The pond being spring fed should help keep the pond full providing the springs flow year round and the pond is not a big leaker when finished. Jones does have some fishery people. They may have a shock boat; if not I question their degree of commitment and expertise to fishery management. They may specialize in stocking and selling stuff. Not much expertise needed to sell, but to properly manage and analyze fishery communities requires a higher degree of knowledge and experience. Fenders fish Farm in Baltic OH sells lots of fish including adults which very few fish farms in OH do this. Raising and selling adult fish requires a different type of advanced management than that for just selling fingerlings and juveniles.
One appoach is to read, study, and do homework on your own about the management that you think you need for your renovated, enlarged pond. A whole lot of the info that you need is already printed/posted here in old topics and the archives. Lots of experts from numerous fields weigh in here. Learn how to search for information on this forum. Check Archives for article contents and indexes for pertinent back issues of Pond Boss Magazine.
http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=postlist&Board=22&page=1http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=107697#Post107697Acronyms
http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=92442#Post92442IMO don't get in a big hurry to stock the sport fish. Allow adequate time to build a diverse and strong forage base which will and can sustain the fishery for many years providing it is managed properly. Spend the winter here reading, learning and forming a stocking plan. Then follow that plan in the spring 2012. Any fish stocked this fall 2011 will not grow much before the water again gets 60F+ (Apr-May2012). Meanwhile the pond will have several months to develop both phyto and zooplankton as an essential food base for the fishery. Also do not neglect reading and researching proper aquatic plantings to enhance the pond and fishery. This fall focus on establishing a grassed watershed for the pond; very important for the water quality of the pond.
Some hatcheries emphasize full stocking at the onset, which IMO is a big mistake because it does not build and provide a strong and diverse forage base to sustain a premium balanced fishery. If a pond owner has to come back to the hatchery for forage and supplimental stockings then that is a GOOD thing and in their opinion.
Saugeye
http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=198057http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=252624http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=220437IMO saugeye get scrawy mainly due to lack of adequate food (forage problem) not due to hot Ohio summers. A spring fed and or deeper pond pond with good habitat should not have issues of elevated water temperatures for saugeye or walleye. Sauger and walleye stay plump (good Wr) in the upper Ohio River and that water gets warm duing summer sometimes as warm as 90F.
