Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose Help selecting types of Bass and Stocking time

Long time stalker, first time poster. You guys helped me spend a fortune without even knowing it.

Here is a little background on project:
10 Acre new construction lake, designed to be entirely well fed so no contaminants come in through ditches etc. (We have two other ponds that go through major swings because of ag runoff) We've done the works on this lake, tons of artificial structure, rock piles, gravel bream beds etc. (If you search youtube for my user name there is a drone video of lake during construction) Designed to be a trophy bass lake with some larger bass (10+ lbs) but also have a catchable population of fish. We have discussed going all female but from talking with different places doing that I'm worried about long-term catchability.

Here is my forage stocking strategy:
30,000 fingerling bluegill (10% redear) Going in today
1 load of TFS going in next week
600 PK Shrimp going in next week
300lbs golden shiners (Can stock now, or wait closer to Bass Stocking)
20,000 fathead minnows (Can stock now or wait closer to bass stocking)

Have an attached 1/4acre forage pond and will stock it with additional 600 pk shrimp this year. Would like to stock it with something else but not sure what this first year. Open to ideas.

See anything that should be adjusted with forage?

I don't want to rush stocking bass if the forage isn't there, so possibly late this fall, but probably next spring.
So here's the 3 options I'm trying to decide between for stocking 500 LMB:

Option 1:
Stock 100% Legacy Bass

Option 2:
Stock 50% F1's and 50% Legacy Bass


Option 3:
Stock 90 % all female F1's
Stock 10 % mixed sex F1's or Legacy Bass


Thoughts? Maybe there's an option 4 that would be better. Sorry for long post.

Welcome to posting on the forum!!

I'd lean towards the 50/50 mix to hedge my bet so to speak. If you stock female bass, they have to be of a size that they can spawn, and sexed in the Spring when they have eggs/milt. The only way to reliably sex LMB is to use a catheter during that time and know for sure what's inside. Then you have to make sure your forage base is of the correct fish size and amount to support adult LMB.

Usually (at least around here) LMB of that size are raised on pellets, so it would be good to have a feeding program in place on the lake. While not 100% necessary (pellet trained fish will also eat forage fish), it would help ensure that they transition from the tank to the lake smoothly. I'm talking about the large 1 year to 2 year old female fish.

If you stock only female bass, what is your LMB restocking plan for the future?

If Florida strain LMB will flourish in your area, I'd possibly consider stocking them instead of the F1's. That way when it comes to spawning time you will have F1's instead of F2's.

My hope in option 3 would be that by only adding a small percentage of males is that over time they gradually spawn and resolve the female only restocking issue. But with there being such a small percentage of them it would give the females a few years head start before harvesting became an issue.

The lake has aeration and 6 feeders on it. Running those primarily for the BG but I have a feeling some bass will turn on to it as well.

If I went all female my understanding is about a 20% restock rate annually after the second year? Really leaning away from that route unless folks think its the way to go.

If the local climate allows the Florida or F1 bass to flourish, I think your thoughts are correct. BUT, before stocking the 20% you would have to remove the same amount of bass to ensure you don't overeat your forage base. Remember harvesting fish is just as important as stocking the correct fish to achieve your goals.

How is the fish supplier going to sex the fish?

Cath them

With the forage stocking rates, I wouldn't wait later than next fall to stock the fish. From your plan, I'd say your due diligence and research is spot on. I'd lean heavily toward option 3, simply because you're stocking 3,000 bluegill per acre, plus minnows at a high rate...and your bass rate is only 50 per acre. You need the advantage of the female ratio because you'll want those fish to grow as big as they can as fast as they can. If your bass stocking rate were higher, I'd lean toward Option 2.

I'm guessing tilapia stocking is illegal in North Carolina?

Bob, how about prawns? I heard about them at the last PB Conference, but nothing since then.

Thanks Bob! I read Pond Boss cover to cover and pretty much all of my ideas come from there. Also went and toured a handful of places around the southeast to see what was working well for them.

Tilapia is a little bit of a grey area in NC but if I did stock i would probably wait until the bass were larger. We've used them in another pond and they really dominated that bream beds and I'm not sure it didn't hurt us a little long term.

Random question for somebody smarter than me, but does stocking a really low ratio of males actually help with reduced spawning or am I just starting out with a larger % of females that have the potential to get bigger? Another way of asking it is can one male bass get as busy as ten without the competition.

Ive looked into prawns, but my understanding is that it would be an annual deal and they can be finicky. I'm interested but the first folks I talked to weren't as confident that it would work.