Thanks for the tips... I heard something at Pond Boss VII about catfish being cavity spawners and they would hollow out parts of the pond bank to make a hole. Was that only a particular type? Was I hallucinating?

My friend's 9-yr old mini-pond I mentioned in an earlier post in this thread was stocked with catfish early on and they have more or less taken over. They are offering up opportunity to help cull the numbers on rod and reel. I suppose I'm looking for some happy medium between a variety of fish that can reach some low-maintenance stability in the little ecosystem. If I start with feeder fish species and introduce predator species later, I'm buying into a different (not necessarily better or worse) management path than if I avoid introducing predator species intentionally, no? I mean, you can't help what the birds put in there... another local friend with a small pond near me didn't stock any fish at all and now has a yellow bass population his daughter fishes... courtesy of mother nature.

I'll poke around at what local sourcing options I have for hybrid bluegill.

Thanks,
Clayton


Originally Posted By: Bill D.
Originally Posted By: KapHn8d

Is you recommendation to avoid sunfish based on their reproduction rate? I was kinda looking forward to letting my little nieces fish those...


Clayton,

If you really want SF, one option might be to stock Hybrid Bluegill (HBG) They have limited reproduction, grow fast, fight hard and are easy to catch. A couple of Hybrid Stripe Bass (HSB) might help control the limited HBG reproduction and provide a nice bonus catch. Both HBG and HSB readily take pellets if you decide you want to feed fish.

I agree that CC would probably work as well but some folks avoid them as they can tend to stir up the bottom and cloud or muddy the water.

96.85840735 percent clayton... the rest is just pi.

We become what we think about.