Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Creating the food chain small bass vs larger bass

I stocked my pond today with bluegill that are 4" and less. I put in 600 plus others that came into my pond when it filled up and I am guessing there were around 200 or so from that. They are in the 3-4" range. I stocked FH in early May and they are doing great. I see them everywhere in the pond. I plan on stocking 50 LMB next spring as per the advice on I got on PB. Should I stock smaller bass, or can I stock bass that are in the 12" range and a couple around 4 pounds?

Personally, I would stock the smaller bass. They are cheaper and they will grow quickly in your new pond.

12" LMB would be large enough to eat many of your intial stocker BG (I'm assuming a lot of these will be 6" or less next Spring). That's eating the seed corn - generally considered a no-no.

I would stock the large bass.

Bluegill spawn prolifically enough that if you do not overstock your bass you should have no problems.

Besides 12" bass are much more fun to catch than 3" bass.

I'm with Theo....I'd want to give my food chain the absolute best head start as possible....As long as you stock next spring, I don�t think you have to worry about overpopulating the BG before the small bass can catch up and keep things in balance.

Those larger bass could create a hole at the top end of your food chain pretty quickly....in my experience, big bass can't keep up a big growth curve if they are chasing 2" BG to eat...(calories in less calories to catch the food = calories left for growth) and once your stockers are gone, that could be the scenario.

If you really want to do the larger bass you could consider purchasing some forage to ease the stress on the BG...or maybe consider tilapia (which is another story - I don�t think anyone should 'consider' tilapia of they are an option in your area I think they should be used every year if they fit your budget - your LMB will jump on tilapia)....anyway...If you really want to do the larger bass you do have options, but they will cost some money to do them properly and not put your food chain at risk.