Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose What are the best eating fish to stock in a pond?

I have heard large mouth bass is not all that good eating, although excellent as a sports fishing fish.

What are the best eating fresh water fish choices?

Crappie hands down! At least in the south

All panfish are good, providing they came from good water. My favorites in order...
1) Yellow perch
2) Crappie
3) Bluegill

However... It's a pretty small spread. They are all good!

I think it all depends on water quality and how the fish are taken care of post catch.

In no particular order:
Channel Catfish
Largemouth Bass (or any "bass including HSB")
Yellow Perch
Bluegill/Redear Sunfish
Crappie
Walleye

For ease of growing? Channel Catfish, Bluegills, Yellow Perch, any type of bass.

While hard to catch if they are caught and released once, Channel Cats, filleted with all the red meat and fatty tissue removed are very good. Cornmeal or light breading, cooked in hot oil. Yum. Very different in taste from CC caught from the same pond without the red meat and fatty tissue removed. To be honest, you couldn't tell it was the same fish.

I am for crappie too but a pond smaller than about 5 acres will not work very well.
But what I call a pond about 2/3 acres or less CNBG #1, CC#2, Bass#3 in southern ponds.

It may be someone is trying to start Pond Wars!!!!!!!!!!

My vote would be bluegill. Plentiful and delicious. Crappie and walleye are certainly contenders, but they're either not recommended (crappie), or are not adapt to small pond habitat (walleye). If you're not afraid of a little work filleting a bunch of bluegill, there is no more delicious entree as far as pond caught fish go.

Have you had a type of fish called "Barramundi"? I had this fish once (bought live from a market), and it was really good. Anyone can compare this fish to the other fishes?

What is good eating is up to your taste. Bass, to me, has very little taste. Even had it smoked and it was still bland. For someone not real keen on fish, it would probably be good...

Sean

In my opinion...bluegill first,then crappie,then largemouth bass. Most people fillet now but... If you leave the skin on the lmb it will have a wonderful flavor. Skin seems to absorbe the seasoning making it much better. I think we fillet to get away from bones but we are missing out on a lot of flavor by doing so. That's just me.

I think the best thing you can do is try all these fish that are suggested. Nobody can tell you what your taste buds like. You will find in this thread, and past ones, that about 4 or 5 fish will consistently come to the top of the list.

I would find a friend or nearby lake that has these, go get some, clean them yourself(this will keep the "test" factor more on equal terms) and see what you like. I don't think you can even try all of them fairly if different people cook them, because it won't be like how you do it. Perhaps you will like ones of these more than the fish you mentioned trying.

Certainly worth the time and effort if you compare it to what managing the pond, stocking costs, and changing you mind later will cost if you don't like it.

For me, it depends on how you want to cook them. We like to put down a piece of alum foil on the grill and baste them in garlic and butter. Cook in about five min, turn them once and take them off. Bass taste pretty good this way, yellow perch even better, however crappie are too tender. They fall apart. If you are frying them up, then it's a different story. Everything's good fried up.

I found a new one that is top of the list and not mentioned yet, Tilapia from my pond was great !! really surprised me. My favorite is goggleye (warmouth,rockbass) 2nd is southern fried lmb. A 2.5 #er out of good water is hard to beat.

Tracy

Bluegill ranks tops for me also, but YP and WE are delicious. I find crappie, tilapia, and LMB bland, but if you don't like the taste of fish then they may be alright. I'm over home-grown CC....I will eat the meat from the tail up to right behind the rib cage. Anything else I find has an off flavor, and the texture of an inner tube.

Then again, we have big CC. That may have something to do with it.

Sparkie, living in Louisiana (on the Texas Border) our lmb, crappie and Tp are not bland. Cajon cooking can be pretty spicy when frying some fish up. In fact, it might be as spicy going in as it is coming out. lol

Tracy

I hear you Tracy, but I hate to HAVE to add so many spices in order to be able to taste something. I want my fish to taste like, well, fish? I want to know I'm eating fish, and not something that's just absorbed whatever I've sprinkled over the top.

Got to agree on the spicy food though, love that stuff! Wish I could eat it like I used to!

Fresh water:

1.Crappie,
2. Warmouth
3. BC or CC
4. BG
5. LMB

My first choice is YP but all the ones mentioned are good. IMO it really comes down to the right recipe and cooking method for each kind of fish. A bad cook can screw any of them up while a good cook can make any of them great!

