Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Creating the food chain Establishing Fatheads

Hey folks,

There may not be an easy answer to this so I'll just put it out there and welcome your thoughts.

I have a small pond (40' x 40') that I've recently stocked with fatheads for foriage and occasional trapping for fishing excursions away from my pond.

I trapped them in another nearby pond where there are gazillions of them.

So far I've put in about 12 dozen, or a gross. Should that be enough of them to get a population going? Right now I have only one fish in my pond, a 12" Brook Trout.

I stocked 23 with my catfish in 1/3 acre pond and end of summer I could catch hundreds.

how did you "trap" them in the other pond? i have thought about building an area in my pond so that the fatheads can grow untouched, but i haven't thought of a fool proof method.

Thanks for the responses.

I trapped them with a minnow trap. It's basically a cylindrical plastic cage with an entrance on each end that cones in. You put a slice of bread in it and the minnows swim right in. The trouble is they are to stupid to figure out how to get back out, which I'm guessing, is why they are near the bottom of the food chain.

The pond I trapped them is has no preditors so it's teaming with fatheads.

One more question. My pond is so small that I'm not really keen on using an sort of artificial structure. Is there any way I can facilitate maximum fathead breeding structure without comprimising natural habitat?

They stick their eggs to the bottom of things, so I guess any type of floating plants would work. People also use PVC pipe cut in half, stuck in the mud at an angle away from shore. You could paint them to blend in, or you could try using bamboo or something like that.