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Joined: Jan 2016
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Hey Guys,
Its been a while since I've posted anything and to be honest its been a while since I was able to do much with my pond. About 2 years ago now we dug a 3 acre pond on our property to help with drainage and to get soil to build up an area to build our house. The pond is a "pit pond" and has no dam, its just a hole in the ground. the pond is rather deep in some areas, 16-18ft on one end and average depth around 10ft. I had made the pond deep with hopes of doing a coolwater species pond, using nighttime aeration in the summer to keep water temps low enough to sustain YP, SMB, maybe WE. Once I dug a bit deeper I found out that I'm not allowed to stock YP in my pond in Arkansas as they are not considered a native species. So now I am looking to develop a stocking plan that will meet the same goals as my original plan, using fish that I am able to stock.

A good starting point might be to list what my goals for this pond actually are. I want a place where I can have consistent action and I'd like to catch fish that are desirable to eat. Huge fish are not a priority for me.

Here's where I am at currently: Pond was completed nearly 2 years ago and has been full since about 3 months after that time. Water is chocolate milk colored due to suspended clay particles. We have pretty good vegetation all around the pond and the turbidity is due to the type of clay we have. We have done jar tests and we are in the process of determining a dosage of alum and lime and also sourcing the alum. My goal is to get this done before it starts warming up in the spring so that I will be ready to stock fish then. As far as cover in the pond, I have very little currently. We have about 6 Christmas trees in a couple of piles and a few pallets sunk in the pond and that's it. I had/have big plans for lots of manmade underwater structures but with the busyness of building our house over the last couple years I never got around to it. We did put about 10 pounds of FHM in the pond shortly after it was full the first year. I still see some of those around the banks but I don't feel they have exploded in population, likely due to the lack of structure and turbid water.

So now to the fun part, what should I stock and what kind of schedule should I shoot for? My biggest temptation right now is to try something using Hybrid Crappie. I know that's a dangerous path sometimes but they are one of my favorite fish to eat and I keep thinking there has to be some combinations of fish we can stock and management techniques that can sustain a healthy fishery using them. Because it would seem that I like to make things extra complicated I also have considered trying not to stock LMB. They are fun to catch but as far as eating, I'm not a big fan and in ponds near me that I have fished they always seem to overpopulate and stunt.

So what I have in my unexperienced mind is to try and stock BG, HBG, RES, and maybe some other sort of sunfish to build the forage base, along with the FHM that are already present. Then have HBC and HSB as my main predators. I have wondered if a annual stocking of tilapia could help with the crappie. I know a lot of the problem with crappie is they spawn earlier than BG and therefor the YOY crappie prey on the YOY BG. At first I thought that the TP wouldn't help with this much since they wont be able to be added until later in the season when the water warms up. But then I wondered, since BG have multiple spawns while Crappie typically have only one per season, could the tilapia take the pressure off of the later BG spawns and therefore allow them to keep up with the Crappie. This is all just speculation for me. Has anyone tried this and if so were the results positive? Any suggestions of alternative plans? Nothing is set in stone but Id like to get a plan together in time to put some fish in the pond this spring. The empty pond in the yard is just teasing me every time I look out there.

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You are likely not seeing lots of FHM because when no predaotors are present the FHM will mostly stay in deeper water where in murky water they will be hard to see. They are there and likely abundant. Interesting that HSB are allowed and YP are not allowed. HBC would also be doubtful as to why they allow them?

Do you know of any waters, maybe private PB members, in your area with YP? you could bucket stock some with no knowledge who did such a darn thing to your pond. I would do my best to stock some YP before their annual spawn (AK probably 4th week Feb-2nd wk in Mar). 10-12 mixed sex YP including 3-4 fat swollen belly females should populate a 3 ac pond. Then try HSB and or SMB as predators. Then as things progress and stabilize, you could add some HBC, but IMO I would hold off with HBC until the other fishes are established. Established fishes will help control HBC.

Last edited by Bill Cody; 01/03/19 02:02 PM.

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I like the way you think Bill!
I don't personally know of anywhere nearby that has a YP population where I could get some. I know I can be in Missouri with just a 20 min drive from my house and I believe they are able to be stocked in ponds in MO.

Anybody live in SE MO and have YP in a pond that you'd let me come fish?

In the case that I can't figure anything out on that front, would you recommend that I go ahead and stock BG and any other forage fish only this spring and let them have a season or year or however long to take off before adding any HSB or HBC?

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PBoss Members - "Anybody live in SE MO and have YP in a pond that you'd let me come and buy a several offspring perch or egg ribbons- says Kartracer00?"

I would not add BG until a last resort because although BG are the "backbone of a fishery" this is a fishery using largemouth. BE will be a significant problem for HSB-SMB to control the prolific BG population. If you want HSB, HBC, SMB, and maybe if lucky some YP, then stock some golden shiners(GSH) as a good forage fish for this combination. Another panfish to be using esp. if you plan on eating fish is to stock RES(redears) to control snail/fish parasite problems and provide some supplimental forage numbers. RES would be considered a bonus panfish. Best to allow the GSH and RES to spawn once before adding your HSB or SMB. Although you could initially stock high numbers of RES(300-400/ac)-GSH 40lb/ac)as alternative to having them spawn before adding HSB-RES who could be added fall or spring 2020.

Last edited by Bill Cody; 01/03/19 02:01 PM.

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