Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Golden Shiner v.s. Regular Shiner?

I think a common shiner would be a good choice since it is less likely to grow too large as sometimes the golden shiner does. Wish I had a local source for them.

I wonder if you're having the same confusion I had before some nice folks here cleared it all up for me.

Golden shiners aren't golden in color most of the time. That was what was throwing me off. If I'm remembering correctly what I was told, golden shiners are silver in color except during spawn or when they are very old. I was just expecting that golden shiners would be golden in color all the time so I couldn't wrap my head around the fact that my golden shiners were actually silver.

I trust you guys will correct me if I've gotten some of that wrong.

There are not all that many species of shiner that are adapted to living in ponds and can reproduce in them.

Golden shiners were picked as baitfish for a reason, they are very easy to produce in small ponds where they then can be harvested. This also means they will readily reproduce in a fishing pond. Most guys struggle to get them to take hold and maintain self sustaining populations because of the heavy predation LMB put on them and most ponds have steep banks precluding shallow water areas where golden shiners spawn and their young use as nurseries.

Species like emerald shiner do well in LARGE lakes, and probably could survive in ponds but wouldn't thrive and as far as I know have yet to be established in self sustaining numbers in a BOW the size of a pond.

Spottail shiners are also big water shiners, but I have had some luck establishing them in larger ponds, say over 4 acres. However, they require clean sandy areas to spawn. If your pond is mostly a clay, muck bottom they won't do well.

Spotfin shiners and the closely related satinfin shiner are probably the best shiners for pond stocking. They are crevice spawners and you can building artificial spawning devices for them to spawn on. Bill Cody showed me how to build one that seems to have worked good for me and him. Spotfin shiners are very common in most parts of the Midwest and the Northeast. And unlike golden shiners, they only reach 4" as a max so they may not cause the problems golden shiners may.

Other than those species mentioned, I am not aware of any other species of shiner adapted to pond life. There are several other species of small fish, like chubs, minnows and killifish which can be used as forage in ponds, but they are not shiners.

Bill Cody and I are working on a series of articles that will cover the alternative forage species for ponds that aren't typically available commercially. In depth details will be covered on collection methods, safety precautions, identification and which species would do best in different pond types. So keep subscribing to Pond Boss and keep an eye out for those articles!