Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Creating the food chain g. shiner help!

My pond is almost full. 3 1/2 acres
Stocked 1000 b.g and 1000 r.e. last fall

Fatheads in Feb and March

220 lmb in March

About 2 weeks ago we added 50 lbs of golden shiners. They looked good and health at stocking. We lost about 15 to 20 that day.
Everyday since I've seen a few new dead ones. The last two days I've found 8-15 a day.

The fatheads have spawned and spawned!

The lmb and bg are growing and looking good.

Should I be worried about the goldens or is this normal?

G shiners are more sensitive and not as tough as fatheads. Depending on the seller and how they handle fish, expect to see some latent deaths with shiners after stocking. As one as you get the biggest percentage to live until spawning you should be okay.

The GShiners I catch are always more banged up and skin parasite infested than any other kind of fish - which I have assumed are other facets of their relative susceptibility to health problems. I think the fairly loose scales tie in with that, too.

I have seen similar results with GShiners but only with Spring deliveries... all my fall fish have been very strong.

My spring delivery came with ALOT of fin rot

Thanks for the info guys.

I bet you could count 100 dead around the pond right now.


I added 2 semi tires for structure a few days after stocking could this be a factor?

How about roundup on some of my riprap?

Your shiners are breeding right now and more than likely that is why you are seeing some dead ones. Their bodies get extremely soft during breeding and makes them more susceptible to just about any stress. So it is not unusual to loose some.

As far as structure I like to see people use wooden pallets stacked four or five high or even cedar trees. SW Indiana is know for these. They make great structure. 75% of your structure should be in water no deeper than 6 ft.
I hope this helps.....
Oh one last thing, if you are spraying rip rap, then use Aqua Pro or Rodeo they are much safer.

Thanks BJ for the info. I haven't seen many dead g.s. for several days now. It makes me a little nervious seeing floaters!