Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose 66 acres- 9 years -first stocking

Hey Guys,

First off, thanks for all of the great info shared here! Guys freely giving their time and knowledge to help others improve their ponds is a wonderful thing.

So I have been asked to help manage a 66 acre lake. I am an avid outdoorsman who loves hunting and fishing. I am also the slightly OCD type who does as much research as he can before jumping into a project. This pond was dug during the 4 lane construction of I-74 in NC around 9 years ago. The water was tested by NC DNR and deemed good for recreation, cattle, fish, etc. I do not have the water report but have asked to get a copy of it. It is spring fed in sandy land with no runoff or dam – basically just a hole in the ground. The owner told me that when they reviewed his water quality report he was informed that there must be an underground runoff. The water clarity is +3’ but the owner does not want to fertilize at this time – his wife likes the clear water . We are planning to put up 4 or 5 feeders to help support the pan fish. There is little to no structure and only sparse vegetation. I plan to take a trip next week to do more research on what vegetation is in the shallow areas. I have come up with a plan to build pvc structure to place throughout the pond for a reasonable cost. One of my current questions for you guys is where to put this structure to best help the pan fish? I’ll include a pic of my planned structure for the shallower areas. I’ll also include a few pics of the lake and a topo I created with my Lowrance and Insight Genesis.

The pond was not stocked but I have caught green sunfish, pond chubs, and redfin shiners with my cast net. The green sunfish seem to be in abundance in the 2”-3” size and we have caught a few hand sized on bettlespins. We thought about rotenoning the lake and trying to start from scratch but the cost was more than we can handle.

I had a friend who drained his 3 acre pond to rotenone and restock so I worked a deal to catch/buy his fish to transfer to “my” lake. With a lot of hard work and a sore arm from throwing the cast net 19,000 times, we transferred:
217 large bream
201 large shellcracker
120 small bream/shellcracker
6 pound bass
4 pound bass
1.5 pound bass

Thru discussion with several sources –including local pond management companies- we plan to attack the green sunfish population with competition and predators. We are considering stocking up to 10,000 CNBG/RES now and having a pond analysis –including electrofishing sample- done by the Pros next spring. We will hold off on stocking any LMB until we have the evaluation done. Is this a solid plan? Or would you recommend doing the analysis now and hold off on the CNBG until next year?

Our goal is to have a well balanced pond with good bream/shell cracker/bass populations and size. Taking kids out to catch a good mess of hand sized bream with an occasional slab is the goal. The same for the bass would be our secondary goal.

Thanks in advance for your help and I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

1). You’re gonna love this site.
2). Document as much on here as you can so we can all learn from your experience.
3). I don’t have anything to add but there are some real pros on here.

That picture with the feeder is almost a Zen Moment it looks so peaceful!

Wow, 66 acres! Sounds like a very cool project!

Thanks guys. This is a big undertaking but it is super exciting to know what we can have a few years from now! The lake is pretty much a blank slate allowing me to decide where the fish will be if I do my job right. Looking at the topo you can see I have a lot of good things going for me - its not just a square flat hole. Lots of work ahead and I will do my best to share everything here for all input and future insight.

And as for the Zen moment, being on the water is second only to sunrise in a treestand for me.

I personally know that area very well. Have helped develop Richmond Mill Lake of the King Fisher Society.
You have two important things to do BEFORE buying any fish.
First, do the electrofishing survey. If you'd like to have a conversation about this and help develop a plan, I can be available by phone most of the day Thursday. PM me if you are interested.
Secondly, develop a habitat improvement plan based on your goals. Use your topo map to start that process to determine placement. Learning aquatic plants is a smart idea...seeing what you have is wise.
Then, with solid data from an electrofishing survey, you can create a stocking plan that fits with your management plan and budget.
Happy to help develop that with you and refer great vendors for your plan.

did you add those large bass already?
they might find each other and spawn this spring.

That was what I was thinking.

Lusk has the best idea for that size project.

Second best idea for me would be take whatever dollars are set aside for stocking, and spend them on fewer advanced size forage breeders rather than thousands of fingerlings that may become quick snacks for the existing fish population. Buy some 5 or 6" BG.

