Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Corrective stocking Question before I Stock...

I have recently had my pond filled, a little over a 1/2 acre, and am planning on stocking with Perch/SMB. In a previous post Bill gave me the info. I needed for stocking, but now a new problem popped up. I was out looking at the pond and found a dead HBG(4") and a dead fry on the bank. I didn't put these in there. So I took out the flyrod and caught another 4", but nothing else. So should I keep going with my plan to stock the Perch/SMB, or will these HBG cause a problem? The pond is very low visability at the moment, so I can't really tell what's in there. But the fact that I saw a fry is worrisome. Thanks!

st - Fish contamination in a new pond is not the best way to start out, which is obvious. Can I assume the fry was big enough to recognize it to be a sunfish type shaped fish or a more slender minnow type? If sunfish type was probably (?) an offspring of the HBG. I am assuming you know the difference between a 4" hybrid bgill and a green sunfish. Hyb bgill contamination is probably a better situation than green sunfish contamination. Hyb bgill will result in fewer offspring that would need to be consumed / controlled by the perch and SMB which they could probably do fairly well. Greenies are another situation.

Get yourself a wire mesh minnow trap or two from WalMart or Meijers. Put them to work baited with bread catching the small "fry". If the traps are bright shinney wire mesh you may need to spray paint the mest a darker color so the fish more readily enter the trap. Fish tend to shy away from brightly colored traps.

I assume you call fingerlings that are 3/4" to 1" long, "fry". Based on the trapping results, this info will give you some indication how many of these small things are in your pond.

Depending on how pure of a perch/SMB combination you want will determine whether you will need a fish eradication or not. I am assuming the contamination came from the pumping/fill water? If that is the case, then I suspect your HBG are likely green sunfish. Do you have a closeup picture of the 4" HBG or additional fry that you can send me?

Well I found out how the fish got in my pond. My Parents were house sitting for me last year while I went on vacation. At the time the pond was just filling, about a 1/4 full. So my Old Man thought he would "surprise" me and throw a few fish in the pond. It was good intentions, but still it happened. Anyways, he said he threw about 25 bluegill in the pond. He's not sure of the Difference between the sunfishes, just lumps them all together as Bluegills. So I probley got a little mix of sunfish. I asked if he threw any babies in and he said no. So does that mean that out of the 25 that I had a spawn? This would of been last September.

One more thing. I haven't caught any more fish, or even seen any. I was thinking that they might have died. There wouldn't of been any food, just muddy clay water. Do fish always float when they die? Could they be laying on the bottom of the pond?

I doubt very much that the sunfishes spawned in September in mid-Michigan, although it is not impossible. The small fish more likely came in with pumping water. I doubt that all the bgill died. Since your dad stocked the pond, ask him if he is willing to buy the rotenone to kill it off?

your other "one more thing" questions
- "Do fish always float when they die?" NO.

- "Could they be laying on the bottom of the pond? Yes, and maybe they are decomposed or eaten by crayfish by now.