Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose ozark pond stocking

Just found your website/forum and am really impressed. I have a 1/3 acre, 12' deep pond nestled in the Missouri Ozarks. Last spring I stocked 60 BG, 20 RES and 2# FHM according to state recommended ratios (50% rate). The 16 bass will be stocked in a couple of weeks. These numbers seem light to me and I wished to solicit your collective opinions. To further complicated this issue we had extremely excessive rainfall immediately after the initial stocking and I fear I may have lost some with the overflow although I haven't seen any proof of this.

bus, welcome to the forum.

Whether we would think those numbers light or heavy depends on the size of the fish. Could you give the size of the BG/RES stocked last Spring and the intended LMB size?

P.S. What are your goals for the pond?

Thanks for the reply. The BG/RES stocked in the spring were 2"-4" and the bass will also be in the 2"-4" range. The fish already stocked seem to be growing nicely and are reproducing. The primary purpose of the pond is BG/RES production for the table.

Hi Bus and welcome to Pond Boss. Thanks for jumping in and posting, that's what makes this site work. I'll leave the answers for the experts. We're glad that you found us.

OK, that's 240 BG/RES per acre & 48 LMB per acre plus 6 lbs FHM per acre. That would probably be considered on the low (managing for big bass) end of LMB numbers and perhaps 1/2 (big bream mgt.) to 1/4 (big bass mgt.) on the bream.

If the BG and/or RES managed to pull off a spawn this year (a definite possibility IIRC as far South as Mizzoo) and if you FHM reproduction has done well, I would not be too worried about those numbers. I might think about adding up to a couple dozen larger, adult BG before next year's spawning season, to add a little genetic diversity and help ensure a good spawn next year in the face of the (then larger) bass.

I believe I'd feel better with 25 LMB going in this Fall. 16 doesn't leave much room for a high number of morts.

How are your BG/RES/size (spawn evidence?) and FHM numbers?

Howdy, bus, nice to have you on the forum.

A fairly random thought-have you considered another predator besides LMB?

If your main purpose is a pond for table production, perhaps you could use HSB, or even a combination of HSB and yellow perch. Both would make excellent table fare, and might require less management than LMB.

Any thoughts, experts? Could one control BG numbers with a perch heavy pond, especially if some larger perch could be obtained this fall?

That's a good idea Yolk. Most would agree that HSB and Yellow Perch taste much better than LMB.

Hi Bus! Glad to see another "Show-Me-Stater"! Welcome to the forum!

Where in the ozarks is your pond? Mine is in Texas county.

I too stocked at the state recommended 50% rate almost 4 years ago. After starting to feed, aerate, clear turbidity, and fertilize(not enough), the spawns of BG have exploded.

It probably won't matter whether you go with the lower numbers or not, your pond will hit it's carrying capacity in a short time either way. Just keep your stocking #'s balanced for your goals and you'll be fine. Contact the great folks at Country Fish Farm in Salem, they will help you reach the goals for your pond---Assuming you did NOT let the state provide the stock. If you did, then fathead minnows will be the only fish you can add legally because the pond is now "Waters of the State" and will remain that way unless you drain the pond and kill all the fish and restart.

My Missouri pond grew by over 2 feet yesterday...man we got hit with rain. add 2 feet to a 2 1/2 acre pond in under 7 hours is a bunch of water

My pond is in Wayne County and I too use CFF. Saturday I stuck with the state recommended stocking rates and stocked the bass. Fortunately, it looks as if there were no morts. Besides being a little low, the pond seems to be doing very well as there was an abundance of FH and BG fry roaming the banks. The people at Country Fish Farms are very nice/helpful and their fish seem lively/healthy.

The only morts I have ever had from CFF that I KNOW of is a about a dozen floaters out of 30+ pounds of FH, all in 5 lb. increments. CFF does take good care of it's fish AND customers!

Where's your pond HabitatPro?

BTW Bus, if you want some 4-8" BG give me a shout and bring a barrel. I'll give you plenty! My pond was so muddy for the last 3 years, my bass only grew a couple inches, but as you can see, the BG are fluorishing [sp]!

Great pic Rainman ! !

Rainman, your pond doesn't seem to be muddy in that picture. That's a great picture of your BG. How did you get such a clear picture? I always end up with glare in my pictures.

Mines in Bates County. Lots of new water after the hurricane rains we got from Ike. My cabin project is a muddy spot but it should see a bunch of progress this week.