My wife and I will be getting a new half acre or more pond and was wondering what the recommendations would be. I would like to have the HSB a few LMB and bream. Also would like to get pellet trained fish. It will be about 10 foot at the deepest.

Thanks.

If you will be swimming in it, I'd make sure that at least 20% of the Bluegills stocked were Redear Sunfish.

If your goal for the pond is fishing, look into stocking hybrid fish and feeding them. They will grow quicker and larger than non-fed fish. Look into an aeration system. It will prolong the life of the pond, and help keep the fish alive during periods of bad weather (hot, cloudy, windless days).

With a pond that is fed and aerated, you can have more fish in it too.

What are your goals for the pond?

Welcome to the forum.

My goals for it would be for my wife and I to enjoy sitting on the dock. I would be doing more Of the fishing. I wouldn't want trophy fish Just nice average sizes something we would enjoy catching and watching them. I will be installing aeration and would like to at least have the HSB amd bream pellet trained.

We won't be swimming in it.

O.K. This is per surface acre, and the amounts would be needed to be adjusted according to pond size.

All fingerling fish.

Stock this year:
5# FHM
1,500 - 2,000 BG (or CNBG if the climate allows)
300 to 600 Redear Sunfish (they will help control any parasites like white/yellow grubs too)

Next Spring stock:
50 LMB (2"-4")
75-100 HSB (2"-4")

So that would be

Fall
750 BG
150 RES
5 lb FHM

Spring
25-30 LMB
40-50 HSB

What about any threadfin shad for the HSB?

Would this be a good estimate?

Thanks.

Those would be pretty good stocking numbers, eaton. Threadfins would be a good addition, yet golden shiners will be more reliable as an extra HSB forage. Threadfins would be better for LMB forage.

You could choose Copper-nose Bluegill(CNBG) over northern gills(BG) in your area, or a nice mix of each for some hybrid vigor later on. If you like the occasional channel cat(CC), you could easily add 25 just to keep the bottom cleaned up from the occasional mortality.

One addition I would make is to stock at least the FHM (and shiners if using) as soon as you have a couple feet of water. You could add all your other fish at the same time in your climate if you wanted.

Personally, I prefer higher FHM stocking pounds in a new pond that will have LMB since they are fairly cheap and really kick start young LMB growth and will quickly disappear anyway from the predation.

One final suggestion would be to stock 2-4" BG, RES, LMB and 4-6" HSB.

I don't know if threadfins will sustain themselves in a 1/3 ac pond.... I was under the impression (possibly mistakenly) that they needed more water to help mitigate rapid temp changes, plus a larger BOW can be deeper to add more water volume which also helps slow down fast water temp changes.

Ok so the golden shiners will be the way to go for HSB. Thanks for the info.

Have another question. For pond just over half an acre, how many pounds of bass would I take out a year?

LMB, start at 10# and watch RW of the fish left in the pond. HSB, since they are a take out and stock replacements type of fish, it's up to you.