Originally posted by Darin:
...I don't care about trophy fish my main objective is catchable healthy fish...
Darin,
Welcome to the Forum...and patience is not one of my virtues either
You have your objectives for this 1/2 acre pond and that is good. Here's my comments on the stocking plan in view of your objectives.
1) too many bass...total for 1/2 acre without feeding and/or aeration should be about 50 in whatever combination of LMB/HSB you wish. For LMB, consider the F1 variety or the northern variety, not pure Florida strain...meets your objectives.
2) stock more BG(I prefer CNBG)...about 400, no hybrid BG, and stock about 100 RES. The hybrids will not help sufficiently with forage and may not "mix" well with other BG/RES...undesirable crosses
3) stock 1 GC (white amur) next spring when weeds first start growing and plan to change it out every three years...only add more than one if situation dictates, but it probably will not.
4) forget the tadpoles...Nature will provide them free of charge and provide ones that will live in your pond.
Now, here's something which I could not do when I started, but think ahead to what you want the other ponds to accomplish and make sure that this pond complements your overall game plan...wish I had done that...and wish I was doing it now...as I said, patience is not one of my virtues either.
