Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Raising Forage and Bait Rasing FHM

What size pond would i want to raise enough FHs for a 10 acre Trophy Bass Pond? I was thinking a 10x10 at 2ft deep with a netting on top so no coons or heron eat all my fishies. Would this work in GA or would this mini pond overheat/freeze?

I stocked my 5 acre tbp with 50lbs or 10lbs/acre in March and now its June and there are more fry than I would have ever imagined.

It also depends on how much time your going to leave the minnows and other bait fish in before the bass.

As far as a pond just for raising FHM it would not need to be big, but ill let someone else answer that.

my main concern is the temperature. Its going to be a small pond so the temperature is going to fluctuate greatly.

I think 10x10 could work but 20x10 would be better. Probably have to seine that small a pond frequently during the summer so consider that when building & keeping all spawning structure in one end. Plants should be easy to control in such a pond. Also I would think feeding would be a must. The netting may not be necessary except for maybe kingfishers.

I would have the pond be at least 4' deep. 10'x20' would be an ideal size. You could grow a large number of FHM for stocking your larger pond. As Ric Swaim said, keep all the spawning structure to one side so that seining it out will not be an issue. Feeding the fish will add to the numbers. FHM are very low DO and poor water quality tolerant so there is less worry with issues with them. FHM are only good feed for bass up to about 12"-14" IMO. Once your bass get over than size, they are going to need something more substantial to feed on... FHM only reach 3" or so in size. You may want to consider raising GSH as they get to a much larger size.

no i will have threadfin shad and golden shiners with bluegill gambusa minnows and bullfrogs to feed my bass. Just worried about the temperatue in GA will it get too hot or cold its June and were hitting 95 already

Maybe I am missing something, what are you raising the FHM for?

It won't get too hot, FHM can tolerate very warm water temperatures.