Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose Help, Should I add more fish into the pond?

3/4 acre pond, my goal is to reach 5 lb+ LMB along with having BG for the kids to be able to catch.

September 2016 � I added 1,000 adult Fathead Minnows, they have spawned and there are tons!

October 2016 � I added 100 large crayfish, I have never seen one since I stocked them.

December 2016 - I added 1,000 2 inch Bluegill, they appear to be growing nicely, they attach the Optimal Jr I feed ever evening.

Here is my question, I ordered 800 BG/200 RES from the Georgia DNR but was unable to get them due to the hurricane. So I paid 3x the price and got them from a local dealer. The DNR called last week and said they were going to disperse more fish this week and asked if I still wanted them. They will only cost around $100, would it be wise to add them to my pond? My plan was to add a combination of 50 LB & HSB as late as I could get them this spring.

Try this first. IMO the extra fish from DNR should help increase the forage bast to grow those 5 lb bass. I would not suggest this if you were not feeding OptimalJr. Nest See if you can modify your DNR order to get just RES instead of the blend of BG-RES. If yes, take the RES up to 800. Keep feeding the OptimalJr. Then around 16-24months later start harvesting 80-100 of the female BG that should be 7-8" and recognizable as male vs female.

I would add the fish if they are in good condition. Stocking BG/LMB at 300 to 1 is a proven method for growing large LMB at least for the first 3 years. I don't think , in your location, you will overstock for LMB as long as the water quality is good . Especially if you are feeding.

Thanks Bill and ewest for your input.

So I made a mistake, the DNR are only giving me an additional 400 BG/RES because they used a ratio of 500 BG per Acre. I am going to ask them about picking up extra fish while I am there.

Put in what you can. Keep in mind the 300:1 figure Ewest mentioned.

Sorry for the dumb questions but I'm getting lost again (not unusual for me ). If I understand correctly, you guys are saying that for every 100 LMB someone stocks in their new BOW that you recommend they stock 30,000 BG. Where will they all spawn? Won't that take a lot of area or is the plan only a small percentage reproduce?

How many LMB do you recommend stocking per acre? How many BG can a fertile pond support per acre?

Bill, to answer your questions:

They will spawn on the pond bottom where ever they can make and guard nests.

How many LMB per acre? It depends on the goals of the pond owner. Large fast growing LMB or large BG with many 12"-14" LMB? It's not how many BG, it's how many pounds of fish and other biomass in the pond. THAT depends on a number of things such as aeration, etc., etc. Are the BG fingerlings or 8" adults?

Remember the LMB will be eating BG as they grow bigger, so the number of BG in the pond will not stay static. Not only do LMB eat BG, you have a slew of other critters both in and out of the pond that will eat BG.

Esshup,

I agree. Let me rephrase the question.




Using the referenced 300:1 ratio for large LMB......How many LMB and BG would be recommended per acre and what size of each? Assuming a fertile BOW.

Good question. First up north it may be a little different as BG tend to stunt more up north. That figure assumes stocker sized fish (2-4 in) not advanced size fish. First the number was my error. Standard numbers were for many years 10 to 1 BG (1000 BG and 100 LMB) Newer info suggests 30 to 1 ( not 300 to 1).Per acre it means 3000 BG and 100 LMB. I think a better number is 2000 BG and 50 LMB per acre in southern ponds. Up north a better number may be 1500 to 75. Stocked at the same time in your location. My 2 cents.

Thanks Eric!

That makes a lot of sense to me.

Also, thanks for the clarification/correction of the stocking ratio. (That 300:1 ratio really had me scratching my head! )

Thanks, that is about what I ended up with. Added about 600 more BG/RES (total of 1,600) and during the process about 10 channel cat fingerlings got in the pond. Thought I could get them separated since I was stocking two ponds at once but just didn't work out.

I set my minnow trap again today and managed about 20 3 inch long FHM. I am not sure if the BG stocked 2 months ago are still too small or either just don't like the trap?

It seems like to me getting small BG in minnow traps is directly proportional to how thick the BG are and how hungry they are. If I have thick YOY BG I can get 25 or more small BG in the trap prettty easily. But if you are trying to trap newly stocked fish, where they are a relatively small in number, spread out over the whole pond, and likely lots of natural food available, they are much harder to get them to go into the trap.

Also, they will find their way back out. I have best luck to check the trap a half hour to an hour after it is baited. If you check it the next day, whatever is in there likely got in only recently.

Thanks, that may have been my problem. I was leaving it for a few hours. I would have plenty of large FHM and even had a big tadpole in one but no BG.

Might try different depths too. Time of year might make a difference where the small BG hang out.

Opening size in the minnow trap will also make a difference. Most are 1" because that is what the law requires for a maximum in a number of states for public waters.

One inch opening will not let in a very big BG because of their tall stature. Maybe a 2"-3" BG? If yours have grown any since stocked (they grow very fast initially) they may just be too big for the trap opening.

I caught my first BG today, about 4 of them. Average size were 2 inch, I wonder if these were the from the fish I added this week? Surely the fist that I put in the first of December have grown (they were 2 inch) since then?

Side note, the trap I am using has a larger opening. I think it is actually a crawfish trap.

IMO the larger opening could be another reason you're not catching/retaining the BG with the trap.

With so few BG at this point in your pond, IMO you will be lucky if you trap a few. After they spawn and they number in the thousands, I think you'll have better luck.

I have a crayfish trap (shaped exactly like a minnow trap but larger opening) and you need to check it about 10 to 15 minutes after baiting.

The fish will easily come right back out that trap, so you esentially have to catch them while actually eating the bait. If they get full or finish off the feed, they will be gone.
I do use it to sample the larger fish, but you can not leave it very long at all. I have pulled it back out after only one minute and had fish in it. No different than catching them quickly on a hook.

Yep, I tired it a few times and it has fish in it. But like you said, you have to check it within a few minutes of throwing it out.

I wonder just how fast these fish are going to grow, the surface water temp hit 71 today.