Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose Getting a plan for stocking my pond...

Hey guys, I am considering stocking my pond and would like some advice.

Background: Just bought a house, in February, with a 1.5 acre pond out the back door. Average depth of 5'-6'. Have caught 114 bullhead and 1 green sunfish out of there so far. I have a few water snakes, several turtles and several nice size bull frogs. Also, have a few ducks & geese around as well. Not sure what else is in there. It is spring fed, however, it also is the outlet for my neighbors pond when the water is high. the water is extremely muddy (2"-4" visibility right now) I do have 2500 lbs of gypsum cTming in the next few weeks.
(I attached a couple pictures of it)

I want 3 main species, Channel Cat, Bluegill, & Large Mouth Bass. LMB are fun to catch and CC are good eating. So my thoughts was to stock as follows.

Fish______________Size__________QTY
Channel Cat_____4 - 6 inch______100
Channel Cat_____6 - 8 inch______200
Hybrid Bluegill___2 - 3 inch______200
Hybrid Bluegill___3 - 4 inch______200
Large Mouth_____2 - 4 inch______100
Large Mouth_____4 - 6 inch______50
Large Mouth_____8 - 10 inch_____20
Fathead Minnows_______________2000

What do you guys think of that? Also, will it hurt to stock the CC first, then the minnows, then bluegill & lastly the LMB? I'm on a super tight budget and it'd be easier to do in 3 or 4 different stockings.

Which leads to my next question, is there any month in Kansas where you would NOT want to stock any fish?

What months are the best/worst?

Sorry for all the questions, I'm a newb and just want to get all the information I can. THANKS!

You will need to add straight BG into the mix as well. HBG do not offer enough of a forage base for LMB.

The outlet from your neighbor's pond concerns me...

Would switching from Hybrid to straight BG be good enough? Or would I need more than 400?

The neighbors outlet is a screened in 4.5" culvert running between the two ponds. I never even noticed it till this last rain we got and I saw a nice current coming from under the south bank. I actually own that corner of his pond where the outlet is.

In your situation I'd suggest you stock larger but less of each species. Sounds like you have established populations of what most people consider to be trash fish. GSF and bullheads... They most likely came from your neighbor's pond and will always be present. So, stock some bass to start controlling them and get some pure BG in there create a reasonable fishery.

I'd stock 45 8"-10" LMB, 300 BG, preferably as large as you can get them, but at least 5"+, stock the largest CC you can find but only stock as many as you plan on harvesting per year to eat. Skip the fatheads, they won't do anything but be a quick expensive snack.

Yeah, the bullhead are well established, we've been harvesting those as much as we can by just fishing. I am going to build a trap this weekend for them and see if that helps thin them out.

May I ask why you suggest only 45 LMB? I think some of the best fishing around is for LMB and would like to get several in our pond, for some good fishing.

If you want large LMB, you need less of them for them to grow big. If you want to catch a lot of 1 pounders you can stock more. I plan on going for large bluegill so I'd stock an over abundance of LMB to keep the small bluegill in check.

I see, I want to be able to catch a lot of them but be able to catch a monster here and there too.

That leads me to another question, and I am probably going to regret even asking this one...

I do want BG in there, however, when you stock BG with LMB isn't that just a forage base for the LMB? So the million dollar question is: I can get GSF for free, as many as I want and the size range is 2-4" (very few 4"). Would this not be just as good of a forage base for LMB as BG? And being that they are FREE, would it be worth it to do that? I know a lot of people think they are trash, but will the LMB not keep them in check from overpopulating?

GSF only reproduce once per year so they generaly don't keep up with LMB predation. BG generally reproduce 3-4 times per year or more, producing enough forage for your LMB.

LMB will keep your GSF in check. However they just won't produce enough forage to grow quality bass. Also, keep in mind the best of ponds generally only support 100 pounds of bass per acre.

Update: We caught about a 16 - 18" Channel Cat yesterday in between all the BH, nioe and healthy! Spots and all! Maybe we're finally thinning the BH out?? Fried up another 52 BH yesterday. The trap works!!

Not sure what we are going to do as far as stocking. I think we are leaning towards seineing it first...

What are your guys thoughts about the addition of HSB into my pond as well?

I got another questions in stocking. We are finally starting to catch some other species besides BH. With CC this size, what size of LMB will I need to stock?

I'm trying to decide between 6-8" or 8-10" at a $1 a fish price difference.

You think that's one of the largest ones in the pond?

All of the onese we have caught have been right around this size. Not sure what else is in there, didn't know these were in there until they started hitting on bread last week. I have had one snap a line though, but it was only 15lb test.

Without BG in the pond, I'd lean towards HSB. The mouth gape on CC isn't very large for their size, but I'd lean to stocking 8"-10" fish rather than 6"-8" fish unless the fish supplier said their fish all run to the large side of the size range. Usually they run on the small side.....

There are some GSF in there as well. The biggest HSB I can get are 6"-8" and they are the same price as the 6"-8" LMB. I was leaning towards getting about 40-50 LMB to help thin out the BH since they are spawning right now. I plan on getting a few (100-200) BG when I get the LMB or HSB as well. I can also go get all the 2"-4" GSF I want for free.

What size and number of BG would be sufficient to house approximately 40 LMB and 30 HSB?

Since it's an established pond, and there are already GSF and BH in there as potental forage for the LMB, I'd stock as many as I could, but no less than 3-400. Remember, the recommended stocking rate is 1,000 BG per surface acre and if you want teh LMB to really grow, stock 1.5 that amount.

Will 2" - 3" BG be good enough or will I need to get 3" - 4" you think?

Just curious. Has your water cleared up any since you've been removing the BH's from your pond?
Good luck and good fishing,
Dan

It's hard to say, since the last rain we had it cleared to about 4-6" and is staying at that level. That is the best clarity I have seen so far though.

I'd stock BG that were too large for any fish in the pond to eat. Stockers = breeders. YOY = forage fish.

Ok, sounds good. Another question; do I dare putting in 100 or so Crappie in this pond as well?

No the crappie will mess up your goals for your pond.

Question for you: Have you performed the jar test on your pond water to determine if turbidity is caused by ionic imbalance or fish activity [BH]? Before you start amending the water make sure you understand the reason behind the turbidity issue.

Also, I too strongly advise NOT stocking Crappie. Maybe once your LMB population is established, but not now.