Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose Smallmouth bass in pond?

no. im bound to get FHM, GSH and CP. Nothing else. If i get 4" GSH, 1" FHM and 4" CP, will it work out? I will stock FHM and GSH in a week maybe and the CP in august.

also, will the pond need an aeration system. It gets around 20 degrees F in the winter and the pond will ice over. I already cut and threw an evergreen in it. Will vegetation grow on its own? CP like plants and they lay their eggs on it.

I don't think you want reproduction from the CP. It could easily result in numerous stunted CP not any longer than 10". If it were my pond I would want no reproduction so I know how many predators are present and it would be easier to maintain a good forage fish food base. Without the large numbers of small fish the CP will grow very slowly or not at all. Best fsih management is all about control of predator numbers to you know how many are present per unit area.

can you answer my questions about the gsh and fhm and aeration system. I know what to do. I want them to breed. Im not going out every few years to catch some I Will harvest a few every year to eat so they wont get out of hand.

aetain, sometimes the advice given is given because of a lot of knowledge in an area. When people are being friendly and give advice, particularly someone with the knowledge and experience of Bill Cody, saying:




It sorta comes off a bit rude, at least it did to me... The pond you are working with is very small. Reproducing predators in a pond that small can be very hard to manage. You will spend more time removing tiny CP out of your pond than you ever would collecting them from the wild every couple years. If CP reproduce in your pond, they offspring will never get big enough to eat as they will stunt to a size far smaller than would be worth eating.

4" GSH, 1" FHM and 4" CP should be fine.

CP are very tolerant of low DO, however at 7' deep your pond may have issues with winter kill if you have extended periods of ice over. I always recommend aeration, it is a cheap insurance policy to losing fish and has many other benefits. If you can get electricity to your pond, I would install an aeration system. In a pond as small as yours, it shouldn't be overly expensive.

ok. sorry about that. Bill, i want to reproduce, it will be work to get the small ones out but at least im not driving an hour away to catch them for the entire day. catching them will probabely take a few hours tops. Also, i can just kill them, not eat them.

So if only one pair of CP spawn, what would be an approximate amount that would have to be culled? I think that number would be good to know for an eye opener....

How many small CP can you catch per hour Aetain?

Could this be a scenario where a fyke net comes in handy?

See this � it may help with CP fecundity questions.

http://web1.cnre.vt.edu/efish/families/chainpick.html

Reproductive Habits:
Mature between the ages of 1 to 4

Spawning occurs in February and March at 2-22�C

Spawning occurs in lake and stream shallows in submerged vegetation

Fecundity is 342-8,140 eggs per female

Thanks ewest, I think that gets defines my thinking. If it happens, it's ALOT.

not much chips like 1 or 2. I fly fish for them. what aeration system should i get. The website is smithcreek or something like that.