Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose Stocking FHM and YP

I'm getting ready to stock my 1/3 acre pond. I'd like to have some stocking suggestions for FHM and YP. Max depth is 15 feet, avg depth is 10 feet. Aeration being installed next week and want to stock by end of month.

Also, does anyone know of a source that ships YP?

Thanks in advance.

You will have a hard time finding YP in your area. To get them shipped in try for the South Carolina stain who will be more adapted to your region. I think there are a few places in SC that are raising YP indoors in recirculating systems for the food market. Try to do a web search for SC aquaculture and yellow perch. Contact one of the YP growers and get your fish from them even if you have to haul them home in coolers or garbage cans with DIY aeration.

I think when the YP are larger and older (13") you may see some mortalities in the hottest part of the summer. If you are able locate some YP by all means keep us advised and updated to how they progress over the next 5-7 years. You and your YP will be pioneering over some new territory with this plan. You raising YP in AL will be very educational for many other PBoss forum members. I am especially interested in your results.

Stocking density of the YP will depend mainly on what other species are to be in the pond and if the YP are pellet trained or not. Also to be considered for stock density are the goals for the pond and desired harvest rate.

Here are a few informational links to get you started. Contact authors or agencies for YP growers.
http://www.extension.org/mediawiki/files/e/e8/Species_Profile_yellow_perch.pdf Author was J. M. Hinshaw*, Department of Zoology, North Carolina State Univ.

Aurora Fisheries Hatchery
Species: Hybrid Striped Bass, Yellow Perch
Beaufort County
(252) 322-5680
664 Idalia Road
Aurora, NC 27806

This is a big hatchery in GA that my provide some YP possible locations.
Owen & Williams Fish Farm, Inc.
Paul B. Williams
Route 1, Box 2000
Hawkinsville, GA 31036
912-892-3144

I think Zetts Fish Farm in West Virginia ships them. You might ask about how hardy they are for your area. If you google them, you will see 2 of them. The other one is in PA.

Another possible source

http://www.smithcreekfishfarm.com/live-fish.cfm

I would be leery of Zetts and Smith Creek both with northern stains of YP. IMO as Dr. Perch aka Dr Perca, I would only buy southern strain YP for use in AL, SC, and GA. Northern stain YP are likely to struggle for survival in mid-summer in the South East US and your chances of success using northern strain will IMO be diminished. There was a molecular genetic study of northern and southern stains of YP and the results indicated a significant difference between the two strains of YP.
http://www.fws.gov/fisheries/aadap/PDF/1...rn%20Strain.pdf

More possible fish farms:
http://www.southlandfisheries.com/ in SC list to have YP

One of these authors may know about a YP source in Alabama:
http://www.academia.edu/8459970/COMMUNICATIONS_Overwintering_Yellow_Perch_Fry_in_Alabama

See the contact names in this link for South Carolina Aquaculture. One of these guys may know how to contact a SCarolina YP aquaculture facility. Click on the name and it provides an email message to each SC aquaculture specialist.
http://www.dnr.sc.gov/marine/mrri/aquaculture.html

Please mention here where you locate your YP and it will be very helpful to other readers who in the south want to try YP.

Bill,

I did not know there was a southern strain of YP. Guess I always just thought of them as cold water luxury us Northern boys get to enjoy! How does the southern strain compare to the northern strain size wise, etc?

Thanks for all of your suggestions. Now, how about stocking rates for my 1/3 acre pond?

Is this a YP only fishery? Stocking strategy will be dependent on:

your goals for fishery
additional species
aeration
pellet feeding
harvest pressure

Per Bill above:

"Stocking density of the YP will depend mainly on what other species are to be in the pond and if the YP are pellet trained or not. Also to be considered for stock density are the goals for the pond and desired harvest rate."

Give us a feel for these details, and we can help outline a strategy.

Like Bill, I'm very excited for your project and also grateful for your willingness to expand the boundaries of science for the benefit of our PB community. I am eager to help in any manner possible - this sounds awesome.

