Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose Stocking Ratio

How detrimental/beneficial is it to under stock your BOW? Our lake/pond is a little over 2 acres and is currently just a bait haven. By the time we start putting in LMB next fall there should be oodles of FHM and GSH for the bass to feed on. I was told that the BG will outpace the LMB in northern ponds so to wait a full growing year of the bass before introducing the BG. Would the bass do any better by only stocking around 50 of them compared to 200? I was think the limited number of predators would allow the bass to get bigger with more food and less exertion to catch it. A full growing season later I would add 300 BG. Any thoughts?

So, you want to stock 200 LMB and 300 BG a year later? And are wondering if stocking 50 LMB to that same amount of BG would be better?

What size fish were you planning on stocking, and what is in the pond right now? (species, size and quantity)

What are your goals for the fishery? Focus on bigger bass, bigger BG or a balance?

Any time you have less mouths to feed, the remaining mouths will do better. Keep in mind, the recommended 100 bass per acre is based on a fertile pond, stocking 2" or so fingerlings and the expectation that the LMB will be table fair along with the BG in a few years. I think 1/3-1/2 that recommendation is more reasonable in a northern pond where even balance or leaning towards larger LMB is the goal, especially when stocking advanced sized fingerlings. 6" LMB will have a much greater percentage that will survive than will 2" LMB, even when stocked into a pond that has no predators already in it.

My basic goal is to have bigger bass and a healthy fish balance. My brother wants BG for the kids, but I am sure RES would be fine if they could keep pace with the bass. According to most resources RES do not have the recruitment of BG, so this could be a problem. We will also be putting in around 30 channel cats as well, they are my favorite fish to catch and eat.

Stocking plans usually call out for advanced sizes of fish for certain breeds. I have been looking for local hatcheries to get fish from here in Illinois, but I have only found one that is fairly close. It is in Perry, Mo and called Nemo. They do most of the local farm store "fish days". The problem is that they only have 1 size of their fish. Getting advanced size anything seems to be a problem around here. If I need to get advanced size bluegill I will probably just catch them and transplant.

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