Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose Any advice on stocking new pond in PA?

Hello, 221.

Your water temps may be a little cool for Largemouth (LMB). They should be OK for hybrid stripers (HSB) and Smallmouth (SMB) if you are interested in them as well. Walleye would probably also do well at these temps, but are unlikely to spawn and should be considered a put-and-take species like HSB. So think about what predators you would like.

Your forage base is the first thing you should stock and hence needs to be decided upon. Stocking Fathead Minnows (FH) ASAP this Spring would be a good idea regardless of the predator(s) you will end up using. You are likely too cold to allow Redear Sunfish (RES) to do well in your pond, so you may want to think about putting in some Pumpkinseed (PS) for snail (and hence snail-carried parasite control). PS will not get real big, nor are they likely to overpopulate in the presence of a large number of predators. You may have trouble finding PS available commercially if you want to use them.

But you need to decide your main forage base, which I see as being either Bluegill (BG) or Yellow Perch (YP) for your water temps. The best choice probably depends upon which predator(s) you would like to use. I believe YP would go well with SMB, HSB, or Walleyes but there are some real YP experts (like Bill Cody) who will have a much better idea. Sunil is probably the best one to discuss SMB in PA, but I can't remember what his forage base is.

My personal thought is to stock forage fish Spring 2006 and add predators in Fall 2006 or Spring 2007.

Will you be feeding pelleted food? This will make a difference on stocking numbers, especially if you go with HSB.

Given your enthusiasm for HSB, I would definitely figure on using them as one primary predator. The cheapest time to stock them is of course in a new pond when you can safely put in smaller fingerlings without the risk of large predators eating them.