The goal is to have a fun place for the grandkids to fish. The pond is aerated. In addition to FHM and YP, plan to add HBG next year. Yes, will pellet feed. Harvest pressure won't be heavy. I may have the stocking strategy backwards, year old YP would probably eat HBG fingerlings. What are your feelings on this? Should I eliminate the HBG and go for a strictly YP pond? Remember, this is a 1/3 acre pond. BTW, am going with southern strain of YP.

Thanks to everyone for their input.

I think HBG and YP will co-habitate okay, however you should have some sort of method for controlling recruitment of HBG and YP, be it either predation, manual thinning management, or both. The offspring for YP will likely be more numerous than that from HBG. If you want a predator fish I would first use and try the HSB - hybrid striped bass. It is available from Southland fishery linked above. I would stay from LMbass until you have an uncontrolled overpopulation of panfish. Remember you can always add more HSB when you think you have too many small fish and too few larger YP-HBG.

When you use the fish pellets the best success for the YP, HBG, and YP will use the 40% protein type of fish food. If you use Aquamax consider blending the two sizes of 005 and 006.

For your specific goals, I think it is okay to stock all the fish at one time including FHM. No need in your case to stock FHM allow them to breed and then stock sport fish. The original stockers should all be pellet trained so they immediately have ample food (pellets) to grow normally. Be sure to check with the fish farm when you get the fish about the food your fish are consuming. Buy a bag of the food from the fish farm so your fish have the right pellet size and a familiar pellet to get them started the quickest. Also you do want some predators present to start cropping the YOY fish as soon as hatchlings are available. Depending on size of stockers,,,, the HBG-YP could spawn the first year in the pond. If no spawn occurs in year one, then the HSB at 10"13" will be available to eat numerous hatchlings of YP and HBG that occur next year.

Stocker density for your 1/3 ac. This sort of depends on which panfish you want most abundant if any. Which ever panfish you want most abundant, early in the pond history, then use the higher suggested stocker number. If initially you want an even balance then use similar stocker density.

For 0.33 ac = YP 80-125, HBG 80-125, HSB 10-16. FHM - 4-6 lbs and they are actually optional. Others will have opinions to consider for stocking. Be prepared to replace HSB and or either panfish as you see their catch rate decrease over the years. Make a conscious effort to take a pen and paper with you each time someone fishes. Let the kids fish - you do the work of supervising and recording. Record what is caught and the lengths. These historical records will tell you or us when the fishery needs adjusting by adding or removing fish.

Give us a consumer's report about where you get your fish and how the pond progresses over time. I suggest that you stick to the 'your' initial plan. Write down the "plan" and stick to it. Don't let the fish farm personnel change your plan. You can easily make changes to this fishery "plan" later if you are unhappy. You may need a grass carp and/or tilapia as you see weeds/algae appear. You may need to add some pond dye to suppress weed algae growth in deeper depths of 3-6ft. I predict that you will be very, very happy with 'the plan' when you see the results. These 'planned' fish are not deal breakers, where the pond fishery will be damaged long term and needing a complete renovation for a recovery. It can be fixed relatively easily which makes it a great stocking combination for your goals. Inquiring minds want to know how things proceed. Plus I am 'nosey' when it comes to fishy things.

Bill is the expert here, he taught me what I know, so obviously I concur 100%. My HSB help manage BG population in my primary fishery, should do well on your HBG too. If you notice HBG population/stunting issues you can always pump up the HSB stocking numbers. Bill - question: Do you recommend ladder stocking HSB so he always has a year class focusing on a specific HBG size? Could advising 4-5 HSB annually and perpetually be good advice? By year 5 he could have 20-25 HSB and if the HBG and YP numbers are suffering, he could harvest a few HSB. HSB are good table fare, after all, and easy to catch on pellet pattern.

I don't consider myself an expert just one with a little more fishery experience than TJ and he is 'catching up' fast. All here have advice/opinions to be considered. There are numerous management options as the fishery ages similar to raising kids or pets. If the pond in his warm climate, is fished regularly during summer,,,,, anglers will kill a lot of the HSB due to exhaustion syndrome of the HSB. Thus the HSB will very likely need to be ladder stocked. If Larry pays attention (monitors) to what the fish (HBG&YP) are doing as far as numbers and growth and harvest, and he feeds food daily, I doubt there will be a significant amount of stunting due to food not being a limiting factor. An aerated pond can have a pretty high density of fish if they are optimally fed daily. Lack of stunting assumes a "proper" panfish harvest and one year class does not get over populated due to lack of predation and lack of monitoring /observing. At times individuals of a year class may need to be "thinned" by trapping or focused selective harvest.

