own pond! I had no idea how to manage one though.

Then I found this site!!! Look around and read, read, read, there is a ton of info on this site about what you ask about. Information overload baby!!! Don't try and suck it all in at one time or you just might pass out!!

Finding out what in a pond can be hard. You can fish it as best you can to get an idea. If it clear enough you can walk around it on a sunny day and if you know your fish you might be able to spot a few and tell what they are, but if you can afford it you may want to do 1 of 2 things.

1. Have a shock boat come in and shock it for ya to see some of whats in there. Or

2. Drain it down kill it off and start over so you know for sure what is in there!

Lets see what some others have to say too. But meanwhile just keep reading buddy your learn a ton!!

RC

Welcome!

In no particular order, but they all need to be done at one time or another.

Look in the archives for relative wieght. Print out the chart for LMB.

Catch, weigh, measure and record those numbers. Check against the chart and report back here.

Check to see if your pond has 15%-20% of the surface acreage as cover for the fish. If not, prepare to add some.

If you don't particularly love fishing for catfish, catch them out and keep 'em out. Catfish over 3# eat the same food as LMB.

Let us know what kind of "perch" you want to have in the pond:


These?
Yellow Perch


These?
Northern Bluegill


Or
These?
Coppernose Bluegill

Thanks guys i was refernced here by a buddy, seems alot of people are in the same boat i am..hahaha so i am biased towards the northern bluegill and the coppernose i think they are alot of fun fo kids and they can be some fighting little son of a guns.

LMB is obvisouly Large Mouth Bass, i'm learning the acronyms so bare with me. Also the pond is not real clear right now its kinda murky and i'm in the process of trying to clean it up by treating it. Guess i need to get the water right before i start adding fish i suppose.

Thanks for the help so far i can see there is a great bunch of guys and help!

Murky water, hmm...

What color is the water? What is the Secchi reading? You can make your own Secchi disk with just about any old round piece of plastic and some black paint or even black electrical tape.

Is it murky because of suspended sediments or because of algae bloom? Put some in a big Mason jar and take a picture on a white background. Then set it in the dark for a week and take another photo.

If you haven't found them, the acronyms are in the archives.

Acronyms

You are correct, fish won't do well if the water quality isn't good or great.

for abbreviations, look at "common pond q&a" and near the top is "commonly used acronyms"

Bb1, you gotta type quicker!

My 2 thumbs only go so fast!

It is a tan color and looks to be sediments, i put some Aquashade in it and now its just dirty blue water like something is rolling around on the bottom and keeping it dirty which is why i believe there are catfish in it. The pond has an overflow piping that leads to a storm water ditch so it only can go so high. Do i need some type of aeriation?

Once again thanks for the replies and excuse my ignorance but what is SECCHI?

What is a Secchi Disk?

A Secchi disk is an 8-inch (20 cm) disk with alternating black and white quadrants. It is lowered into the water of a lake until it can be no longer seen by the observer. This depth of disappearance, called the Secchi depth, is a measure of the transparency of the water. The Secchi disk measures the transparency of the water. Transparency can be affected by the color of the water, algae, and suspended sediments. Transparency decreases as color, suspended sediments, or algal abundance increases. Water is often stained yellow or brown by decaying plant matter. In bogs and some lakes the brown stain can make the water the color of strong tea. Algae are small, green aquatic plants whose abundance is related to the amount of plant nutrients, especially phosphorus and nitrogen. Transparency can therefore be affected by the amount of plant nutrients coming into the lake from sources such as sewage treatment plants, septic tanks, and lawn and agricultural fertilizer. Suspended sediments often come from sources such as resuspension from the lake bottom, construction sites, agricultural fields, and urban storm runoff.

Transparency is an indicator of the impact of human activity on the land surrounding the lake. If transparency is measured through the season and from year to year, trends in transparency may be observed. Transparency can serve as an early-warning that activities on the land are having an effect on a lake.

Coupla thoughts and questions.

I wouldn't dump any fish in until I knew a lot about the pond. Keep observing and do some fishing. You need to determine the predator/prey relationship as it now appears. The most important tool is a log of fish caught and observed.

Is it still 18 ft deep?

How big is the runoff area and what is in that runoff area?

What part of Texas? This matters due to soil/water chemistry. I would send a water sample to TAMU to find out what you have. The 2 biggies are alkilinty and PH.

Can you contact the previous owner to find out the ponds history?

What does the water actually look like? Green, brown, clear?

Your goals? Do you want huge bass or a fun fishing hole? Those 2 don't go together.

Pay most of your attention to the bluegill/forage base. This is the most important fish in the water hole. Again, keep a log.

A sechi disk can be made of a white paint bucket top. Poke a hole through it and run a cord through to a weight attached to the underside. A healthy pond ought to have about 18 to 24 inches of visibility before you can no longer see the color of the disc. This identifies the phytoplankton base that is the bottom of the food chain.

Are you sure it's one acre? An acre is 43,560 sq ft or about the size of a football field. Believe it or not, this can be important. What size is it at the end of August?

What is the plant life like?