Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose new pond fish question

was wondering when i should put fish in my pond. Its about 1.5 acre pond. I be getting it built in a few months.

Was also wondering if it would hurt if i had the fish n wildlife stock it with really small fish and i put a few bigger fish that i caught from somewhere else in there. Will the bigger fish eat them.

was thinking of catfish, bluegill and small and large mouth bass.

thanks

Good to have you fucemup. As soon as you get water started in the pond you need to focus on the basix of forage. Also spend some time learning about structure. I would recomend you get the book titled "perfect pond, want one?". It's sold on the pond boss home page...money well spent.

yea ill get one. I do need help. I know nothing bout this. I want a lot of fish. Heard to put lime in the bottom and all around it and the water would be better. Just was wondering if i could put fish ive caught in with the small fish. I just dont want to wait years before the kids can fish it. Ive got access to ponds and river close by that i can get fish from and put them in my new pond when it is ready


also i heard that crappi would take over if the pond wasnt very big.

Welcome to PB!

Before you add lime, I'd get the soil tested to see if adding lime is really necessary. Usually, the pond water is close to the surrounding soil pH.

What are your goals for the pond? That will help determine what type of fish to stock, and also it will give us some direction on what we recommend. Before the pond is dug, I'd give some thought to where I want cover in the pond. Little fish use cover to hide in to escape predation, larger fish use it as "rest stops" when travelling from one part of the pond to another, and they also use the cover as a grocery store. What fish you put in the pond, will have some bearing on what type of cover you use, and where it's located.

How good are you at identifying fish? That will have some bearing on transferring fish from other BOW's. Be aware, that you can bring parasites, diseases and unwanted plants along with the fish. Most of the fish suppliers have larger sizes of fish, and you will avoid those problems.

How big will the pond be, how deep, how steep will the sides be? Where will the water for the pond come from? Are you planning on feeding the fish or aerating? Hang on, the ride just picked up speed!

fucemup,

How about all those question at one time hey!! Esshup is right on though. I bought my land a year ago and did NOT have a clue as to how many things you have to think about before you make a move!!! Even a little move sometimes can make a big difference. Take it slow and easy buddy. If you have a fishery near by you, you may be able to get some fish as large as 4 to 8 inches. And in one year your will be catching fish. But like esshup said you need to define your goals and sloooow down a little. There is some petty smart guys on this forum that can help you. Esshup is one of them and I am NOT! I am still pretty green at all of this so with that said welcome to the forum keep us posted and good luck. Some other guys will be around soon with some great advise and some good first steps for you to take. Like getting your soil tested before you lime as esshup said, as you may not even need to lime. Just get that pond built first and make sure she holds water then you can start worrying about fish. There are a lot of guys on this site that are VERY knowledgable about building ponds also so don't be afraid to ASK, ASK, ASK questions.

Have a good one,

Thanks alot u guys. I'm getting it dug in a couple of months and not putting fish in untill spring so I got plenty of time. I'll keep you all posted and let ya know how deep when he builds it. I know he said my dam would probley be 20 feet. I'll ask. When the time gets closer. Yes I am going to aerating it but don't know what kind of one to buy. Thanks for all the help so far

RC51, thanks. I'm not that smart, I just know enough so I don't get into a LOT of trouble! There's whole cadre of PB'ers that are way above my level of expertise!

just found out that it is going to be 1.5 acre and up to 20 ft deep.

Is it ok to put small and large mouth bass in there with bluegill and catfish

If you really want smallmouth, then don't put in LMB. The LMB will out compete the SMB and it'll become a LMB only pond. OTOH, if you start with SMB, you can always switch to LMB. You can't switch to SMB from LMB without killing the whole pond.

Just going to go with LMB bluegill and catfish.
How long should I wait before putting the fish in once water starts filling up

I'd start with putting 20# of Fathead minnows in the pond when it's 1/2 full of water, and then stock the BG this Fall. I'd wait 'till next Spring or mid summer to stock the LMB and CC, and if I were a patient person, I'd wait a year to put in the LMB. The FHM will kick start the pond, and should reproduce in the pond (providing you provide suitable spawning substrate for them), and give both the BG and LMB something to eat with a bit more substance than bugs.

The faster you can get a good forage base established, the quicker the LMB and CC will grow once they are stocked.

might be a stupid question but could someone tell me the abbreviation of the fish.

LMB=large mouth bass
BG= blue gill
cc= maybe chanell cats

What about different kinds of catfish. I got a river close by that i can catch them

Acronyms

Can you tell the difference between a CC and a BC? How 'bout a FHC and a Black Bullhead? The caveat of "bucket" stocking is that you must be 100% sure of the identity of the fish, and there is the possibility of introducing something into the pond that you didn't really want, be it a parasite, disease or unwanted plant. (been there, done that ) Lesson learned!!

The larger species of cats have been known to eat LMB, up towards the 3# range!

It might be just me and my poor catfish angling techniques, but in my pond, after a catfish has been caught once or twice, it's durn impossible to catch them again. When my pond was renovated in 2008, there were 4 CC that needed two hands around their body behind their head to pick them up. April of last year I caught one of them, tagged it and released it. At that time it was 28 3/4" and 14.5#. I haven't seen it since, nor have there been any sign of the other 3 large ones.