Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose Too Late to Stock???

I stocked my pond in 2008 with 2 types of perch and fathead minnows. They all appear to be doing really well. I am interested in stocking bass and possibly some catfish.

My Pond

I spoke to a fish farm and he recommended about 100 Tiger Bass and 100 catfish. My pond is 1.25 surface acres so that sounds reasonable. My question is, should I wait until next spring to stock? He mentioned something about how fish grow larger much faster in a pond than at a fish farm and if I wait until the bass are too big they won't top out as large as if I had put them in when they were young. Has anybody ever heard of this? I am somewhat confused because I read an article published by Ohio State University that said to not stock a pond during the summer.

I am patient and want to do this right so I can wait until next spring. I just wish I got some consistant advice!!!

Thanks in advance

I'm guessing by perch you stocked bluegill and redears? Does that sound correct? If so, you definitely are off to a good start. I commend you on your patience! What type of fishing experience are you looking for? Trophy bass or a more balanced fishery where some of the perch grow 8"+?

Either way, stocking fish now in this heat probably isn't the best. You don't have to wait until spring, but just until the weather cools this fall. I am not sure about the logic the fish farmer was telling you? There are a number of fish farms in TX so if you are unhappy with the one you are currently using, you can consider purchasing fish elsewhere...

Are you a catfish eater? If so, 100 would be a great start. If you don't have much interest in eating catfish, I'd cut that 100 in half if not by three quarters or could even consider not stocking them at all. Once channel catfish(CC) reach about 2 pounds they become much more predatory and will directly compete with your bass for food resources. However, if you plan to eat them regularly, stock 100 and start harvesting as soon as they hit harvestable size.

How big is the pond? I got a Page Load error when I tried the link.

I really don't like to stock fish from about 6/15 until the air and water temp cools down.

To answer your question about growth.......Any lost growth is lost forever. I would think the growth in the farm enviornment will primarily depend on available feed, stocking density, and water quality.

MC, Cj is right about cats. BAss haul fine in the heat actually in my experience. WHat he means is if your pond is ready with lots of sizes of bluegill, etc then the bass are stocked at little under 100/acre they will grow better there than in his aquacultre setup where he might have 5,000/acre. BTW if your after awesoem bass grwoth I suggest abotu 60 bass instead of 100 but anyway. You will buy the same fish come next spring from him excpet slightly bigger thus costing you more money vs. they will be much bigger in your pond by then.

SO if your pond has good forage go ahead and stock, if not contuinue to let forage populaiton gian with reproduction this summer and you can put them in later in spring. Waiting until the fall might work well due to heat concerns if he has them avail then.

I have to admit that Clay has been speaking to your's truly. What makes us our operation different than a lot of fish dealers is that we can handle our fish once or twice to get them on the hauling truck on pond water (not well water), then stock them with a guaranteed <10degree water temperature difference.

As an industry standard in the south, largemouth bass fingerlings are available at the earliest in late May/early June. This is the ideal time to stock bass fingerlings, so that they may enter the natural world at a young age and learn the skills necessary for survival. In order to have fingerlings for sale through the summer and into the fall, we and many other hatcheries keep our bass fingerling in raceways on pelleted feed. We don't stock bass fingerlings in earthen ponds for advanced grow-out until they are at least 6" due to high risks of cannibalism. Due to the high raceway stocking densities, these bass don't grow near as fast as they would if they were eating fish in a pond, assuming the pond had an adequate natural food source.

Our fish are currently handling and transporting well and we have a near spotless reputation for quality and transport success. With this break in the extreme heat (the north wind is indeed blowing here) I think it is a good idea to go ahead and stock. If I feared mortalities or severe stress then by all means I would not have recommended stocking now.

The stocking rates I recommended are free and up for debate. My recommendation was 100 bass and 100 catfish.

Your stellar reputation is well known on this site Todd. Stocking fish provided by you (or several other well known and well respected fish suppliers that post on this forum) versus stocking fish off of an unknown supplier (or one with a dubious reputation) is, IMHO, a completely different event.

Makoclay, as JHAP just said if you are dealing with Todd, you're dealing with the best. So if he says he can stock bass now safely, trust him and do so...

