Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose Raising baitfish in an established pond

It's been a while since I've been on here, but our 1 acre pond is doing great. The fatheads and shiners that I originally stocked (I believe) have really been thinned out by the stocked game fish (SMB/perch = planned), (LMB/sunfish = not planned).

How can I improve the habitate for the fatheads and shiners, so I can catch some for fishing our large lake? The habitat that I installed before the pond filled are a few tire pyramids, pallet triangles, rock piles and some pallets under our 14 x 16 dock. I remember reading on here about wrapping chicken wire ( is this to large?) around pallets and laying / staking them just submerged along the shorline. Good idea? How many? I imagine this would be for the fatheads.

Any thing I could do for the shiners? Could I build a large cage for protection form the game fish?

Thanks

lavarock, I once had a old friend, now long departed, that would wrap chicken wire around logs and brush submerged in fishy areas in a large reservoir.

He would check his �lure traps� weekly � never bought a lure in his life...

The wire is not needed - just floating (or submerged in shallow water) pallets at the waters edge. But that won't stop the predation. Cages with fine mesh or a blocking net to grow FH. GShiners will eat FH yoy/juiv. so better keep them separate.

I'm thinking of digging a very small pond upstream from my pond, around 10 or 12 feet in diameter. I'm thinking that if I stock FHs into the mini pond that some will naturally migrate into the main pond during high runoff periods. I hope enough would stay in the mini pond to replenish themselves.

Is that consistent with how other people use minnow ponds?

I realize the predation won't stop, but will the pallets create enough of a safety zone, to establish a population that I can dip into on occaion for bait?

I also have a retention pond up stream from the main pond, but fish seem to wash down from up stream ponds (which is where my unplanned largemoth and sunfish came from.