Can be subjective and what you're used to. Here in my area many frown on trout caught in local lakes, and will go as far as to call them "greaseballs." But bluegill are king.

Conversely in New England trout are king and bluegills are considered trashfish although I've seen a few exceptions.

And we all know how carp are worshipped in Europe, and most here turn their noses up at them for eating.

I know a taxidermist in Idaho that says local anglers throw huge walleye up on the bank as to them they look similar to a fish known as a squaw fish, which locals consider undesireable. Walleye are not native to his area.

I do have to agree with Rockbass yum but hard to get many of and large size to be worth while.

1) crappie
2) yellow perch
3) walleye

I am not one for the fish taste that trout and salmon have.

There was a thread going around here about best tasting fish and the best tip was to place the fish on ice right away. Let them die of hypothermia on ice. This pushes all the blood into the organs. Natures way to trying to save the life of the fish. This alone with make 90% of the fish giving it the flaky texture and ease of filleting.

Cheers Don.

Nooooooo walleye cheeks are so good.

A fish grower by me grows Barramundi for the live market. Never had any tho.

There was a great recipe a couple issues back in Pond Boss mag, used brown sugar, mustard and garlic! I tried it on lm. It was delish. I like most any fish, fried is my least favorite way to eat it though. Butter, lemon and a pinch of garlic, broiled or grilled.

Cmm

I did some research about this fish and found that fish farmers breed them in freshwater, then put them in bay water to grow. But at the same time people said they can be grown entirely in freshwater. So I am not sure what is needed to grow this fish.

Absolutely blew me away when we tried this at the urging of our Hong Kong exchange student. Scaled the bass (14 - 17 inches about the best), took out the viscera organs and gills. Then steamed about ten minutes with some ginger & garlic in the empty viscera.

Used soy sauce as dipping sauce and it was FANTASTIC. Leave the bones in! I bet it would work for BG too.

Walleye, bass, and BG are my personal freshwater favorites. Unlike many, I don't care much for Crappie. CC I've had both good and bad experiences. Hard to beat BG from clean, cold water!

Fortunately, the answer to your question includes many types.

The type of fish is somewhat important, but the fish's water quality, food source, latitude, altitude, and other factors probably contribute more significantly to any final answer.

Largemouth bass from good water and good forage, are excellent eating. Unfortunately, when grown in certain waters, or primarily live on certain forage, they can be nearly inedible.

Every fishery is different. My largemouth bass are great fighters and great table fare. So are my bluegill and my hybrid bluegill. My hybrid striped bass are incredible sport fish that are really delectable.

Overall, my channel cats are by far the most versatile. They are not only fun to catch, but they can easily substitute in recipes for many different species of fresh and saltwater fish. We even substitute their fully skinned bellies in crab and lobster recipes. They are also pretty tasty when brined and smoked.

One of the first things I would look into is if permits are needed, and what other special obstacles you have to go thru to be allowed to have them. As you find stuff out keep us informed. It may prove to be invaluable info for other pond owners.

I'm including a link that I found that says Barramundi is actaully Asian Seabass. Perhaps that will let others who know about Asian Seabass tell you if it is feasible in ponds and compare it's flavor to local species.


http://pdf.gaalliance.org/pdf/GAA-Boeing-Aug00.pdf

From what I can quickly gather from this, they will grow in freshwater, but not reproduce because of it. As stated "but must be placed in saltwater (28 to 35 ppt) prior to the breeding season to enable final gonadal maturation."

I wonder if this is needed everytime to spawn, or just once and they are forever able to spawn?

Yes will definitely post here if I find more info.

Here is what that fish looks like the way I had it.

HSB are pretty tasty too!

Mr Fisher, you're new here but if ya haven't noticed I tend ta give everyone a hard time. Soooo, did that thing wash up on the beach that way or did ya add the regurgitated oyster in it's mouth?

Crappie
YP
WE

CC & Tilapia are good but can be nasty depending on diet and water.

BG are ok
LMB & HSB not so much

Pike can be good also

I ain't that hungry!!

Learn to bleed any fish you catch for the table. Bleed it and then place on ice. Makes cleaning way easier and the meat firmer and whiter, not nearly as much red meat to cut off. Most fish, we bleed them by taking tin snips to the gills as soon as we catch them. Cut at base of gills. When in boat, we throw in livewell with it running. When fishing from shore we use a 5 gallon bucket. Give them 10 minutes and place on ice. Makes a big difference in how they taste.

