Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Raising Forage and Bait Need help on new pond stocking

Alright, thanks! It's at the upper left next to the "New Reply" tab. Got it! I also went into the Preferences menus and set it to email me about my watch list items. Sorry, I'm way off topic in this thread. I'll quit now! I do want to talk about suckers as forage, though.

Quillback suckers will not to my knowledge spawn in ponds. High densities of quillbacks would likely cause some turbidity due to bottom feeding activities similar to koi.

I have it on good authority that they are present in impoundments in Ohio were there is a stream flowing in and/or an area of clean gravel or unsilted substrate for them to spawn on. I don't really know how that translates for the average pond owner. I suppose some configurations could work, whereas others may not. I'd love to find out if they would work for anyone. The idea being that they are large enough to not be wiped out and maybe at the same time provide some larger forage for larger predators as their offspring are growing to maturity. I'm new to the pond management thing, so I'm just throwing out ideas here.

Quillback presence in Ohio impoundments very likely indicates some stream influence. To my knowledge they are never very abundant in ponds, quarries, or small land locked lakes due to lack of successful recruitment. Lack of dependable recruitment suggests quillback are not very good candidates as a forage fish. Until someone can prove dependable recruitment in ponds IMO quillback would be considered a bonus fish at best. Inability to regularly or easily catch them by angling also is a deterrent for use as a pond fish.