Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose fathead minnows

i have a pond that is 1/2 acre and has alot of largemouth bass and want to stimulate growth by adding fathead minnows
how many should i stock

How many LMB are there, and how much weight do you want to put on each one?

What other forage is in there?

esshup: i dont know how many are in there the pond wasnt managed for years then i fished it and found that there were
plenty of bass between 5-11inches is what i cought
dd2: there are bluegill and a few channel cats

Well, since 10# of FHM will put one pound of weight on one LMB, how deep are your pockets? With that LMB population, I doubt that any FHM will survive more than a month in the pond.

You'd be better off catching out a lot of the small LMB - less mouths to feed.

Do the LMB look fat and sassy, or skinny with heads that look too big for their body?

some of the small ones are fat the big ones are medium

CG

Great ideas adding forage to your pond, but FHM aren't a good choice. As Esshup says they hardly prove a mouthful and will be extirpated within a month or two, no matter how many you stock. It's not a solution for a pond with an existing population of apex predators.

I recommend taking a moment and thinking long and hard about your pond's situation. First off, what are your goals? You want to improve your LMB growth rates? Why - are they slow growing or have low relative weight? What's your BG population condition? I suggest you determine these things first, come back and share your research. Then we can help recommend some pond management strategies that will allow you the best opportunity to achieve your goals.

You may need an additional forage source - like Golden Shiners or Lake Chubsuckers. You may need to increase your BG populations by adding shallow, fluffy structure in which they can hide. You may need to begin feeding your BG if you don't already. You may need to cull a slot size of your LMB allowing their size to improve. So many options, but first we need some data so we can provide the "best" [cheapest, fastest, most healthy] way to get you there. Many experts [and I'm far from an expert] are here to help you get there!