Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose New guy and new SoIN pond

Well, its been an eventful seven months in the world...with a lot having gone on at my pond.

Dock completed mid-August, two 6'x12' platforms in a T:


200' of buriable 12/2 romex run from the barn in early February with GFCI circuit and outlet installed on dock:


For aeration I went with a Hakko 120LH linear pump, about 160' total of 5/8" weighted Airmax hose, and a single Matala 9" diffuser base with 18" PVC riser. I've had the aerator running on a timer 3hrs in late afternoon/early evening every day since installation.


Aerator installed with help from wife in late Feb:


Sealing dock wood in early March:



Also in early March, trying to get ground cover established all the way around...again...the drought right after we got the pond dug last year did NOT help our cause:


Not knowing how all the COVID restrictions would be, I decided to stock the bulk of my fish in one fell swoop on Sat 14 March: 10lb FHM, 100 3-4" RES, 100 3-5" HBG, 200 3-5" BG. As far as I have seen, only losses were one BG and two FHM.




My temporary redneck Optimal Jr. feeder: unused Moultree deer feeder, a cut 5gal Lowes bucket, and scrap plywood to help redirect the 'backsplash' into the pond. Currently have it running once a day, at 6pm, for two seconds. Think once the pond fills a little bit more I'll build some cement block piers left of the dock just off the bank and place the feeder there to regain dock space.


The payoff:


We're currently just over 10' depth with 2' of water at the front of the dock and 2' until the water reaches the bottom of the now-screened overflow pipe. Warmer temps and wet weather has helped the grass along some, and I'm hoping between two 40lb bags of Kentucky 41, two bags of 10-10-10 and natural grass that has proven to grow I'll have some good ground cover around it in the next 4-6 weeks to minimize erosion, everything look better, and hopefully minimize water cloudiness. Certainly wouldn't mind a little vegetation in the pond for fish habitat, either...give those panfish the best chance to grow and recruit prior to introduction of 40 5-7" LMB in the late summer/early fall.