This is a type of fishery that we mention frequently but really haven�t talked about in any type of detail.

In our small lakes, catfish, HSB, trout and sterile grass carp are almost always managed like this. In the north, walleyes are stocked in huge numbers for this type of fishery. I�m guessing that almost every state/province has fish hatcheries providing babies for just this reason.

This is the type of fishery we have in our 4-acre lake. Our lake is essentially a huge aquarium. We provide food in the form of pellets and baby fish, frogs etc. After that, it is a matter of stocking species that can survive together, the same as a person would do with an aquarium.

Almost all of our discussions have been about managing reproducing populations of fish such as LMB/BG. Even with CC, HSB and sterile grass carp, there has been little discussion about restocking rates. We buy fish by numbers and size. Therefore, those are the types of guidelines I�m looking for.

I see a lot of potential for this type of fishery, especially in smaller lakes. There are so many variables but to set some guidelines to help people, let�s make some basic assumptions. We want a general fishery for the kids, grandkids etc. Except for the forage species, let�s assume that everything is released. What we are looking for is natural mortality. Restocking will be fish removed plus natural mortality. There is no one right answer but let�s try and get a range.

Let�s assume a 1-acre lake with forage of pellets and/or small fish. For sake of argument, let�s assume that the LMB do NOT reproduce so that we can get figures for them also. Let�s also assume an existing population. Remember that some species live much longer than others. For each species, lets try and come up with the following numbers. Typical numbers of adult fish per acre, average mortality per year, size needed for restocking, number needed per year and some general cost per individual.

LMB:
SMB:
CC:
HSB:
Sterile grass carp:
Walleye:
HBG:
Any other:

Any other information would be greatly appreciated.

Norm Kopecky