Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Raising Forage and Bait Too late to stock?

Ok so it's been a couple of years since I first posted here, but believe it or not... it took that long to get the pond built. We hit major boulders (size of a mini van), busted some equipment, survived cancer (not me, my son), built a barn, had a baby (not me, my other son), and finally got some water in a hole that resembles a pond. At full pool, it will be about 1/2 acre. As soon as I figure out how, I'll post some pictures.

The pond started filling last October. The deep end is about 8 feet deep, the shallow end about 4 feet average. It's got a good 8 feet to go though. We had almost no snow last winter and very little rain this year.

So, my question is... is it too late in the season to stock some FHM? We had a tremedous toad spawn this spring but they're all gone now. We had some painted turtles and bull frogs show up. A few snakes. And a great blue heron stops by regularly. I'd like to get a good minnow population going before I stock bass, bluegill and channel cats next year.

What do you guys think?

I would certainly add some. Water temp should be ok for spawning for another four to six more weeks. Might as well get the party started.

I would do it very early in the morning. Be sure to acclimate the fish to your water and the temps. If it doesn't work, it will be the least expensive thing you will ever do on a pond.

You should certainly stock several types of minnows-shiners. Depending on your altitude there could be 8 or 9 weeks of warm yet. You could probably get some spawning going on. Float several clean pallets for the FH. I like to attach 4 1 gal jugs (find the thicker white ones, milk jugs break down too soon) to keep em suspended after they waterlog. I have great luck with SFS and BNM. Gsh may work for big CC. Hopefully CJ will chime in, he is the minnow guru. Try to find some paper shell crawdads also. Good luck and have fun.
PS know it's a pain but ya should really hand sort, just a few unwanted fish can make a major problem down the road.

Thanks for all the advice. I'm going to do it. "Get the party started." HA! I have some pallets and old cedar trees and Christmas trees I can anchor in the shallow end. Most of the pond has pretty steep banks.

I'm not too far from Kurtz Fish Hatchery in Elverson, PA . Anyone ever deal with them?

One thing I forgot to mention, is the pond is still quite muddy. This is a picture from back in March, but it hasn't cleared up much since then. Maybe a little.

Moses, you may want to do a "jar test" to see if the clay in your water will EVER settle out. With all that bare clay, there is a lot of silt getting washed into your pond, and it may include colloidal clay. I'd try seeding all around and in the pond asap.

FHM can be stocked any time of year with even a foot or two of water, and are fairly inexpensive if lost for some unforeseen reason.

I did several jars tests this spring and summer. The water in the jar cleared up nicely. There's some vegetation around the pond now, but we haven't finished the final grading, so we haven't sown any grass seed yet. We've been having very dry weather for weeks, then thunderstorms. So, that hasn't been helping things. I took a walk down there this afternoon and the water has dropped a lot due to evaporation. All the local ponds and lakes are down.

I'll take some pictures tomorrow to show what the pond looks like now. We plan to wrap up soon. Much of the pond has been lined with shale. We built some habitat with the spare rocks. We have lots of rocks.

Definitely going to stock FHM soon. Maybe crayfish?

MA,

FHM can survive a wider range of water quality than any other fish n our ponds. I am not from around there, but I would do it.

Here's what the pond looks like as of this morning. The water has dropped a bit more...

Just curious... Are you counting on rain and snow melt alone to fill this?

Yes, more or less. The pond sits at the bottom of the hill. There are 2 or 3 acres of run off that feed it. Also, there are a couple of seasonal springs right at the edge of the pond.

Before we dug the pond, it was always wet down there, and during construction we had to keep pumping water out. Once we were finished, the rain stopped and we got hardly any snow. Sigh...