Mr Lusk,
I would be honored to get advise from you! I will send you a PM later today.

I remember fishing the old Richmond Mill Pond as a little guy before the mill closed and the King Fisher Society started their work. I've read about it recently and it seems they have an awesome program.

Thanks for your offer and your time. I look forward to speaking with you tomorrow.

Hi RER and SNRUB,
I have already added the bass so there is a possibility of the bass getting a jump start next year. I did also add around 400 large CNBG and RES at the same time. I counted anything over 4" as large but the majority of those were +7". We also had a few slabs in there at +9" and over a pound. The pond we pulled these fish from was over populated with LMB so there was very few little panfish and hundreds of small bass. It was a trophy panfish situation but that was not the goal of the owner so he is starting over.

One thing I didn't mention above is that there is a small pond on this same property that we plan to use as a nursery pond in the future. It currently just holds runoff water so we have to work on getting water to circulate with the big pond so we can control the depth/water quality. I'm guessing it is around .4 acres and 5'-6' deep when full.

The local company I talked to about stocking the CNBG told me their fish would be between 3"-5" right now and would spawn next year. My thinking was to get a good population in place before those bass could get a jumpstart.

But again, I'm here to learn and nothing is set it stone for me.

I would strongly suggest getting with Bob or another Lake Mgt company and get a real game plan. 66 acre lake would be amazing to have and fish, but you need a pro to help get you started in right direction.

With large water bodies it is far better to plan in advance "professionally". Unlike small ponds (which are like cars and can stop/start and change directions quickly) Large lakes are like a train that takes time to slow down and change directions.

Hey guys,

I have talked with two lake managements companies and we had planned to do a complete survey and stocking plan with one of them. Due to a family emergency, the owner decided to cut back on some of his planned investment for this year. We had planned the survey and an initial stocking per recommendations. No way we can fully stock 66 acres at one time so we were planning staged stockings. In discussions with both companies about what I have found from fishing/castnet/minnow traps, I was informed that CNBG would eliminate green sunfish if stocked heavy enough. From this info, I was leaning towards doing an initial stocking the CNBG and postponing the survey. With feedback from here, that is now on hold. I hope to speak with Bob tomorrow and then have another discussion with the owner. Sounds like the survey is more important up front.

Thanks for the insight and I am really glad I found this forum when I did!

Yours is an interesting project.

Don't forget about us. As you progress, whatever moves you ultimately make, keep us informed on the successes and failures of your actions so we all can follow along and learn.

Daniel, welcome to the forum.

I completely agree with ewest. I was gonna use the siege vs. battle analogy.

Thanks for the welcome Fire!

Will do on the updates. Not sure if this is the correct category for a running project update but maybe I will summarize and cross post in one of the other subforums. I am getting a DJI Mavic for Christmas so maybe I can put up a fly-by video of the pond on my youtube channel for everyone to see. And I will definitely be documenting the electrofishing whenever that happens. Lots of work ahead but that is all part of the fun!

Hey guys,
After talking to Mr. Lusk and the pond owner, we are going to hold off on any stocking. We are going to do exactly as Mr. Lusk advised above. Get the electrofishing survey done and use that to create our long term stocking plan. Meanwhile we will be working on a habitat plan with the goal of having good bedding and cover for our CNBG/RES along with good fluffy cover for bass hunting grounds. I am working on that now and will upload a copy of my topo with locations marked for review and input soon.

On a side note to anyone thinking about needing Christmas trees for your pond cover. I contacted my town's Public Works Director and they agreed to hold as many Christmas trees as I would like. They pick them up from the roads after Christmas and told me they would pile them in a certain place for me to pick up. I asked for 150 trees and she said that shouldnt be a problem!! Now is the time to ask and its absolutely free.

I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!

Good Call!!

I don't think you will be sorry about that move.

For sure. After just a few minutes on the phone it was clear Mr. Lusk has forgotten more about managing a lake than I will probably ever know. I'm super excited to have his input and know without a doubt if we can follow his advise we will end up with an awesome lake. Lots of work ahead but I think we are finally making steps in the right direction.