I'm am about to begin construction on an approx 3 acre pond in NE Arkansas and I am wanting to stock some fish that are less common in my area. The idea that I have right now is HSB, YP, and BG. Possibly with some SMB. I have a few concerns with this plan, most of all is will the YP and SMB do well in my area as they seem to prefer the cooler water farther north than I am. Also, with the HSB and SMB as top predators, will they have a large enough mouth gape to keep the BG in check. My goals for the pond are to have a place where my family and I can fish and have easy to catch fish with a few large bass on occasion and abundant YP and BG for eating when desired. Looking to do BNM and SFS as forage. I will attach a photo of the pond depth profile. It will have a 16ft deep area with the average being 6 and 8 feet deep. Let me know what you think about my stocking idea and if you have other suggestions I'm always open to them. Thank you!
HSB, SMB, YP and BG hey..... Well I have almost that except I have LMB not SMB.. and some RES... I would put some RES in there they are a great maintenance fish a must IMO. Not sure about your HSB, SMB combo keep all them BG in check tho?? Maybe the smaller ones but I fear you could end up with a bunch of 5 to 7 inch fish.... And BG at the 8 to 10 inch mark are a blast to catch and eat!!! Lets see what some other have to say.... Good Luck and nice to see another Arkansan out here!
RC
Last edited by RC51; 08/26/1602:15 PM.
The only difference between a rut and a Grave is the depth. So get up get out of that rut and get moving!! Time to work!!
I plan to add RES too I just left them out when I was typing my post. RC, do you have YP in your pond? If so how do they do? I don't have anything against LMB I was just trying to have something different and avoid the management issues I've read about with LMB. If they would survive our temperatures I had also considered a few WE on a out and take basis but I don't know if they would do any better controlling the BG.