One of his main management tasks is to monitor average sizes and their relative numbers in the angler's catches. This is why written records are very important in fish management. The trend of average sizes caught by anglers will provide the best monitoring data.

I am intersted in how well your YP do during the hot summers and if you find a source for southern strain YP. I am considering them as a tool to help control the GAMS in my pond yet offer a meal to my my larger predators I hope to be growing. I am not sure how they will do in a hot southern pond though... Please keep us posted

I'll continue to update the thread as the pond matures. Thanks to everyone who gave their input.

Delmarva Aquatics sells the Chesapeake or mid-Atlantic strain of YP which are adapted to hot water. Our native YP regularly see water temps in the mid 90's.

Both Southland and Delmarva are out of YP. Guess I'll just stock the HSB and HBG with 6 lbs of FHM.

Another option is to stock fingerlings when they get them in a few months. Or put your order for YP in now ,,,, continue to let forage develop this summer and stock YP this fall. Also adding pellet raised YOY YP (4"-6" fall 2015) with existing spring 2015 stocked pellet eating HSB and HBG will work. If you want to add fall YP (4"-6"), I would not overstock HBG now, reduce their density and ladder stock more or remaining HBG in 2016. You plan can still work. I have worked with ponds with HBG-YP-HSB that produced very good fisheries.

Bill C.,

Thanks for your suggestions. I'll call Southland tomorrow and see if they'll take an order of YP fingerlings for the fall.

Let us know what they tell you. We are curious how they do business.

Well, no luck for YP this year. I contracted with Southland for fingerlings for next spring. They were a pleasure to deal with, didn't try to convince me to change my stocking plan.

The water quality in the pond is now spot on. Now for my next question. I can see all the way to the bottom of the pond (10'). Should I fertilize before putting fish in to create an algae bloom? Also need a recommendation concerning the addition of HSB. Seeing as I won't get the YP till next spring, should I wait till then to add the HSB? I don't want them to be big enough to be feasting on newly added fingerling YP.

The TH feeder will be delivered this week. Got it with the solar panel.

Larry,

Are you going to go ahead and stock the FHM this year?

Bill D,
I will stock FHM and HBG for sure. Not sure about HSB.

IMO Good Plan! Those YP ought to be happy little fellers when you drop them into yer pond packed full of FHM to greet them next spring!

FWIW IMHO Whether you stocked HSB now or next spring would depend on how big of YP you will be stocking. If you are stocking fingerling YP I would wait and stock small HSB at the same time.

I agree with BillD., before stocking the HSB find out what size of YP you will be getting from Southland. Ask if you can get or order larger ones 4"-6" or 6"-8"? YP stockers will determine how big HSB should be either as residents or stockers. The smaller the YP the smaller the HSB should be when the YP are added. Well fed fish grow very fast, so be patient for now.

FHM & fertilizing. If you fertilize, do it with the intention of always fertilizing or you could be setting the stage for a weed factory if you later quit fertilizing. Creating a large nutrient sink in the sediments as a very fertile environment or basis for a submerged weed growth problem. If you fertilize make sure your alkalinity is adequate for a bloom. You may need to add lime first to raise the alkalinity to produce a bloom. When fertilizing plan on liming on a regular basis to maintain alkalinity and subsequent blooms. I would monitor alkalinity each year before adding fertilizer. Liming is not a one time application.

You can grow lot of FHM and other fish by feeding them some form of pellets. For minnows the food is best utilized if it is ground to small sizes for direct consumption of the feed. I feed minnows Purina GameFish Chow or some other catfish type of food. Some feed minnows the whole hard dry pellet and let the minnows eat the pellet as it softens which has it pros and cons. Also consider adding some stocker crayfish now to thrive on the uneaten pellet food and help consume bottom FA which will likely develop in the clear water. A good resident crayfish population will help feed the stocked fish.

So, how many crayfish for a 1/3 acre pond?