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#398896 01/26/15 08:46 PM
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My grandfather stocked a pretty decent sized pond on our ranch with yellow perch many years ago ( he estimates 25 plus). I tried ice fishing it this winter and found that the fish have become stunted (all 3-6 inches). The lake is around 80 acres and has depth up to 25 feet. And has hundreds of dead trees scattered throughout. I would like to establish a crappie and walleye population but am unsure how to do so with the excess of perch. PLEASE HELP!!

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Welcome to PBF!

First thing I would do is add SMB and lots of WE and maybe NP, but I'm not a pro. They will be along with opinions/suggestions. They know what they are talking about and will not steer you wrong!

Bill D.

Last edited by Bill D.; 01/26/15 09:04 PM.

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What do you mean by WE and NP? I apologizf I -
Am new to this.

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80 acres is a big BOW! I would want to know where I was before deciding on which direction to go. IMHO,Without a lot more information first, stocking recommendations would be blind guesses at best. Has the lake ever been sampled with traps or shocked? Have you caught or seen other species of fish in the BOW?

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WE- walleye
NP-northern pike

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Sorry man,

Here is a link to the acronyms used on PBF.

http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=92442

WE are walleye and NP are northern pike.


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Hello, that is a BIG pond !!! I probably know less than Bill D but will babble at ya anyhow. The big brains that actually make sense should surely jump in soon.
Hope you have lots of extra $ cause to stock it in the correct ratios will surely be expensive. You will get a bunch of "it all depends" and it surely does. Depending on many variables the WE may or may not reproduce. The same is true for CC. Crappie(pronounced CRAP E) should probably do well in that large BOW. If you can bucket stock the WE, Crappie and if ya want SMB that will help the wallet.
With sooo much water you have ample room for a BIG variety of fish. You might consider CC HSB some species of pan fish besides the Crappie, Trout of some kind, NP. Musky or Tiger Musky. The combinations are almost limitless. I believe you will be short changing yourself by limiting it to 2 or 3 species and in the looong run the We and Crappie will reduce the YP to 0.
Keep askin ?s and do lots of homework before deciding on your strategy.
You might want to wait till warm up and fish it more thoroughly, who knows what's really in there. Good luck and keep us posted. A picture is worth a thousand brownie points.


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The lake is fairly remote and has been in our family for nearly 50 years so I'm certain the only existing population is YP. Do you think that stocking a baitfish would unstunt the perch so to speak? I've been in contact with a few fisheries. And I feel like they are just trying to sell me fish vs help me manage.

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Originally Posted By: Ndfishingfool
The lake is fairly remote and has been in our family for nearly 50 years so I'm certain the only existing population is YP. Do you think that stocking a baitfish would unstunt the perch so to speak? I've been in contact with a few fisheries. And I feel like they are just trying to sell me fish vs help me manage.


I think I can say with confidence that, no, stocking baitfish will not unstunt your YP and solve your problem. You need to greatly reduce their numbers, especially if you are sure they are the top predator in the lake. They are probably living off their own spawn.


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WE Walleye, NP Northern Pike, don't need to apologize, the only stupid ?s are the ones not asked. I am puter challenged and don't know how to direct you but there is a list of abbreviations here that someone will probably guide ya to.
I don't think you can unstunt the fish, by adding predators and decreasing the YP #s you may enable the remaining fish to grow better.
You are already wise in thinking that fisheries will tell ya and sell ya anything. Probably be wasted money if the pond is way overstocked, to expect to establish minnows is doubtful but I'm not sure. A 1-2" minnow is the perfect size for your existing YP. Eliminate a bunch of small YP Yellow Perch and it lessens the predation of any minnows added. Any fish will expend as few calories to eat as possible. So a 16" WE would rather eat a 3-4" YP than 3 or 4 1" FHM Fat head Minnows.


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Sometimes I'm a bit slow. OK, most times.


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ND- IMHO, if you have an 80acre BOW full of stunted YP...you my friend have a gold mine sitting there waiting to be mined. The biggest question is how much are you willing to spend. My advice, take some of that budget and hire a Pro. Your project is very big and very cool!!! If done correctly and enough $$$, that BOW of yours could be something special.

