Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations Fish are growing! Now what?

My pond is close to 1 acre, 26 ft. deep, aerated. I stocked it in the Spring of 2016 with FHM, GSH, LCS and let them do their thing for one full year. Spring 2017, the pond is chock full of bait! March 10th I stocked 500 1-2" BG, 250 1-2" RES, 30 2-3" LMB. I had plans to add HSB but so far haven't found them close enough to pick up. Growth rate is phenomenal! BG are now ~3", LMB are~4-5"!
After reading the PB forums, my goal was to have a pond saturated with bait fish before stocking predators. In this second year, the GSH and FHM have spawned again and the water is teeming with minuscule minnow schools!
I know I'm short on predators! Can I wait until Fall to add more LMB and if so, how many and what size?
Thanks for all the information everyone! I've always dreamed of owning my own pond. It's awesome to see the fruit of my hard work!

Now what?

Classic PB answer: It depends!

In this case, on your goals. Want a trophy panfish pond? Add LMB, for sure.

Want a trophy LMB pond? No need to add predators, you're doing great.

My goal is for a trophy LMB pond but with som decent size BG for the grandchildren. My thoughts were that I am on track to have a stunted population of BG. According to what you're saying then, I'm fine with the status quo for now!

Watch for a year to see if the LMB spawn. During that time collect info on fish populations and growth. At your location the LMB may not spawn until yr 2.

NO!!!! Do not add more LMB. Even if they don't spawn right away your pond like mine 1 acre can only hold about 75 pounds of predator fish maybe a 100 tops!! So with 30 bass in their right now your talking an average of 2.5 to 3 pounds.

And if they do spawn like Eric says oh boy then you will end up having to many cause they don't ever all get ate! Now like myself this year I am trying my best to pull out 12 inch LMB because my RW's are a bit low. You have done just right in your stocking plan DON'T mess it up now!!!

RC

If in collecting info you get to this fall (mid-Oct) and you have no 8-10 inch LMB (10-12 inch LMB in March/April are needed for possible spawning)then you will need to adjust. My guess is you will need a few adult LMB 12 inches next spring to achieve balance. I would not add any small LMB (2-4 inch) this year.

Awesome! Thank you for the guidance! Monitoring is underway!