Just don't try and mess with the law around his place.

His choke hold is now legendary in the TX Dept. of Corrections.

And you risk running into the "Otter Patrol".

So Todd I guess I was accurate on my post? I do suggest if indeed he wants better growth to go with a few less lmb but you da man.

or getting stuffed in a fish tank and hauled off.

Keep in mind that pellet trained LMB fingerlings do not have to be treated in the same manner as non-pellet trained LMB WRT required initial forage. The key factor is you don't want the LMB eating the BG that will be your brood stock. With non-pellet trained LMB fry/fingerlings you need plenty of FH yoy or BG yoy etc to feed them from day one. While with pellet trained LMB fry/fingerlings you don't need as much initial forage because they are eating pellets instead. I still like to have more than enough forage anyway but its not so critical at first with feed trained LMB fry. I know some people who put feed trained LMB fingerlings in with adult BG and feed them both without having BG and FH fry available for the LMB to eat.

Yeah, I agree with you Greg, better growth at lower bass stocking densities. I have no problem with changes to the stocking rates of these fish at all.

We normally see even feed-trained fingerlings go off feed when stocked with ample natural forage, due to sudden increased space and availability of natural foods.

And as long as you show up here with money in hand (no hand-cuffs please) ready to purchase some fish, I won't exhibit the legendary rear-naked-choke hold.

Thanks to all for your comments and suggestions.

Clay came out this morning and purchased 100 3" tigre bass, 30 2-3inch hybrid stripers, and 25 5-6inch prime CNBG.

Being that Clay is in cormorant territory, I think these numbers are wise.

And hopefully no choke-holds needed?

If he's in cormorant territory, could he get a permit to permantly remove them? A friend of mine that has ponds about 80 miles East of Dallas has a permit and when I was there in early May, I helped him get over the 200 mark. The 17HMR really works well on them.

Yeah, he could get a depradation permit.

Todd, I had no idea you were a fellow Pond Bosser until I saw your post today although I guess I should have known. All my fish made it home perfectly healthy. Every one looked strong and healthy......except for those that had to endure a photo shoot prior to being released:

Here is a pic of my the tiger and then a pic of the hybrid striper:







Here is a pic of one of a trophy bluegill I caught with a my fake fish pellet:

The trophy bluegill looks like a trophy GSF or perhaps a HBG, but looks more like a GSF to me...

I don't doubt that I missed my diagnosis but I have no idea what a GSF or HBG is. I'll have to look at my invoice and see what I purchased when I stocked last year. Sorry, I am just a blue marlin fisherman trying to break into the pond business and the transition has not been so easy!!!

Looks like a HBG (Hybrid Bluegill) which is a cross between a BG (Bluegill) and a GSF (Green Sunfish) to me.

I vote HBG. The body shape is an unusual middle ground between the rounded, bluegill-like shape of a typical HBG and the more elongated, largemouth-like shape of a GSF; what makes me guess HBG is the mouth size, which looks much closer to the smaller mouth of a HBG than the almost LMB-sized mouth of a typical GSF.

Just my two cents.

Dang guys, you all have me concerned that I got some bad perch. I suspect that it is difficult to get a true F1 hybrid and that most purchased fish are a little more of one spieces than the other.

Since I now think my perch have more GSF than BG mix, I searched and found the following article which is a little concerning.

Sunfish Info

Take that article with a grain of salt. That particular hatchery does not sell HBG, instead preferring to push CNBG. CNBG are certainly a fantastic fish, but many, many anglers have caught huge HBG over the years and gotten great enjoyment from them; they're also recommended by multiple state game and fish agencies (not that that makes them a perfect fish, just that they're not the plague the Suttle people make them out to be). It is true that HBG degenerate genetically after the first generation, and become closer to GSF in growth potential and rates than HBG; but they're not the same as GSF.

Your fish is almost certainly a HBG, and as such has a good likelihood of getting very large, especially if you're feeding which it sounds like you are. Two-pounders are common; I've read reports of three-pounders though I haven't seen any that size. And, with 100 LMB and 30 hybrid striped bass in a 1.25 acre pond, you have about a zero chance of the HBG offspring overpopulating unless you fish both predator species down severely.