My list goes:
1. WE
2. Crappie
3. Yellow Perch
4. LMB

Also depends on how I cook them. For the grill: I can't beat a walleye fillet wrapped in tin foil with a few peppers, garlic, onions, and olive oil. For deep fried, crappie is my go to. For tater tot/fish casserole (amazing dish in the oven!) I like yellow perch. I don't clean BG, too much work. But they are delicious too.

In a pond, well if I could first choice for me would be

1. WE or Trout if your pond can handle them.
2. If pond is big enough Crappie otherwise big BG! Wow they are good!
3. Believe it or not the HSB I had was good I was very surprised very flakey and not mushy not sure about in summer time though..

And 4th would be LMB they are ok in the late winter, fall and spring but once it gets warm / hot out they just don't taste that great to me and they do get kinda mushy...

RC

I've found that with any fish, post catch treatment has a lot to do with the flavor and texture.

Best way? Have a cooler 3/4 full of ice and add barely enough water to make it a bit slushy. Immediately upon catching, put the fish in the cooler with the ice/water, especially during the summer.

Try adding salt to that mix Esshup that really takes the blood out of the flesh

Does look like a bonus piece there, doesn't it... =)

Salt acts not only as a preservative, but by adding it to the ice/water mixture you also drop the temperature. Yes, below 32 degrees!

An old trick I use when redfishing far from home is to add large crystals of salt, such as for ice cream makers, to the ice in the cooler. So long as the filets are cleaned and dried carefully, sealed in plastic, and placed in the salt/ice/water mix, they will stay good for a LONG time without freezing. In some cases I've cooked them 9 days after catching and they tasted totally fresh.

When I was an offshore charter captain we would plunge the fish into a seawater ice slush while it was alive to draw the blood to the core of the fish removing it from the flesh. Makes a huge difference how the fish tastes. They do that with sushi grade tuna also

Makes a lot of sense. I know that fish from cold water have firmer and tastier flesh than the same fish in warm water.

For my money I'll rank them like this:

1 - COLD WATER Crappie
2 - Walleye
3 - Yellow Perch
4 - Bluegill
5 - Trout

I'm specifying the water temp in my first selection because in my opinion crappie out of warm water is not nearly as good....the flesh is too mushy.


I'll also say that my #5 choice may fall higher on my list if eaten more....I've had hundreds of meals of the top 4 prepared many different ways, but few of #5.

My first choice is Yellow perch, then Bluegill and Crappie. But, all in all, they are all very delicious.

Do you have these fish in the UK?

Down south here I like crappie the best but as they say they are boom or bust spawners

Surely a lot of YP, but I don t think there are BG in Europe, crappie neither.
Maybe vseprosto means other kind of fish?

I'll vouch that Crappie can be mushy if they are caught summer through fall particularly when cleaned and cooked right away. IMHO most every fish is best when caught from Jan thru about mid April.

I have however enjoyed crappie year round. If the fish are refrigerated overnight in a salt bath before cooking or freezing this will help to firm the flesh. Also, in my experience, the best summer caught crappie are those that soak overnight and are frozen before eating. When I freeze fish I like to just cover them in water and squeeze out the air. Fish froze this way will not freezer burn.

Lately we have been enjoying pan fried BG. It's a blast to cook a heaping platter of them. We just gather round the platter and feast on them. Yum.

I really enjoy cool to cold water BG. Also catfish, but I don't have any at my place.

Not a fan of crappie, they taste musty & mushy (not musky) to me. Maybe I've had them from warm water, though.

LMB are surprisingly good, if not too large. Our Hong Kong exchange student showed us how to steam them Chinese style and it was delicious.

jpsdad, your name came up re a source of eelgrass today. Can you recommend a supplier?

You know the last time I purchased eel grass was when I was a teenager many years ago. I bought it from a pet store and used it in one of my aquariums.

You want the ubiquitous North American species vallisneria americana. I am not sure where the best source would be.

Here are some links but I am unable to vouch for suppliers. Also these are aquarium suppliers and so might not be as well adapted to your locale as wild stands nearby.

https://www.pondplantsonline.com/products/vallisneria-vallisneria-americana?variant=7621583109

https://www.azgardens.com/product/vallisneria-americana-aquarium-plant/

Thanks. Gonna check it out!