Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose Warmwater fish in a Trout Pond

I have about a 100 trout left in a 1/4 acre trout pond here in New Hampshire. This is the second year after stocking, so maybe they are 12 to 17 inches. Pond is well aerated and I supplement with feed.

Problem is they are not very catchable, won't hit artificial flies or lures. Catching for the table is okay (powerbait, etc). Catch & release with kids & friends is not.

So I'm thinking of adding some warmwater species... Which everyone says is a BAD idea.

But how about if I find a supplier to just select females or males of bluegills or yellow perch? (Which I read some smart people in PB have done) There are swarms of minnows in the pond, which attack the trout feed without fear. I figure the BG & YP would do well, and the overrunning & stunting could be avoided through the sex selection.

Anybody have any experience or thoughts on such reckless behavior?

I'll help out.

Do you have the back issues of Pond Boss with information from Cody, Baird and Condello concerning selection of bluegill by sex? If not, you can remedy that situation by contacting Pond Boss headquarters.

You have a window coming up for the next four weeks or so that you'll be able to readily identify male bluegill by their coloration as they enter nesting mode.

Personally I think it's a great idea. One way that I could help you would be if you had a holding tank for the male bluegill. You could photograph the individual fish and post them on the board. That way we could tell you for sure if the fish is a male or not.

There really is no down side to what you're doing--provided you don't stock a female. That's why it might be a good idea to post the pictures.

So, in order...

1. Either get the old issues, or Ewest can find the appropriate threads on the website.

2. Photograph the fish (unless you're 103% sure of the sex).

3. Post the pictures.

4. Stock the fish and watch them grow like crazy.

By next year you may be able to work with us to get some all-female yellow perch. The kids will have a ball with this too.

Or a cage ala Bill Cody, "Raising Caged Fish" in Pond Boss issues of Mar-Apr, May-June and Jul-Aug 2007. This post was enhanced for Theo by Cody.

One downside I see though is the warmwater fish won't grow at optimum levels in the cooler water. In fact in spring and fall they probably won't grow at all due to the influx of cold water which will negate any warming.

NEMason,

There is a way to get the trout to cooperate better. Just don't feed them several days before you intend to fish for them. Or match the hatch with the pantyhose pellets I use or with George's flies or pom poms.

One other poster on here in Virginia (Sorry can't remember who it is) posted a pic of a nice hybrid bluegill from his trout pond. That is an option too.

And one more thing: If you put some browns in the pond, although you won't have an easy time catching them, they will probably clean up your minnows and be an occasional bonus big fish.

A third option is to do as you suggest add female yellow perch. Now (April) in your region female YP are gravid with eggs and easily recognizable. Mature males should be thin bodied and have freely flowing very white milt. Catch some of them, sort, and add a few each year to your pond. A hatchery with adult fish may sell you some females. YP tend to get hook smart a little slower than bgill or trout. YP, since they are coolwater fish, should also grow slightly better in your cooler trout waters than bgill. YP will also thrive on the surplus minnows better than BG. However do not expect the YP to eat pelleted food as well as the BG unless they are pretrained before stocking.

These are excellent suggestions. Rather than catch wild, I'll shop around for local hatchery. I think there are some in Mass. NH requires permit for fish import, but I've talked to the state folks and it is not a big deal to get for a closed pond. $10.

So male Blue Gill (or HBG if available) and female Yellow Perch. Maybe next year I'll have to come up with names like Blerch or Yue Pill? I wonder if that has ever happened - not in the wild but in your hey-lets-see-what-happens sort of way. I suspect you PBer guys have thought about it. Cool...

Big thanks to you, Bruce, Theo, Cecil, Bill. Even with the supplier, I like the idea of double-checking the sex sort. I'll post the pics.

NE Mason - Tell them you are willing to pay a premium for a few of these fish that they sort out for you. That sometimes convinces the hatchery manager to help you out with your request.

Okay, that's a great idea and I'd be willing to pay the premium.

Since this strategy depends on sexing fish, are one species more reliably sexed than another? Could I also consider LMBs? That would be a blast, and I'll likely find a supplier of LMB easier than one of YP. Most of the hatcheries here in New England specialize in Trout, but I have located one that provides HBG or LMB down in Mass.

You can consider LMB, BUT locating a hatchery that holds bass long enough for them to be adults whereby they can be sexed and then sell them to you will be a very difficult task in my experience. Consider yourself lucky if you find such a hatchery. In my area adult YP and BG are difficult to find but easier to locate than sexable adult bass. Good luck with this one.

SMB might be better in a trout pond and could be used with YP. They like it cooler than LMB and it would probably be easier to control the population of SMB.