Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations Got surprised today!

YOY = Young of the Year

See the Archive Acronym thread.

young of year

YOY=Young of Year

Yes, LMB will heavily prey upon WE if they do reproduce in your pond. I would still be surprised if they did... If they do, be sure to post the exact conditions as other will be interested! I really doubt you will have an issue with WE overpopulating in your pond.

As far as what can you expect for a maximum size... There are a lot of variables. WE are hungry fish and often times, small ponds have a hard time supporting them. Your pond is a bit larger than most which is on your side. If you build a good forage base and keep their numbers low I'd say their growth would be something like this:

6" at stocking
10" 1 year
12" 2 years
14" 3 years
15" 4 years
16" 5 years
17" 6 years
18" 7 years
19" 8 years
After 8 years growth will be perhaps a half inch a year... If you have excellent forage fish base you may produce a 24" fish in 10 years. That would be about the largest WE you could expect in a pond your size with LMB competition.

Man, just keep giving me more information that I have to print!!
Thanks a lot guys, again, I really appreciate all the info.
Two more questions and I promise I will back off (until I have more questions:)
How much would We at 15" weigh and at 20"?
If I were to put in 100-150 WE at 6", wouldn't my bass wipe them all out pretty quickly (especially if it is one of their favorites)?
I have approx. 40 LMB between 1-5 pounds (and 450 between 8-14" though probably not much threat from these)and it seems to me that 100 6" WE would make a pretty quick meal. Same question if I decide to put in approx. 100-150 CC.

Sorry, I had forgot that this was an already established pond... You may need to find a hatchery that sells advanced sized WE fingerlings. This hatchery http://www.minnesotamuskiefarm.com/price_list.html sells 7"-9" WE for $2.00 each. At that size, they should be able to avoid predation. I would stock 150 and see how well they handle predation...

Weights cannot be determined by length alone, however a normal 15" WE would probably be a hair under 2 lbs. At 20", around 4 lbs.

If you decide to stock CC. Find the largest fingerling size you can find and afford. 12" CC shouldn't be too hard to find and would be immune to predation by all but the largest of your LMB.

Well, thanks to all who provided input. I am excited to see how well the walleye do as everything else is doing really well right not. I appreciate everyone who followed up and maybe, when I get time down the road, I can follow-up on how well the walleye, crappie and, bass and catfish do (my main interests!)
Thanks again and God bless!
Brian

No problem! Best of luck and I hope the walleye work out... Please keep us informed and take photos! We all love photos on here.

You got it! I'll be sure to take lots of photos!