Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Feeding New fish introduction

I have been harvesting LMB out of my pond, and feeding the bluegill and I'm getting more and more takers everytime. I want to stock some more forage. My bass only have BG and whatever else they can find. I want to either do crawfish or shad or shiners or something ideas or advice please!! I understand Whatever I stock I will have to accommodate a habitat for them and thats fine I just need something to feed these bass

Most forage options, other than BG, will simply be a snack for your LMB. Nothing wrong with some diversity in your forage base but understand it won't be long before they're extinct.

Yeah I'm cool with that. I don't mind spending some money you know. Just wondering what some ideas would be and if any species mentioned would be bad???

Crawfish, Golden Shiners or Threadfin shad all will work, although the shad are typically stocked before they spawn to give you the most bang for your buck.

LMB do the best with food that is 1/4 to 1/3 their body size. Small food and they expend too many calories for each bite.

Stock the size of food that corresponds to the size of LMB that you are wanting to fatten up. i.e. 12" LMB, 2.5"-4" fish.

A common forage fish used to jump start a new fishery is the golden shiner (GSH). They will be eradicated just like FHM in a pond with LMB, but might last a little longer, especially if there's good vegetation and you're able to get adult fish.

What about the black saltys from anderson? Has anyone tried these yet? www.blacksalty.com

I'm thinking about shiners, I've heard threadfin shad eat eggs is this true? I'm probably going to pick some up this week... And is there any risk with running threadfin shad, or shiners

TShad eat plankton not fish or eggs. If you have a plankton bloom both should do fine. Shiners will eat eggs.

Ask them for the genus and species (scientific name) of the black salties and you might be suprised.

If you can, put in a second small pond to raise your forage fish, and then move them over for feed.

Like your GS, but, fatheads reproduce well with no predators too.

I'm thinking the black salties might be a form of drab goldfish?? Anyone with experience?

Bill, no experience, but from pictures, that's what I think.

Yep, that's what I've been told.

Hookedup....Tilapia can also be a great forage for your bass.

It may be late to stock them this year
someone else can advise on that.

But next spring you should consider adding Tilapia.

Tilapia are kind of "3Fer".

#1. Tilapia help with aquatic vegetation.

#2. Tilapia are a great source of food for bass to eat because they are such prolific spawners even in their short life-span. They also help take some pressure off bluegill since the bass have more choices to eat.

#3. Tilapia are great to eat....not just for the bass...but humans like to eat them too!

Tilapia die in the Fall/Winter when the water gets cold (so they never over-populate),
you have to re-stock every year, but there are many things ya have to do every year with a pond...so no biggie.

Read more about Tilapia as a stocker fish at the link below:

http://www.overtonfisheries.com/StockerFish/ForageFish/MozambiqueTilapia/tabid/74/Default.aspx

Yes, black salties are a special strain of goldfish bred to be a bit(a very slight bit) more tolerant to higher salinity. They are sold as bait for saltwater anglers mostly.

If you do go with GSH, I would try to source the largest ones you can find, even if you stock less of them. If you can find 6"+ shiners, that would be ideal.

Call up Todd Overton with Overton Fish in TX. See if he still has any lake chubsuckers to sell. LCS are excellent bass forage. Getting them established in a pond full of LMB would be the trick. I had no issues getting them to do well when stocked before predators. You can also contact Greg Grimes. He may be able to source some large adult LCS to stock. He is in GA.

How big is your pond? If it's under 3-5 acres, threadfin shad or any species of shad are probably not the best option. If, larger the threadfins would be a good idea if larger bass is your goal.

Tilapia are legal to stock in NC. Contact Southeast Pond Stockers, they're near Wilmington and can supply you with them if you decide to go that route.

Also, you may want to stock RES. Although similar to BG but not nearly as prolific, they're just a little added diversity with lots of added benefits. Southeast Pond Stockers also has them.

I wonder if they would compete to much with my BG and if they extra waste would result in me having to aerate??? I really don't want to have to if I don't need to.

I also worried about that. However, I never saw a biomass problem.