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Hi there I have 1/4 acre pond in Southern Ohio. It ranges for 6'-10' deep, and has about 10% vegetation in the summer. It has a pretty equal population of LMB and BG. The average size of the LMB is 12"-14". BG are about 6"-8". Never caught anything else out of it. It seems to have a pretty steady minnow population as well. I'm curious how well stocking YP would work for my pond? I'd like something to ice fish for in the winter, and also just something for nice table fare.

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Sbrum25, welcome to the forum!
If you've read many of Bill Cody's perch postings here, you undoubtedly realize getting YP to thrive in a pond with LMB is difficult. That said, you certainly could add some perch large enough to avoid being snacks for the bass. They'd better be 5" or more; even some of these will be attacked. Some will make it. It is likely that you will have to restock every couple of years as recruitment may be rather low with LMB and BG predation on the fry.

I'll share are some of my experiences. 8 years ago we bought our place with 1/4th-acre pond that had been in existence for 20 years. We were told there were LMB, BG, BCP, YP in it. All we caught or saw were LMB, YP, and two large GC. There were no sunfish at all. There were no weeds nor any other cover. The first several years I added brushpiles and let submergent weeds become established.

Three years ago I added BG; two years ago I added GSF. These sunfish were hopefully to take some of the predatory pressure off the YP, our preferred panfish. I've hammered the bass population to the point that we don't see bass every time we walk the pond or fish it. I've added YP twice.

We now have practically 100% of the muddy bottom covered with vegetation-Elodea, some short clumpy grass-like plant I have not identified, a very few duck potatoes, a few American pond weeds, and FA in summer. The perch are doing better with all that cover. The BG struggle as the water temps are on the cool side. The GSF achieve fair recruitment. I cannot say that anything is thriving. I hand feed Optimal Blue Gill. We have a few RNBT and tiger trout and 7 GC presently.

All of this is to say that with heavy harvest of the bass, I've been able to get some other fish to recruit young. I don't get many large panfish; we catch a couple 9 and 10 inch GSF and BG each season. They're original stockers. YP grow only to 10". Nearly all LMB are under 11 inches; unfortunately, there are either 2 or 3 greater than 20" bass that have been uncatchable for 3 years. These biggest bass are a major problem as they can eat anything. I hook them each year, always on very light line; they dive into the cover and break off. I've invited others to fish the pond in hopes that their different fishing style will prompt the big ones to bite. Shotgunning is prolly the answer. Or draining the pond. Ha ha.

I'd say buy or catch some perch and throw them in. They cannot hurt. You'll end up with a few or several. I can't imagine their upsetting your BG/LMB population.

I'm no expert; others will chime in, maybe even the big perch doctor himself.

Once again, welcome to Pond Boss. Enjoy!

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4Corners is providing good testimony to my posts about YP in ponds. "Thrive" means to naturally provide or recruit (by reproduction) young fish to replace the adults.

LMB seem to prefer eating small YP compared to small BG. Some of this is due to YP staying deeper where LMB primarily inhabit and shape of prey items. When you are a fish predator they get conditioned to and instinctively select prey that are easy & quick to swallow because other predators will often try to "steal" food items from another predator. This is called by the fish squeezers as kleptoparsitism. Fish predator research and related studies have found that 'handling time' before a prey is swallowed is very important in predator - prey interactions.

Yes you can have YP in your pond with 12"-14", but as 4Corners mentions you will need to IMO remove every LMB that you catch until you catch or see small 3"-5" YP swimming in the pond. To begin, you will have to stock YP that are at least 6" and better 8" long. A 12" LMB can easily eat a slender 5"-6" YP. The larger ones you stock the higher percentage of them will survive. The growth of the stocked YP will be better if you buy ones that are fish pellet trained and then feed the fish 40% protein pellets. YP do not do well on 32% protein.

If a YP abundant pond is your real goal, consider renovating the entire pond and restock with YP and a few hybrid striped bass as the predator of the YP. HSB have small mouths and do not reproduce so you have good control of the predator pressure on the YP. Plus the HSB will eat pellets which will reduce the predation on the YP population.

