This summer I hope to build a new pond that will be approximately one acre in size. It will have a watershed that is about 20 acres of mostly CRP with a maximum depth of about 14 feet. I already have one pond that is stocked with LMB, BG, CC, RES and a few BCP. The fishing is great. I am trying to decide between stocking the new pond with the standard LMB, BG plan or doing something different. I am thinking about doing a pond with HBG, HSB, and YP. I would also add a few RES to control snails. I plan on using a fish feeder to feed with Aquamax pellets. To start the food chain I will probably stock FHM, scuds, and grass shrimp the first year. The following year I would start stocking the other fish. Some questions I have are, is this a bad idea? If not, how many and what size of the HBG, YP, and HSB should I stock? Are there some fish that should be stocked before the others? Should I add other forage species? Do I need another predator species? I know the HBG and HSB will need to be restocked periodically as fish are caught and removed. The property has a lot of cedar trees and osage orange trees that can be cut and used as fish structure. How many trees should I add as structure? Any advice would be very appreciated.
