Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose Shallow pond fish potential

My 80 acre pond is consistently 4 feet deep over 95% of it, with a few small holes of 7-8 feet. About 50 % of the pond is bordered by cropland (corn, soybeans), so receives some runoff from that. There are no surface weeds, but the bottom has a fair amount of algae and the water clarity is low.

If I were to stock it with game fish in its current conditon, what type of fish, if any, would thrive here. I should add that the pond is currently loaded with minnows of some type, in fact a local bait shop traps minnows there regularly.

Also, I am in the upper midwest, where 2 to 3 feet of ice can form in the winter.

Thanks

Chet -- if you want to post your mailing address (or e-mail it to me), I can send you a copy of the SD pond management booklet. It could answer a lot of your questions.

Dave

Chet,

I seriously doubt if any gamefish could survive that shallow of water due to your severe winters. I suppose some aeration might help, but I'm not sure.

Chet- I am in a similar situation only on a much smaller scale and with potentially thicker ice and colder winters. (1 1/2 acre pond, predominantly 3-4 feet deep with two deeper areas)

I have had success so far with LMB, BG and Walleye. They are able to seek refuge in the deeper pockets I am sure but what kept them alive through one of the coldest and longest winters ever here last year was 24 hour a day aeration. I put the air-stones right on the edge of one of the areas where it goes from 2 1/2-4 feet to 4 1/2-6 feet deep. (Depending on my water level) I left the slightly deeper areas untouched. This kept an area just over 200 sq. feet open and the ice thin enough for light penetration probably about another 100 sq. feet around this. (I know it was thin as I managed to go for an un-scheduled swim )
*Note that I did not have a huge amount of aeration running as I only wanted to keep the water open, not stir things up too much.

Now, that said I know that if I did not have the aeration and subsequent open water the fish were all as good as dead. (DO levels dropped enough the couple of days my pump was off without me realizing that it killed off my speckled trout).

I do plan on getting a much deeper area dug out when I can afford to have rock excavated and I might suggest you see if you can have some dredging done as well when/if it is financially viable.