Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose Need Some Ideas On Stocking

We live in west central IL and had a small pond put in last year. It is approx 1/4 acre and 17 feet deep and is aerated. Have no fish stocked since pond is low. How much water (depth) do I need before stocking? Another thing is the type of fish to stock. I have been thinking about BG, LMB, and some CC. We would be feeding. Would also like to put some trout in it in the fall. We are interest in growing some good size BG. Also how many of each would be good for this. Any ideas or suggestions? Thanks..........

Hey Jim, Welcome to the PBF.

If you look in the Corrective Stocking section here you will find some good stuff to get you going.

Your goal seems to be large BG. So your on your way. In a 1/4 acre pond one thing you have to be careful of is over stocking. I am no expert but if your wanting big BG you may want to consider a feeding program as well. I would be careful how many LMB you put in a pond that size. I am gonna say no more than 12 pounds of predator fish in that size pond.

First though do you have any bait fish in the pond? I would stock your bait fish and your BG first put your LMB in maybe in the fall once your other fish have gotten a good foothold. Someone else will chime in here I am sure and give you a little better advise than me. Good Luck and keep us posted.

You may want to look into only having a single sex of LMB in the pond so the LMB do not take over.

Hey Jim, welcome to PB. Your pond and goals sounds like the perfect pond to be stocked with the hybrid bluegill(HBG), channel catfish(CC) and hybrid striped bass(HSB) combination. None of these fish will reproduce very well in a small pond meaning you have to stock new ones every year or every other year. However, the fact that they don't reproduce means you can closely control how many are in your pond and this means you can prevent overpopulation and stunting. This can be a huge challenge for small ponds and typical bass/bluegill combinations.

You can expect to grow HBG to over 1 pound without much trouble, channel cats over 8 pounds and HSB to over 6 pounds in a pond that size with a quality feeding program and aeration.

Small ponds also tend to struggle with over fishing, this stocking method helps to alleviate that some.

It would be my recommendation to stock fathead minnows(FHM) in the spring. 5 pounds would be more than enough. You can then stock your HBG 2"-4"(200), CC 4"-6"(25) and HSB 6"-8"(10) later in the spring or early summer. You can then replace harvested fish as you remove them. Because of the size of your pond, draining is fairly easy. You can do this every 6 years or so and start over. The nice thing about this stocking recommendation is that it is very quick to produce quality angling. The draining and starting over doesn't have to be done, however you have to make sure you are harvesting the largest CC and HSB or they will heavily prey on your newly stocked HBG, CC and HSB. So as the pond ages, you may need to stock more advanced sized fingerlings. The good thing is, all three species are easy to find in the Midwest and fairly cheap.

As a bonus, you can stock trout(rainbows are usually best) in the fell when water temps stay below 68 degrees. You can expect good growth rates through the colder months under a feeding program and harvest the trout out before water temps climb above lethal levels in late spring.

CJ

I thought HSB needed more water to school? I thought I read somewhere out here that they like to school out in the middle on a pond in more open area? Do you think I could use HSB in my 1 acre pond? I have not thought about trying them cause I thought they needed more space. Not trying to trump this thread at all just asking your thoughts on this.

thanks,

RC51, take a look at what sized HSB George1 has grown in his small pond. I think it's 1/4 acre too.

They're (the HSB) are smart enough, no need to go to school!

Do HSB prefer open water yes... But they can adapt to much smaller bodies of water. I think George has grown some HSB to over 6 pounds in his 1/4 acre pond in Texas heat. Being a little further north with a cooler climate, I suspect they may do even better.

A lot can be done with small ponds when you manage them heavily(feeding program, aeration) and you utilize non reproducing or very limited reproducing fish. Also utilizing pellet trained fish is a huge help in smaller ponds. You can pack for more biomass under heavy management. That means more fish in simple terms.

Wow! very cool I guess I did not realize that! I will be starting a feeding program this spring for my CNB so that would fit right in! Thanks guys I will look a little deeper into this now! I have no problem replacing my LMB with HSB if they will work. I guess I just mis understood. My pond is right at 1 acre and I am about 6 or so hours farther North of Texas so I may be prime for this!

Just remember that you may not be able to remove all the LMB, and that to achieve the same level of CNBG/BG population control that you have with LMB, you probably have to stock more HSB. Also, just be aware of the different gape size bewteen LMB and HSB, and the impact it will have on what sized fish they can eat.

Wow, HBG gettin' some props around here the past couple of days. Along with that "other" hybrid fish....

Be still, my beating heart

Yeah I see what your saying. All of a sudden I could have a CNB issue. I would have to cull more of them myself. Sounds like though it's easier to grow bigger HSB then it is LMB. They both fight darn good and I wouldn't have to worry about them over populating my pond. Do they get hook shy like LMB do?

Even more hook shy in my opinion...

Great!

HBG are a tool to be used in the right situation. This is one where it makes good sense. Same for HSB and IMO HSB have a bigger range of right situations. I think , and it is a guess, that HSB are less prone to hook shyness than LMB in a balanced situation. One thing you will not get with the HSB is more hook shy fish in subsequent generations because there won't be reproduction (no genetic selection for poor catchability - hook shyness)as exists in reproducing LMB.

I agree ewest, and I appreciate the fact that HBG are not well suited to many pondowners' plans. However, I have to admit to shaking my head in disbelief a few times as of late.

Thanks Eric, I think I want to try this to some degree. I won't be starting to feed till this spring so I will get my ducks in a row and as to what I need to do. I may only start out with like 10 of them or so and continue to take out my smaller LMB. Leaving the bigger ones to help with the CNB. Being how's they don't reproduce I know I will always have control of the ones I put in there. Seems like a better plan for a novice pond manager like myself.

Thanks a lot for the info guys. Sounds like HSB, HBG along with the CC is the way to go. Will be starting with the FHM this spring and then with the others. Thanks again for taking the time to share the info.

YEP!!!

RC good thing is your location with lots of HSB hatcheries around. No big deal for you to go by and pick up a few 10 inch HSB to add. My suggestion is add about 6 the first year and about 4 more 10 inch HSB every other year. Then adjust based on results.

Ok I will sure try it thanks for the stocking advice Eric. I am excited about giving it a try!

Thanks,