Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose Fish Stocking in mid Michigan pond

I would like to get confirmation and input on our plan to re-stock our pond:

Here is the data on the pond:
1.) approx 1/2 acre, 70' x 220' rectangular
2.) 3-4 feet deep along one half the length and dredged out on the other half 5 years ago to 8-10'.
3.) 50 year old pond, built by my grandfather
4.) 15 gal/min. artesian well flowing in and anywhere from 0-10 gal/min outflow depending on time of year. input on one end and outflow on other.
5.) Good crops of vegetation yet have not identified what yet.
6.) have two aerators in place with timer and temp controls to turn on/off if needed (used for trout)
7.) Have a Sweeney pellet feeder with 75 pound hopper with programmable timer and feed rate control.
8.) Pond is at our property in West branch, Michigan in the upper half of the lower peninsula approx 2 hrs from where our family lives and we have a couple of people who get up there 6-8 times per year to take care of things.
9.) All trout are fished out yet we have a bunch of small bluegill, perch and ? in there (many hundreds) and they never grow beyond 4-6", stunted?
12.) good ph levels and oxygen yet can increase the oxygen with the aerators. Also are willing to run the aerotrs during the winter to reduce icing and winter kill.
13.) relocated 65 or so perch from other lakes mid-sized 5-7"

Current plan:
Stock in mid to late april 2011:
1.) gallon (2k+) of fathead minnows
2.) 30 LMB
3.) 150 hybrid bluegills 3-4"
4.) 50 rainbow trout 8-10"

Ideas and thoughts on this plan:

Also: We noticed some parasitic worms on some fish last year. any ideas on getting rid of them or ID ing what they may be.

Your mix of fish sounds ok. I am suprised you have been able to keep trout throughout the summer. I have a simular pond in both size and depth in about 40 miles east of you and loose my trout every summer. I have used Haretta Hills fish farm and they charge about $100.00 for delivery, have allways had good luch with their fish. I am pretty sure there is also a fish farm in Rose City as well. Good luck!!

We previously stocked it with 200 Rainbows and had a 4 year growing season. We fished out the last of them last year with the last dozen on so getting to 7-9 pounds and upwards of 28 inches. We fed them well. We found our temps in mid summer were on the edge yet we played some tricks to keeping the water temp down below 68 F. We have an artesian well that flows 15-20 gph and have another well with a pump we turned on that could add another 10-12 gph. In addition, we have an aerator that we automatically turned on at night when the temps got 60 or below to churn the water and help cool the pond with the noght cold temps. All in all we got through 4 years and had a successful growing process.

Trout were great yet they ate alot and we had to manage the environment tightly. Since we do not live at the property we only got up there every 2-3 weeks or so.

With this new mix, we hope to have a lower maintenance situation, run the aerator and pump a lot less and if the trout make it through then great if not we will fish out a bunch by July 4th anyway and try to grow the HBG's big.

PS. We intend to source our fish from the Fish Farm in Harrison.

pebaugh, sounds like your pond set-up does well with trout, why do you want to add LMB?
How about SMB, they might do better in your cool pond.
I also wonder how well HBG will do in the colder climate compared to a good breed of BG, other people have experience with them hopefully they will weigh in.
Also you might consider adding GSH.

Pretty much driven by the local fish suppliers and what they have. 1/2 of our pond is relatively shallow and warms up so if the HBG's hang out there, they should have a decent habitat.

Have you seen this list of hatcheries, not sure how current it is?
http://www.michigan.gov/documents/mda/mda_aquaculture_192478_7.pdf

Yes, I have a copy of that yet the "Fish Farm" located in Harrison, MI, just 60 miles away is not on the list. They have good pricing:
$.60 for HBG
$1.00 for LMB
$1.20 for Rainbow trout (10-12"!)

That's a great price for RBT, I guess your stocking small LMB so they don't eat your HBG, adult GSH would be a good forage fish if you give them enough cover to spawn they will supply food for your predators as the HBG do not produce much offspring.
Good Luck with your pond and let us know how successful things go.

A day trip to Laggis Fish Farm (laggisfishfarm.com) in Gobbles MI would be a doable thing and worthwhile. He sells HBG and SMB that are both pellet trained.

Bill,
Is there much of a difference between LMB and SMB as far as desired water temp, coexisting fish types and/or other pond variables? Yes, at the point we are planning to purchase the LMB somewhat on the small size to give the HBG's a chance to grow before they end up on their diet.

How do you view the number of fish we are planning vs. the size of pond. Since we have an aerator, and supplemental pump, we are planning on running the aerator mostly year round and the supplemental well pump during the warm summer months to help keep the pond cool for the 50 trout we plan to stock. We will try to fish out the trout in 2 years and then the LMB, perch and HBG will be the main fish for catch.

Since we may have to re-stock the HBG's every 3-4 years or so, what sort of risk do I have with the LMB eating the future small re-stocked HBG's?

could you post the name of the fish farm in harrison? I may have to give them a try. Like you i live downstate and can only make it up every other weekend at best. It makes it hard to manage things 150 miles away.