You mentioned that your pond has a steady minnow population. With LMB in the pond I suspect the "steady minnow population" are small BG not true minnows such as fathead minnows unless you are frequently adding FHM from the fish farm. A minnow trap baited with bread or dog food will let you know if the small fish are truly minnows or just small BG/sunfish.

Plus I see you are in southern OH. There is a fish farm near West Liberty that sells pellet trained high quality YP (8"-10") for a good price. Adding 15-25 larger YP per year into 0.25 ac will insure very good survival and provide a good YP fishery for some ice fishing and YP harvest. If you are within 50-70mi of there send me a PM.

Last edited by Bill Cody; 12/29/17 02:26 PM.

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So it turns out the county is doing a fish fingerling sale. They're selling 2"-3" YP for .85 cents a fish. The problem is they are selling them on March 29th so I wouldn't have much time to get bass out of the pond. So let's say I sink multiple brush piles and stocked 75-100 fingerlings . Then try to get bass out throughout the summer. How successful would the YP be?

They also have black crappie fingerlings as well I thought maybe put 50 or so of them in to see how they do. We have a nice weed bed that runs the length of the pond I think would be perfect for the crappie.

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See Bill's advice above, I would avoid the fingerling sale. Put the $ toward larger YP if you can source them.
Also, crappie is not a good idea in your size pond due to over- population / stunting potential.


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Get PB mag and see info such as this ;

Quantification and Evaluation of Factors Influencing Largemouth Bass Predation of Stocked Advanced Fingerling Yellow Perch
By Seth A. Lundgren , Casey W. Schoenebeck ,Keith D. Koupal ,Jared A. Lorensen and Caleb G. Huber in North American Journal of Fisheries Management 34:595–601, 2014
Thist study involved small (2 to 25 acre) waters with largemouth bass – bluegill base populations like those of many Pond Boss members. The stocker Yellow Perch were 3 inches and they were stocked in late Aug - Sept at 500 fish per acre into lakes with existing populations (all sizes of bass and bluegill and some other species). An obvious point to keep in mind - if larger Yellow Perch fingerlings (say 6 inch) were used predation mortality would be lower, possibly much lower

The survival of stocked fish was estimated with respect to both stocking (handling) mortality and predation by Largemouth Bass. Stocking mortality was found to be zero, while Largemouth Bass consumption of stocked Yellow Perch averaged 26.4%. Consumption was highest on the day of stocking (0.35 perch/bass stomach), with only minimal consumption (0.01 perch/stomach) occurring beyond day 4. Largemouth Bass populations with small size structure (lots of small bass) were predictive of greater Yellow Perch mortality, suggesting that there is greater perch survival in lakes with bass populations of larger (more balanced) size structure. However remember the stocker fish were 3 inch. If larger stocker fish were used then bass size structure would not necessarily have the same effect.

This study again strongly tells us the importance of habituation of newly stocked fingerling fish when potential predators are present. Most predation of newly stocked fingerling fish occurs in the first few days and quickly reduces to minimal amounts. Protect those babies for a few days and you will have a much greater chance of success. It is an easy job using nets or rigid plastic fencing. Prior Cutting Edge articles and threads on the Pond Boss Forum go to great lengths to give the reasons and specifics of habituation (giving them a chance to acclimate to their surroundings) using protective measures like nets or fencing to keep the predators off of the new stockers during the first critical time period.
















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The weakness of the article that ewest referenced is no data on the amount or type of habitat that existed in each body of water. Also the density and size structure of the LMB population in each water body was not presented. The more dense habitat present the higher the survival of fingerling YP with LMB present. I suspect that when 3" YP fingerlings are are stocked with a normal population of LMB in a bare bottom pond or one with just fluffy (coarse) fish attractors 85%-99% of the YP will be eaten by the time those YP get to 7". As dense fine structured habitat increases the survival of the 3" stockers to get to the 7" size increases toward the 26% noted in the NAJFM study.

