I'm in the pond planning process now and want to do it right from the beginning.
My plan is to have SMB, WE, YP, PS, BCP, as my fish choices.
I know that small mouth bass and walleye will not keep sunfish and black crappie under control in most applications. My question is if I build a pond with little structure would that be better then lots of structure. I have access to lots of field stone and planned to line the pond edges with rock as much as possible anyway. I also was planning to add in some type of lily pad as I know that's what the wife would want. (I have been reading on making sure they are the hy-bred types to control the spread.) Is this enough structure already or should I be planning grade breaks and rock piles in the middle of the pond. The pond is planned to be 1-1.3 acres in a rectangle like bowl shape. 1/4 slopes or 1/3 if that would be better. I'm also pondering a shallow wading, swimming entry point.
My goals would be healthy 15"+ small mouth 15-18" walleye and harvestable sizes of pumpkin seeds (5-8") and black crappies (7-10"). The yellow perch would be more for a forage base then anything else but a few (8-10") would be great. Is this plan workable or am I dreaming. I am open to changing my plans but the one thing I really want is multiple species of fish. I love reading the on "The Mutt Pond" updates.