And as stated in other posts...pictures are required grin

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Originally Posted By: mnfish
ND- IMHO, if you have an 80acre BOW full of stunted YP...you my friend have a gold mine sitting there waiting to be mined. The biggest question is how much are you willing to spend. My advice, take some of that budget and hire a Pro. Your project is very big and very cool!!! If done correctly and enough $$$, that BOW of yours could be something special.

And as stated in other posts...pictures are required grin


mnfish has good points. IMO you have to decide do you want to manage the lake yourself or are you looking for a pro to come in and "Fix" it for you? The correction plan, when you get one, will come down to how much are you willing to spend and how long are you willing to wait.


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Even if a pro didn't come in and fix it, but instead did a fish survey, found out what direction the owners wanted to take in regards to stocking, and furnished stocking recommendations based on their budget, it would be a LOT less expensive than stocking the wrong fish and having to push the reset button.

You need a short and long term plan for the fishery.


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No matter what you do, fixing an 80 water hole is going to be a huge and expensive challenge.


It's not about the fish. It's about the pond. Take care of the pond and the fish will be fine. PB subscriber since before it was in color.

Without a sense of urgency, Nothing ever gets done.

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How do I go about hiring somebody to do an evaluation? I will get you guys some pictures this weekend.

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Originally Posted By: mnfish
ND- IMHO, if you have an 80acre BOW full of stunted YP...you my friend have a gold mine sitting there waiting to be mined. The biggest question is how much are you willing to spend. My advice, take some of that budget and hire a Pro. Your project is very big and very cool!!! If done correctly and enough $$$, that BOW of yours could be something special.

And as stated in other posts...pictures are required grin


I agree here.... here....

80 acres is huge. Trap net and fish all over the pond. Make sure this is all your catching in there. I have seen this in a local pond here and it is very perplexing trying to figure out the correct management steps to take.

Find the underwater points and fish them working your way deeper. See if the size of the fish increases you may be pleasantly surprised. Just need to find the right spot on 80 acres.

Cheers Don.


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7/8th of an acre, Perch only pond, Ontario, Canada.
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Sitting at my desk with my mind wandering about an 80 acre lake full of yellow perch!! Man am I jealous. laugh

Not sure about transporting or sales of fish from ND but that BOW may be able to cash flow or at least off set some of the expenses. You see the forum member with two dogs in his Avatar. The one with the highest # of postings....If it were me, I would PM that gentlemen as a starting point wink

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I worry about my DIY 2 acres and you have 80! Call a pro, for sure.

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If it weren't for Cody burpin me, my 1/4 acre fishery would be a carp pond.


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If it weren't for Cody burpin me, my 1/4 acre fishery would be a carp pond.


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I would check the depths of the lake and make sure it isn't a relatively shallow slough before stocking some gamefish. If there are good depths over 16' deep over a large area I would stock 2000 walleye 5-7" this fall and then 1500 walleye every 2-3 years depending on how the first batch does. Contact Rob Jost with the Minnesota Muskie Farm and expect to pay about $1.25 each for the walleye delivered to your place.

He can get you some crappie too. Just stock 500 of those with the walleyes just to get them started.

I think you will have excellent growth rates on your walleyes!


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Originally Posted By: n8ly
I would check the depths of the lake and make sure it isn't a relatively shallow slough before stocking some gamefish. If there are good depths over 16' deep over a large area I would stock 2000 walleye 5-7" this fall and then 1500 walleye every 2-3 years depending on how the first batch does. Contact Rob Jost with the Minnesota Muskie Farm and expect to pay about $1.25 each for the walleye delivered to your place.

He can get you some crappie too. Just stock 500 of those with the walleyes just to get them started.

I think you will have excellent growth rates on your walleyes!


Do you think this stocking plan would eventually bring the YP population under control?


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Yes I do think it will eventually get the perch population in check for his situation. With walleye as the only predator, I think he will get a lot of 3-5 lb walleyes relatively quick and they will gobble up a lot of perch.


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In Most lakes walleyes are relatively slow growers, but in ideal circumstances they can grow very quickly!


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