Originally posted by Bill Cody:
You can easily introduce unwanted and problematic fish species into your pond which can complicate management. Also wild fish also can introduce external and internal parasites and diseases into your pond. A healthy looking, tolerant fish from the wild is almost always harboring some unseen organism, bacterium and or virus; internally and or externally. When these organisms are released into a confined pond and when stressed fish conditions develop from lack of food or crowding or some other environmental stressor TROUBLE will eventually result. Vulnerable fish get sick first.
Read Bill's post above several times. He is 100% correct. I have seen endless amounts of customers who put their entire pond at risk by "ditch fishing" to stock their pond. From skin and gill flukes to bacterial infestations you will be spending more money in the long run trying to "fix" your pond versus stocking it correctly the first time.
Don't get depressed by your situation though. You actually have a set up that could work out quite well (have your cake and eat it too). Let me throw an idea at you:
1. Block the flow through pipe. You can always pump water from one pond to the next if the need arises.
2. Stock 75 CC in one pond and pellet feed. High protein pellet feed is a good way to fatten up your fish, not to mention good therapy for stress after a long day at work. It also is a fun thing for kids to do/see.
3. Stock about 100 hybrid bluegills, 25 hybrid striped bass, 1000 gambusia minnows, a lb of fatheads, and pellet feed in the second pond. As the ponds age you can cull out some really small bream and toss them into the cat pond.
4. When water temps are below 60 degrees, only supplement your feeding every 2-3 days. When temps go over 60 degrees you can feed every day if you wish.
Small ponds are difficult to manage LMB (from my experience). Too often "the big one" gets hook shy, grows to a rather large size, and will take out your original bream stock. Remember that as a predator gets larger, so does his choice in prey. In a LMB pond this size I do not feel you will have the diversity in fish that you want after several years have passed. HSB on the other hand are sterile, small mouthed (only eating babies and leaving your original bream stock capable of growing out), fight hard, and from what I hear they are pretty tasty.
So now you sit back in your chair and think "well what would this plan cost me". Depends on what size you stock.
Plan #1:
1. 100 hybrid bream 1-2" @ .39 each = $39.00
2. 25 hybrid stripes 3-5" @ $2.00 each = $50.00
3. 1000 Gambusia @ .08 each = $80.00
4. 75 CC 4-6" @ .20 each = $15.00
5. 1 lb fatheads ? (someone else would have to tell you this)
Total cost of: $184.00 plus fatheads
Plan #2:
1. 100 hybrid bream 4-5" @ $1.00 each = $100.00
2. 25 hybrid stipes 3-5" @ $2.00 each = $50.00
3. 1000 Gambusia @ .08 each = $80.00
4. 75 CC 8-10" @ $1.00 each = $75.00
5. 1 lb fatheads ?
Total cost of: $305.00 plus fatheads
Plan #3:
1. 100 hybrid bream 7-8" @ $5.00 each =$500.00
2. 25 one lb hybrid stripes @ $5.00 each = $125.00
3. 1000 Gambusia @ .08 each = $80.00
4. 75 one lb CC @ $2.00 each = $150.00
5. 1 lb fatheads ?
Total cost of: $855.00 plus fatheads
Sorry this post is so long, but I wanted to show you how easy (and relatively inexpensive) it would be to stock correctly in the beginning and have years and years of excellent fishing. You are looking at a up front cost of $184.00 - $855.00 (plus fatheads), with about $20.00 per month or less dedicated to pellet feeding thereafter.
It is all about your goals and desires. What is financially realistic to you right now, and what do you want out of the pond? If your goals are for relaxation and fun go for the plan above. I have a 68 year old father (who I fished with for 4 hours yesterday) and a three year old son. Daddy and I discussed draining his pond and stocking it with just the hybrid bream and the HSB because all we caught were LMB and 1 bluegill. The pond has not been restocked in 15 years, and the LMB have taken over (I caught a 7 1/2 pounder and a five pounder on a $-gill
, and we caught about 30 yearling LMB). When I went to remove the lure from the 7 1/2 pounder (which he completely swallowed, sorry George), I really took into account the size of his mouth. Any decent sized bream could have easily fit in that hole.
Again I apologize for such a long post, but I REALLY think you have a neat set up. With my suggestion above you can just sit on the bank and cast one way or the other, thus dictating what you will catch from either pond.
Regardless of what you do have fun, and I wish you the best of luck with your adventure.
Deb
