Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations How many GSH to stock?

I have finally found a source for GSH, which was not easy for S.Cal. My pond is 1/4 acre 14ft deep and has 12 LMB ranging from 3/4-5lbs,2 small CC, and 6 spawning BG. I have 2000 FHM going in on Monday and want to know how may GSH to add. I plan to stock more BG and CC after the FHM and GSH are added. Also, what would be the ideal nuber of CC,BG,LMB for my size pond?

PS. just got my first PB mag, lovin it.

Kelly lets be sure we are talking about the same thing. Do you mean GShiners or GShad ?

Shiners

With the existing adult LMB population, I'd want to go heavy on the GSH stocking. Without the adult bass, I'd think 5 lbs would be sufficient. With them, maybe 50 lbs?

I wonder if GSH will have already spawned (they're once per year spawners) in SoCal? What is your water temp? If they aren't going to spawn this year, maybe waiting a year would be better - the bass would just eat your stockers with no output from them in 2007.

12 adult bass sound like plenty for 1/4 acre. I would wait to add more CC until the forage base is better established, then I would go with up to 25 CC if I really liked them.

6 adult BG is too low to provide the BG share of a forage base for 12 big bass. I would add at least a couple dozen more adult BG and would go to 40-50 more if I could get them.

Feeding would help your forage fish (including the new Shiners) grow and spawn better.

I just reread all this and forage sounds quite low. The FHM are likely to be toast PDQ.

Thanks. GShad would be a real chore in your situation. Shiners are a much better choice.

What is your goal for the pond (big BG , LMB or balanced etc)? Are they adult GSH ? You may want to think about a cage like Bill Cody describes in his 2 part Article (2nd in this PB issue). A cage could protect the GSH or BG etc from LMB predation until they get big and can spawn. That 5lb. LMB can eat most anything you put in and lots of it.

In responce to both replys, water temp is 74 at suface in the morning, the goal is to have a good mix, balanced pond of LMB,BG,CC and yes I agre the FHM will go quick. I beleive the GSH are mixed sizes, I have not seen them yet. I plan to get more BG after the GSH go in. I have a shallow (6ft-0Ft)bay area that I think I can partitian off w/ some 1"sq web mesh. This would keep the big bass out of the shallows where the BG have beds and the bait fish hang out. Thanks for the advice.

Sounds like a good plan ! Good luck , take pics (we like to see) and keep us posted on how things go.