For Sbrum25, I agree with Beastman, stocking fingerling YP at 3" will be a waste of money, but it will feed your bass and make them happy. You will just be feeding your bass. It will take a fairly long time for your 3" YP to grow to 7"-8" and by then your 12"-14" bass should have found and eaten every one of those YP.

There are two very good places to buy larger YP of 6"-10" (6"-8" and /or 8"-10" sizes near you. One place is Shelby Fish Farm Anna OH and the other is Brehm Perch Farm in West Liberty OH.
https://www.facebook.com/Brehms-Perch-Farm-371823336230161/
These perch will be pellet trained and will grow very good if you feed them pellets to easily get some 12"-13" YP. Spend your money on large YP and you will see very good survival for some successful ice fishing. I would not add crappie to your pond. Try the larger YP first, feed them high protein pellets that you can get from ShelbyFF and you will not want crappie when you are catching 12"-14" YP.

Last edited by Bill Cody; 01/21/18 06:58 PM.

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I'd be concerned with 2-3" YP which are nearing age 1 [these YP are obviously 2017 fish]...my age 1 male YP are often 4-5+" and females up to 8"+. That's some significant lost growth...hatchery might be dumping the "runts" or inferior fish - you don't want to be the one ending up with them. Genetics are a very important factor when choosing a hatchery. There are many sources of YP nationwide, it's worth every penny to stock healthy fish with proven genetics from reputable hatcheries. Follow Bill's advice above - he knows!


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Since it seems most of these small fish will likely be eaten, does it matter if they are stunted?

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The point here is: Fish that size available in the Spring [approaching age 1] indicates they are slow growers/leftovers/inferior fish the hatchery wants to dump. Intended as a warning to pond owners - that's the impetus for my post.
Further, Cody advises against stocking expensive snacks...think we have it all covered.


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What ever size you get be sure to habituate them.
















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So, I'm definitely going to add bigger pellet trained YP to the pond. I'm thinking about 30 of them. I don't want to just throw money away on fingerlings. So what's the best way to habituate new fish to a pond? What materials do I use and how do I go about putting it up?

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IMO if you add bigger YP such as 8"-10", then just immediately release them from the transport container if the water temperatures of both containers are within 5F degrees. If your bass are not larger than 16" then you could also just immediately release 6"-8" YP. Habituating new fish is primarily done and most important for fingerling fish 2"-4" that are released into a adult fish community. If the receiving fishery has large bass of 16"-20" then habituation becomes more important. Ewest may have varying opinions about this.

IMO habituation means releasing new fish into areas with abundant dense finely divided structure that will provide refuge. A large weed bed area would be ideal place to release small fish.

It is my experience that whenever I release new small fish into most any water body they immediately swim into deep water regardless of the type of structure present. This is because these small fish were raised in hatchery ponds without predators other than their siblings. Small hatchery fish that grow up in a predator free pond and are accustomed to always use deep water as a secure place to be. Not true in a mixed fish community with adult predators. Thus many new fingerling fish released into a existing adult community quickly become fish food.

Last edited by Bill Cody; 01/26/18 10:22 PM.

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Too bad you’re so far away, I have loads and loads of large perch. I can’t get rid of them!

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YP fillets sell for a pretty high price. Maybe a nearby aquaculture facility would pay you for some if you need to get rid of them?

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some people would even pay to catch some big perch, especially around my area lol


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Originally Posted By: Sbrum25
So it turns out the county is doing a fish fingerling sale. They're selling 2"-3" YP for .85 cents a fish. The problem is they are selling them on March 29th so I wouldn't have much time to get bass out of the pond. So let's say I sink multiple brush piles and stocked 75-100 fingerlings . Then try to get bass out throughout the summer. How successful would the YP be?

They also have black crappie fingerlings as well I thought maybe put 50 or so of them in to see how they do. We have a nice weed bed that runs the length of the pond I think would be perfect for the crappie.


I have 2 issues with the YP mentioned....first, the price is high, and second, they are WAY too small. You can get gravid, adult YP for nearly the same price as the fingerlings mentioned.



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Not a bad idea! I’ve already caught a few thru the ice this year over 12 inches and one monster at 14.


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