Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose Please help with my stocking plan!

First of all, I want to say what a fantastic site this is. The expertise on here is unbelievable! (ok, enough sucking up). My pond is now full, but the water is not very clear yet. We've had torrential downpours for the last week and I'm sure that's not helping the clarity. The dug part of the pond is 1/2 an acre, varying depth of 6'-10'. The natural side (connected by a 36" culvert)is 8/10 of an acre, 3'-4' depth. My goals are to use the pond for light fishing and a little swimming. I was initially planning on stocking BG & LMB, but I keep reading that the BG will overpopulate and get stunted if they're not fished enough. That made me think I should go with FHM only, but then I read something else about the Fatheads not being large enough forage for the LMB. This has left me confused. Should I stock 5 pounds of FHM and a small number of BG? Even if I start with a very small number of BG, it seems like eventually I will end up with too many if they're not fished enough? I would like to stock the forage fish in the next couple of weeks, the LMB this fall. Can anyone give me some advice on my situation? I live waaaay up north in New York. (90 miles from Montreal, Quebec) Thanks in advance for your help!

Hey, outdoorstom!

You say that you're waaay up north, but how much ice do you get, and typically how long do you have ice cover? This will influence what type of options you have.

I was told I can expect 2'-3' of ice, starting in November and ending in April. I plan on aerating with a windmill to keep an open area.

Do you like smallmouth bass or yellow perch?

I'm not really getting at anything. Just trying to understand the situation a little better.

Actually, I'd prefer smallies but thought they wouldn't do well in a warm water pond fed by runoff. Yellow perch? Mmmmmmm

If your oxygen is good, then smallies will do fine. I live in Nebraska and the smallies do terrific.

What's your average air temps in late July? If you do your homework and keep your oxygen profiles in line you can make smallmouth work in New York. I'm sure of it.

Smallies and yellow perch will do fine in your pond. Fatheads and golden shiners would be good forage fish to help feed the perch and SM bass. Add fatheads and shiners and maybe fingerling perch first (now or in fall) then after minnows and perch spawn stock in fall(07 or 08 depending) stock SMB fingerligs.

Thanks for the replies and help everyone. I'm definitely going to stock smallies since that's what I wanted all along, but didn't think the water was cool enough in my pond to do it. Another question if you don't mind. Is my structure and habitat ok for smallies? Do I need to add anything? The tops of the three raised areas you see in the picture are about 5 feet deep, with gravel on them. I have a big tree cut up laying in there, a stump, plus a good size rock pile. Thanks!

See thread on SMB Spawning Beds.

:) Thanks!

SM bass throughout their entire life span will live and thrive better in warmer waters than yellow perch. It is especially true if you buy your SMB from a hatchery that has been raising SMB for several generations in shallower ponds. Some large old perch often die during the hottest part of the summer. I have never seen this happen with SMB.

I'll be sure and ask the hatchery about that. Thanks for the help.