I found this site and was wondering if you guys could give me some advice. About 2 years ago, my parents built a home in Illinois on lot #50 in the schematic below. My dad was really excited about the pond (the one in the lower right hand corner) and the fact that it was going to be stocked, because my kids (4 & 7 y.o. boys) are fishing fanatics and he knew they'd be really excited about fishing at Grandpa's pond. Well, only 5 of these lots have been built on and the builder is in the bankruptcy process so the pond is the least of the builders concerns. I'd like to stock the pond myself if possible. I started looking at the Pond Boss forums for ideas. My main concern is the runoff issues as this area was mostly dirt a year ago. There is now at least some weed growth and I'm considering trying to seed a few of the areas that are dirt. If you have any recommendations as to what kind of plants to seed, I'm all ears. There are also a lot of leaves in the water (don't know if that would pose any kind of problem in a small pond?). I was considering stocking fathead minnows and bluegill initially. As an avid fly fisherman myself, I'd love to stock some bass eventually, but am more concerned with getting a large bluegill population so the fishing for the kids is easy pickings, even if they are on the small side due to the lack of culling from predators. I'm not really sure of the pond size, but it's not very big. Hopefully, you can get an idea from the pix and schematics below. Any tips would be greatly appreciated as would suggestions for stocking ideas. I'm attaching a bunch of pictures to give you an idea. Thanks for any help in advance.
