Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose Grass Carp

My family's pond is just under 2 acres and ranges up @35 feet deep. We have LMB, GSF, as well as assorted minnows and asundry other small fish. The GSF are extremely aggressive but the bait has to presented perfectly for the LMB to bite. We use this pond for both fishing and swimming.

We have quite abit of undergrowth and I would like to try and control it without chemicals.

Does anyone have a source for GC located close to the northwest Iowa area? I did talk to one guy that was extremely nice and his going rate was $11 per GC plus delivery. Is this about right?

Any thoughts about adding some Bluegill to the mix?
Thanks!!

Headhunter...

Here in Texas a Triploid Grass Carp is around $15 without delivery, so the cost is good. As far as BG go, they would be a good forage to add for your LMB. You would need to add adults that your LMB would be too small to eat though. Otherwise they are just an expensive snack. On the downside, the BG will eventually out-breed your GSF and your GSF will start to disappear.

GC are $6 in Missouri

Headhunter, how far are you from Omaha? I know a guy in Omaha that stocks ponds, thats why I'm asking.

I'm up Spencer way. About three hours from the northern border of Omaha. How difficult would it be to transport 7 grass carp on my own? Container size for a three hour journey?

Depends on the size of the fish and what you use to transport them. If you can get your hands on a BIG white igloo cooler, you could do it quite easily. The fish will be packed in plastic bags that are filled with water and pure oxygen. Put them in the cooler with maybe a couple of cold packs to keep the heat down. When you get to the pond, acclimate them to the pond water temperature by floating the bags for 20-30 minutes. Add some pond water to the bags to take up about half the air space, wait 5 minutes, add more to take up the rest of the air space, and then release the fish. Ask the person/company you are buying the fish from and they can tell you if they want you to do something differently as well as how they pack them.

You guys are so lucky you can transport them yourselves. Here in Indiana we have to have them delivered and the cost of that is more than the fish.

I'd like to put some in one of my ponds to control Potomogeton pussilus but the last group I had decided the pellets tasted better and weren't doing their job.

I just occurred to me Cecil that if there was a taxidermy market for GC, you would have pictures of the fattest GC in the entire world - being lifted by a tractor with a front end loader, because they were too heavy to lift by hand!

I resemble that remark!





Ken

When I drained my big pond last fall I sold my three big ones right off the bat to some taxidermists that made their own replicas. They indicated that more and more people were catching them in their ponds and wanted them mounted. However it's much easier to paint a replica than to mount this species. Scales come off easily.