Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Fathead minnows??

Hi I'm going to finish stocking my pond this year with bass, I already put bluegill, redear sunfish, catfish, and a small amount of mosquito fish in last year, I also am thinking of adding some fathead minnows this year in a half acre pond, how many do I put in and when do I add them or will this be overkill

Ervin
Are you adding these to the pond that already has the BG, RES, CC and mosquito fish? Did you see any evidence that the BG-RES spawned at all last year?

I’m a fathead fan. But, realize that they will spawn but probably won’t last long. I see them as a jump start for a new pond.

Following as i'm about to build a new 1/2 acre pond as well.

bob_ FHM are very good for a new pond to get the predators growing fast. There are a few problems with FHM long term.
1. they are slow swimmers and predators clean them out of the pond pretty darn fast depending on predation pressure. Usually with LMB they do not last more than 12-20 months.
2. They do not grow much bigger than 2.5" - 2.75 ", thus they do not make a very big meal for a 12" to 13" bass who want to be eating 2.5"- 4" BG for best growth efficiency. Energy expended vs nutrition gained for the effort. As bass get bigger than 13" -14" FHM do not allow the bass to gain much weight. they keep LMB alive but growth is fair at best for these mid size bass.
3. They are costly vs the amount of benefit they provide for mid size bass. For a 1 pound bass to just maintain plump standard weight the bass needs to eat about 6lbs of FHM and then to gain a pound it needs another 10 lbs of fish. There are around 120 FHM per pound. Do the math.

So it sounds like i need to dump some in once i get water holding with my initial blue gill. Then by time i dump bass in the fall there should be enough of them to really kick start the bass growth while the blue gill are getting some successful spawns off and making more babies for the next years larger bass to chomp on?

Correct.