Hello all, I'm new to the forum. I've been reading the board for a few weeks and immediately subscribed to the print magazine. I received my first issue very promptly and love the mag and the website.
I have a fair sized farm that I believe will allow a 1-2 acre pond when I find the time and money to begin the project. Haven't spoken with the county agent or any contractors yet but based on my limited knowledge, I should be able to make it work out OK.
I know that most people ask how many fish of each species to stock, but I'm interested in knowing something a bit different. Let's assume that I were to stock a 1 acre lake (or 2 acre, etc.) with FHMs, Crayfish, SMB and YP. What densities of those species could I expect to find a few years down the road assuming that the biology of the pond was good and it seemed to find a balance? Would it pay to harvest fish, and if so, at what numbers? Or perhaps most ponds would self-regulate and find their own balance without any harvest?
As a followup question, how big would you expect the perch and the smallmouth to get? I realize that's a really general question and it would be variable, I'm just looking for ballpark figures. Around these parts, I'm aware of a few ponds that have very large (10-14") perch, but of the few smallmouth ponds I know of, the fish don't seem to do particularly well, perhaps because of competition.
Thanks in advance for any and all answers, I've been enjoying my pond education immensely.
