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

Hi Seny - welcome to the forum and congratulations on the birth of your new pond! Exciting times!

.1 acre is on the smaller side, you're right, but lots of us have similar "micro ponds" and have a blast managing successful fisheries. Based on the small size, you need to decide if you want numbers, or quality - because conventional pond management wisdom dictates you can't have both without very intensive management techniques.

Regarding the depth of the pond - due to it's shallow nature you need to pay attention to water quality moving forward and keeping it topped off with irrigation during Summer drought/heat and prior to the Winter freeze. Sounds as if you have irrigation options - that's great. Aeration will be something you'll want to research moving forward in year or two again as a smaller BOW can have water quality issues that appear much faster than a larger BOW.

Your stated goals are for angling, harvest, and some year round angling opportunities. Here's what I would suggest for a fishery:

First, stock forage and allow them some time to establish strong populations. FHM are a great start, and I like GSH as AP suggests. However, GSH will compete with your panfish for their specific forage niche [zooplankton, aquatic invertabrates, etc.] so it's a decision you need to make early RE forage types. I would also recommend some other forage types like Crawfish and Grass Shrimp.

YP provide year round angling and are tough to beat in the skillet with a beer batter in hot peanut oil. You will need to mind they will reproduce and may pose an overpopulation risk - so you'll need a apex predator to keep their numbers in line.

SMB can help manage the YP population along with your angling efforts. If there is no rocky substrate areas for the SMB to spawn you may not need to worry about managing their population.

HSB provide a very exciting Spring/Summer/Fall angling experience. They grow fast, are very strong fighters, and don't pose a overpopulation risk - they are put and take fish with a huge upside.

Your FHM won't last forever with these predators, and your GSH may not be able to support your predator population alone, so you are stuck in a situation many Northern pond owners face regarding a panfish species to establish. RES are great sunfish to couple with SMB as they won't overpopulate and stunt as they don't spawn multiple times annually. However, RES won't survive your Winters. You may have other options for sunfish I am not familiar with, but to my knowledge you are left with BG or PS. Left alone with SMB, YP, and HSB as your management devices, research/experience on the forum shows BG and PS will invevitably overpopulate and stunt. You can help manage their numbers through aggressive angling/culling, trapping or netting - but those are ongoing efforts and require a lot of time and effort you may not be willing/able to apply. Maybe a stunted population of PS or BG are worth healthy, fat SMB, YP and HSB? That's a choice for you to make.

Were it my fishery, I'd consider this stocking plan:

Spring 2011: Stock forage [GSH, FHM, Crayfish, Grass Shrimp]
Fall 2011: Stock 100 3-4" YP, 25 3-4" SMB, 100 MALE BG, 20 3-4" HSB

I'm betting the GSH and other forage species establish their populations and provide a reliable forage base - but they can't do it alone. I would also immediately begin a pellet feeding program for your YP, SMB, HSB and BG to help supplement the forage.

I may be off on my stocking numbers - there are far more experienced guides on the forum that will hopefully correct these. My reason for Male BG: You can grow trophies by selecting only males for stocking. Bear in mind, however, it's difficult for me to determine sex on smaller fish, so you will need to consider stocking more advanced fish and only do so where you are 100% confident! One mistake and you will have a thriving BG population in a matter of months.

Just some ideas for you...again - only ideas! Hope this sparks something for you.