Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Raising Forage and Bait Minimum dimensions for forage pond

This is so much fun. I love just brainstorming ideas and trying to learn about all the nuances. I just ordered some back orders of Pond Boss which may help answer some of these questions but let me throw them out there now anyway.

I am going to build two 50 by 50 forage ponds shaped like a paint pan . In the spring I will put in 1-2 pounds of FH or GSM and allow them the to breed and pull them out some out during the summer to put in the pond. The ones left in will hopefully continue to breed until the water temp is too high or until late in the fall.

1. Is 1-2 pounds a good amount of FH and GSM? The pond they will be supplementing is or will be 1-1.5 acres SM, YP, WE

2. Bill wrote that late in the season spawns will have small minnows by size. When I am ready to draw down for the winter seining the small minnows will be difficult due to the size of the minnows. How does this sound? The forage ponds will sit above the pond (slope wise) and in between the forage ponds and the pond will be a 150 foot long by 8 foot marsh area. The 5 acres above the pond will be graded so all water in the watershed will filter into the marsh for cleaning (control sendiment). The marsh will then have water run from it into the pond via an overflow but could have a drain down pipe for winter. This all sounds more elaborate than it really will be. My question is could or should I have a drain down pipe in the forage pond and come winter just drain the forage pond and small minnows into the marsh and then into the pond. With that I would not have to worry about the smaller size minnows from the later spawns being lost. Or is this just too much work for the cost of minnows?

3. When seining the minnows during the season, is it worthwhile, important, necessary, to separate the larger from smaller or can I just pull out so many and leave others in the forage pond for breeding?

4. I am thinking about the PVC tubes one foot long. They seem like they would be easier to put in and take out rather than pallets. Do you screw together or attach the foot long sections together? Or are they tossed in seperately?

This is great fun. Thanks