Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose New 3.5 acre pond in PA

Hi Aguita and welcome to the forum!

I manage a fishery of cool water species and am happy to share my experiences thus far.

My fishery consists of WE, HSB, SMB, YP, and HBC as predators. RES, BG and RBG are panfish and help serve as forage. Additional forage stocked includes GSH, native Crayfish, and Grass Shrimp. I also provide several daily AM 500/600 feedings from March thru October and supplementally hand feed AM LMB formula for my SMB and HSB. I feed in low light evening periods to help promote additional BG predation from predators when BG are more vulnerable feeding.

Highlights:

Age 3 WE average 15", and have a couple larger fish stocked as 13" fish. Largest sampled two years ago was 20.5" and estimate 4#. Not sure the fish have grown more than that - sure hope so.

HSB are ladder stocked annually and top end fish are 27-28" and exceed 12#

SMB top out at 18.5", but suspect theres a few females beyond that I might sample through the ice this year. There is recruitment through natural reproduction, and I also stock my top 1% SMB from my hatchery annually to keep populations stable.

Best YP thus far is 13.5" - but they struggle to compete with other species for pellets and their overall performance has suffered against BG and GSH competition. I continue to stock supplementally about 100 annually as I suspect recruitment is severely impacted by predation.

HBC top out at 16" and are a blast through the ice. Reproducing with recruitment, I would NOT recommend them as a candidate for your fishery until we have more data to determine their role in a fishery.

RES are not generally prospering, but have caught a few superior fish at 11". Most fish are lower WR and in the 5-6" range. I'm clueless on how I can improve their performance - likely through harvest.

BG are overpopulated, lower WR, but population condition is improving due to the increased predation/management by HSB and SMB as their gape increases and they can take larger fish [4-5" BG]. I also collect many BG annually to provide to friends. Bear in mind BG are not typically recommended for a cool water species fishery due to management issues that can ensue. Top end BG thus far is 10.5".

Grass shrimp and crayfish populations are strong following initial stocking 5 years ago. GSH population has suffered due to increasing pressure from SMB/HSB, but still seeing recruitment.

I don't know your goals, but if I had to do it all over again, this is the stocking strategy I would pursue with goals of angling variety through multi species management and emphasis on fewer/trophy fish:

Spring 2014

- 50-100 native crayfish/ac
- 250-500 grass shrimp/ac
- Up to 10# FHM/ac - I'd stock as many FHM I could feasibly hand sort and verify ID. Every order of FHM I've received has been infected with invasive fish - namely BG and BH. You may have more trusted sources available to you there, but two rogue BG or BH can derail your fishery management goals permanently and require you to alter the entire plan. Trust me, I know this too well as I have BG and BH in my fishery - thus the reason for the heavy stocking of apex predator fish. Not the route I wanted to take.
- 50-100 GSH/ac [adults] I like GSH as forage, but realize there exist some drawbacks [compete with YP for pellets in my experience] and they can be bothersome bait stealers ala Bill Cody.
- Other minnow types can be stocked along with FHM and/or GSH, including darter, bluntnose minnow and shiner species that Bill and Travis can lend their experience on. I think varying the forage base with multiple minnow and shiner species is very beneficial to help relieve pressure on eachother.

- Panfish....You can select a panfish species to stock in the Spring. RES are typically recommended for cool water species fisheries as they are low fecundity compared to BG and typically will never pose an overpopulation/stunting management issue like BG tend to. However, RES may be beyond their northern limits in NW PA, so RES may not be an option for you. I don't recommend BG as you will experience population management issues since SMB/HSB/YP have limited gape capabilities and the nature of the BG as a highly fecund, multiple spawner. PS [Pumpkinseed] is a species few members focus upon on the forum, but Dr Dave Willis has indicated their presence as companion panfish species in SMB fisheries in SD have exhibited similar population management issues as BG. I am not familiar with how PS compare to BG in terms of reproduction, but they don't attain a BG or RES top end size, but do share the RES characteristic of targeting snails/crustaceans as a favored forage item as PS possess the pharyngeal molars necessary to grind shells.

We need a "silver bullet" companion sunfish species for SMB fisheries North of the RES range, and I'm hopeful someone eventually can market a sunfish hybrid capable of snail predation but with low fecundity. BG-RES or PS-RES might be options - but over several generations these hybrids may revert to almost pure genetics of one of the parents...HBG [GSF/BG] hybrids revert to nearly pure GSF over several generations according to Cody. As far as the other hybrids listed above - no one knows yet - there's little research on them. So the panfish question looms - the forum can attack together, if you want panfish at all.

Fall 2014

100-200 YP/ac

Spring/Summer 2015

50-100 SMB/ac depending on goals for SMB - 50/ac for large fish, 100/ac for higher angling rate
25-50 HSB/ac depending on goals for HSB - if pellet feeding forage/size won't be an issue, but if you need them to help manage a species [BG for instance] you'll want to go higher stocking rates [see Nate Herman recipe 100+/ac]

Fall 2015

25 WE/ac

I'd ladder stock the HSB and WE annually to provide several year/size classes and to cover fish harvested and to cover natural mortality. QTY of supplemental, annual ladder stocking depends on management issues of BG [for instance] or number harvested - anywhere from 10-25 annually or more. If you harvest 20 WE thru the ice one season, plan on stocking 25+ the next year. WE body condition is a cue, too - if they all have high WR, you can consider nudging the ladder stocking qty upwards. If your 16-18" WE have low WR, you need to shift your focus towards forage base issues before you dump more WE into the fishery, obviously.

If you experience SMB recruitment, you likely won't need to supplementally stock. If you aren't witnessing SMB recruitment, you'll need to add them to the ladder stocking program. Again, qty is determined by your goals and whatever role you need/want them to play in the management scheme.

I would strongly consider implementing pellet feeding program to help take pressure off your forage base. SMB, YP, HSB, GSH and your various minnows will all readily utilize pellets when available, allowing the forage base to continue to grow.

This strategy is tuned to achieve my personal goals: To provide multiple species angling opportunity and to grow larger, trophy-ish fish. Your target species or goals may vary, then so too would this stocking strategy. If the results I've related here interest you, this is one avenue to explore. Just as easy to develop would be a YP, SMB, WE pond with GSH and pellets as forage. GSH, WE and SMB pond? Sure. Lots of options for you, blank canvas!

The one dilemma here is panfish species selection. You aren't required to stock a panfish, but they do provide angling return for youngsters if that's a priority of yours, like it is for my family. Travis has experience with Red Breasted sunfish [RBS?] and mentioned them as a potential companion species for SMB I think at some point on the forum, but I have no experience with them. Again, until a hybrid sunfish is developed as a desirable companion species, this issue will continue to plague northern smb fisheries.

Hope this helps, others will be along to chime in - and welcome to the forum. Can't wait to see your paradise take shape!