IMO I prefer SMB in your situation. SMB will do spmewhat better in cooler water. They have a slightly smaller mouth and will not prey as heavily on new stockings of HBG compared to LMB who will not only probably be larger bodied (length) but also have larger mouths. Even in your situtation I think LMB will grow faster than the SMB when both have the same food sources. LMB will also usually produce more offspring compared to SMB. If you don't 'like' the results of the smallies then just add a few LMB and they in a few years will take over the pond as predators.

The "Fish Farm" in Harrison's contact info is:
5181 E. Gladwin Rd.
Harrison, MI 48625
Driving Directions
Phone: (989)539-8068
fishfarm@famvid.com

In calling 4-5 fish suppliers in the Northern Lower, they seem to have a good selection and great prices.

Bill, thanks for your input. I will try to get the SMB for the reasons you suggest. Great info. thanks again. I am placiong my fish order next week.

Ok, after all of the input, here is where I am at now with my stocking plan for my mid michigan 1/2 acre pond fed with an artesian well:

1.) already have 65 YP of various sizes in it plus several hundred stunted BG's.
2.) add 200 HBG's pellet trained
3.) add gal 2-3K of FHM's
4.) add 25 SMB
5.) add 50 RBT pellet trained
6.) add 8 brown trout

feeding plan:
1.) SMB and larger YP feed on the small stunted BG's and FHM's
2.) Sweeney auto feeder 2x/day on Purina Game Fish Chow
3.) Harvest the stunted BG's, cut off fins and release for easy forage for feed for the large perch and SMB.

Pond maintenance:
1.) Run a two unit aerator year round and tied to a temp control so if under 60 F, turn on aerator. Besides providing high levels of oxygen, it keeps the water temp cool.
2.) Operate a supplemental well in the hot mid summer months to keep water temps down for the trout

Any critique and further ideas on this plan. I will get this stock added and start the feeding mid to late April. thanks for any and all input. We have grown RBT successfully yet this is the first time with a mixed species.

PS. Anyone know of a supplier for the purina Game Fish Chow in SE or mid mid Michigan? I have in inquiry into Purina sales yet with no response yet.

After talking with my intended fish supplier here is the latest he will have available for my purchase and stocking in late April, 2011.
1.) 250 HBG 3-4"
2.) 20 hybrid striped bass 10-14"
3.) 75 RBT 8-10"
4.) 25 brown trout 7-8"
5.) already have ~65 4-8" YP
6.) already have hundreds of small BG inteded as forage for the bass. will add 2-3K of FHM's when avaialble in mid-late may.

Will pellet feed using a combination of 4 and 5mm Silver cup feed

Any final ideas and suggestions. I am still looking for another supplier near west branch, Mi to provide golden shiners and SMB and will probably add them during the summer.

Can the experts weigh in on the following:

With my current situation of having many hundreds of stunted BG's as well as already have 65 YP in with sizes from 5-9", will this provide ample initial forage for the hybrid striped bass (20, 12-14")? I also hope the numbers of HSB are adequate to cull out the number of small BG's. We also will add some GSH as forage in May as well and hopefully they will establish themselves before the HSB eat up all of the little BG's.

What size are stunted BG by actual measurement? Where are you getting HSB? I don't think they are legal in MI? HSB usually prefer not to eat BG. If you are feeding S.Cup pellets HSB will likely not eat very many BG esp if GSH are present. Bottomline don't expect the HSB to eat up all the little BG!.
You have quite a hodge-podge of fish planned for this pond. After re-reading the post are the BG really BG or are they green sunfish? You better check that item closely when you get some length measurements.

SMB were suggested for the pond. When I suggested them I missed the fact you had lots of small "BG". Be aware SMB are not famous for controlling BG - GSF maybe, but not so well BG. If you have this overpopulation of true BG then LMB would be a better choice than SMB. In future years with LMB (14"-16") it will be difficult to successfully stock trout less than 8"-10" long.

These could very well be green sunfish since they have large mouths. I won't be able to get to the pond for a couple of weeks yet will better iD at that time now that I know the differences and can inspect and measure them better. Their sizes as of last fall ranged from 2-4" with a dozen or so at 5". Since I could not find a local fishery with SMB, one had a couple dozen HSB yet if illegal I will continue my search for SMB. The concern I have with LMB is that after they get big, won't they eat just about anything in the pond?

Bill,
Yes, we definitely have stunted green sunfish. We are ditching the plan on the HSB and will stock 25 SMB as our key predator. I am also looking for a source of GSH

I can confirm that HSB are not legal in MI. I had a nice chat with Dr. Nancy Frank a few years ago. She was the go-to person for fish things in MI. The only possibility she said, may fall under a research permit within a closed system (read piles of cash here), then she said the MDNR may not approve that, because they are afraid of an accidental release in transit.

I also got an email from her once stating that a private pond may be a possibility, but it is illegal to import them into the state. That made a lot of sense!

Yep, the MDNR is a funny group!

Just make sure you buy fish from a currently registered fish farm, otherwise, the fines are pretty stiff for both parties.

Good sources for SMB are as I mentioned earlier - Laggis Fish Farm Gobbles MI and another in north central MI - Imlay Fish Farm, Imlay MI.