Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Corrective stocking new stocking

I built a 1 are pond approx.2 months ago,it has about 3 1/2 feet of water in the pond.I might have made a big mistake today,i was at the feed store today and meet a fish supplier from alabama(big name company)and he had extra fish left over from somebody they could not locate.he gave me for free 800 coppernose bluegill(2 inch),200 redear and 100 f1 bass about 2 inches long.since they were free i took them and put in the pond at the same time.is this all bad ????.I did put about 60 large bream from my dad's pond in my new pond about 2 weeks ago,other than these fish it had nothing in it.A friend told me about this site today and i've been reading the last hour are so.I have been feeding the larger bream with purina feed but have not seen any take the food.So my question is will these fish(bass and bream ) survive the way i stocked it and what should i do from this point forward.

Pat,

All you need to do is invite me over to fish next spring cause you should have one heck of a fishery in that 1 acre pond. What a deal....100 F1's for free! You were in the right place at the right time...or you are giving us an "internet legend" to make us all envious.

On the serious side, I would recommend that you purchase about 10 to 20 pounds of fathead minnows immediately to ease the transition for the bass and help your BG establish. Ideally, the fatheads would have gone in first, but you got a great deal!

I don't see a problem. It would have been better to add the bass later but you will probably be Ok. That is, if it rains. Without rain, you're right back where you started.

Keep feeding, they will eventually come & in your circumstance it's important to keep the large BG well fed so they can produce a good spawn!
The bass would have been better stocked next spring but who could turn down that deal? As Medowlark said get alot of fatheads in ASAP!
I agree you should/can be ok, but you need to stay on top of it for the first year!

PS: I would remember the fish dealer & patronize him when I needed more fish!

Pat :

I agree with the prior posts . Fatheads plus the YOY BG from 60 adults should feed 100 2in. F-1s for this year. As Rick notes the adult BG offspring are the key. The 2in. bass can not yet eat the 2 in. BG/RE but they have other food including the new BG offspring and fathead offspring if you can put some in soon. That method of stocking the bass early is recomended in some northern states who have a problem with BG overcrowding. What you did may not be the normal recommended method but that does not mean it is wrong or won't work. The adding of the adult BG was a very good idea. I hope you get more water. Good luck. ewest

Man, what a haul ! Adding adult bgill was a good move too, they should begin spawning almost immediately. Keep throwing food, and pray for rain !

thanks for all the posts,i did get about 3.5 inches of rain today from one of these good old louisiana storms,it put about 17 inches of water in my new pond.i did order minnows today,they should be here this coming saturday.just for the info. the fish came from american sport fish in alabama.really starting to sound like a great deal now.