Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations Please initiate me into the GSA

I am here to nominate myself for membership into the GSA.

I pledge to manage my pond in the best interest of the almighty green sunfish and protect it from heretical blasphemism.

Now that I got that out of the way, I figured I would let you guys know what I plan on doing with my pond.

BACKGROUND:

First, though, a little background info on the pond. My wife and I bought the land that has the pond a little over a month ago. We could no longer stand living on a 1/2 acre lot in a subdivision with neighbors up the wazoo, and no room for the kids to play, so we searched for some property and found this one right away. It is ten acres of open, flat land with a one acre pond. Best of all, you can't see another building for 360 degrees when you are on the property. We do have neighbors on both sides, but the one side lives in some woods about 1/3 of a mile away and on the other side, about a 1/3 of a mile, lives my best friend whom I've known for over 15 years and his wife (who is my wife's cousin) and their two kids. The pond is spring fed (possibly artesian... still investigating) and was finished 1 & 1/2 years ago. It was never stocked, so I thought I would be starting with a clean slate, that was until I tried fishing it a few times over the last few weeks and caught some fish! Green sunfish, to be exact. At first, I considered erradicating them, and truly getting a fresh start, but being the penny pincher that I am,I figured I might as well include them in my fish plan.

FISH PLAN:

I wanted to do something a little different than the standard BG, LMB, CC that the DNR recommends to people around here and since I have a nice supply of fresh, cool water continuisly being pumped into the pond from the underground springs, I figured I might as well try some cool-water species.

I already stocked 20 lbs. of FH's this fall to try to establish a forage base for the fish and have an order from Jones Fish Hatchery due in 2-3 weeks. They will be bringing the following:
1 Triploid White Amur (Grass Carp)
8-10 in.
55 Hybrid Striped Bass
3-4 in.
10 Channel Catfish
3-5 in.
15 lbs. Golden Shiner
100 Mosquito Fish
40 Smallmouth Bass
3-4 in.
100 Yellow Perch
4-6 in.
50 Yellow Perch
6-8 in.
20 Walleye
5-7 in.
And I will be putting in 5-10 lbs of papershell crayfish as soon as I can get some.

Since the perch will be the main panfish in the pond, the GSF should compliment the mix nicely, especially since they will only spawn once a year and their population should stay in check with the bass. Hopefully I should get some decent sized ones in the mix.

GOALS:

All I am really trying to get from my pond is some decent fishing with the occcasional meal. The nearest lake to me is over a half hour away, so it is hard to get out and fish as much as I would like. I am not looking for any trophies, just some 8-10 in. YP to eat and the occasional nice fight from a HSB, SMB, or CC, or a surprise walleye catch.

FUTURE PLANS:

I plan on building a 20'x30' forage/grow-out pond that will connect to the main pond via waterfall, so I can raise FH's to compliment the main pond or grow out HSB for future stockings. I also plan on setting up a bottom diffuser aerator as soon as I set up an electrical service on the property. If my temp readings turn out to be low enough next summer, I would like to put some trout in the pond eventually. And, I am also going to put in a beach and some other fun stuff for the wife and kids.

So, what do y'all think? Am I crazy?