Couple of thoughts - I went through this a couple of years ago with my 1/2 acre pond in Northern MI:
- I started with a couple of gallons of FHM, 20 HBG (3-5"), and 50 YP (3-5") as an experiment to make sure that I had sufficient nutrients, DO, and water quality to make it through a winter. I went ahead and installed an aerator after I had the pond excavated to ensure that I had a way to effectively deal with potential DO issues. My short-term goals were to make sure that I could have forage fish for future fish stockings and be able to support some of HBG through a MI winter. It was tough to limit myself to this stocking plan the first year - I wanted immediate gratification of fish
- I ran the aerator typically 4-5 hours per day (after dusk) and then put it away in November and crossed my fingers that my fish would make it. During the summer months I had issues with FA, Chara, and American Pondweed - these were all in the "old" portion of the pond vs. the newly excavated portion of the pond that I had excavated. My max depth is 15 ft. Prior to my excavation project - the deepest portion of the pond was 9 ft. I had fish kill problems in previous years
- When Spring came, I could see the FHM but didn't see the HBG for a couple of weeks until the water started to warm up. The HBG doubled/tripled their body size in the last 2 years - they are amazing in both their overall weight and size. They look like linebackers and the kids have a ball fishing for them. I was happy to see that the depth of the new portion of the pond and I think the overall quality of the water was much improved from previous years
- I've since added more FHM to augment the original stocking and have also added additional (100) HBG and this year for the 1st time stock 25 LMB (3-5") to help keep everything in check and provide some more variety for the kids in their fishing
- Last year I stocked 10 RBT (12-15") to provide some excitement for the kids but knew that this was likely to be a short-term project. The trout are were fun to see in the pond but are much more sensitive to the swing in water temps and any chemicals you use in the pond to help control FA, Chara, and PA
- I used Hydrothol 191 this past spring with good success to battle the FA and American Pondweed. I, unfortunately, used the spoil of the excavated portion of the pond to create a new food plot near the pond and the combination of the fertilizer and lime provided some extra boost for the pond after the winter/spring runoff into the pond. I would strongly recommend taking a hard look at potential runoff issues prior to stocking fish due to having to deal with potential weed issues with chemicals and impact on your fish
Hope this helps!
