Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose Reinventing our .10 acre pond

Now that they bigger pond is stocked for the most part I am wanting to redo our little pond. It has been fished some, but for the most part it has been largely neglected for about 10 years. It is completely overgrown with cattails and needs some serious love. Currently it is stocked with HBG, LMB, and CC. There are also at least 3-5 Flathead catfish in there. I am not sure of the health of these fish at all. I do know that the fishing has deteriorated over the last couple of years. I think starting fresh would be the easiest option, but I am open for suggestions.

I bought some ShoreKlear to nuke the cattails with and plan removing them completely within the next few weeks. The next step will be to drain sometime this summer. I am hoping I can dry it out completely, but if I recall correctly it may have been spring fed which could be problematic for the draining process. I may have to wait until fall and draw it back to where it will completely freeze and kill everything.

Once I am sure it is vacant I want to start restocking. My dad really wants to try and have a crappie pond. I have repeatedly told him the warnings posted on this forum, but the heart wants what the hearts wants.

Here is my plan.

- Stock a few pounds of FHM whenever I am sure the pond is empty and I have some water. I will wait for them to multiply significantly.

The following year stock:
-150 HBG
-20 RES
-20 BC

The pond has no structure at all in it without the cattails. Can HBG keep the BC YOY eaten down if there is no cover? I also thought maybe I could add 2-3 single sex LMB if the HBG aren't doing their job. Any thoughts?

Our HBG readily consume yoy fish, but I'm not confident in their ability to control their own offspring as well as the BC.

I like the single sex LMB idea.

A pond that small any decent size excavator, if they have access all the way around the pond, could take care of the cattails as well as clean out the muck.

If your intention is to kill the pond out and start over, why not pump the pond dry with a 3" trash pump, 8 hours with a good excavator operator should be more than enough. Maybe 4 hours would do it with the right guy in the seat and the right size bucket. A few hours dozer time spreading out the muck some time later when it dries out some. All done and ready to stock new fish. If there is any puddle left after the excavator gets done, nuke it with something to make sure and kill anything left.

Just an idea. Have no idea of the pond location or other factors that could make my suggestion not possible.

I am planning on using a 3" trash pump to drain it. Hopefully it will make fairly short work of that part of it. I don't think an excavator is in the stars for this part of the project. We are still doing land renovations so the budget is pretty tight right now. I wish I could get one it there though, it would save my back a lot of exercise.

All three renovations I did for myself and two kids were done with a dozer, because that is what I already owned. But an excavator sure would have been nice for a good portion of the project.

I've had three back operations, so doing it with my "back" is not even a consideration any more. You must be young and strong though. I understand the budget limitations. Best of luck with your reinvention and by all means, take pictures and have fun. Keep us informed on your progress.

One idea is to try single sex crappie - catch them locally on the beds next Spring. Males will milt, females will be noticeably gravid and when squeezed won't milt. I'd stock females, I think they'll grow larger on the top end, but I'm not 100% certain. You could stock far more than your originally planned 20 and make it a put and take fishery - just restock every Spring. You could go with 150 HBG, 150 CP, and keep the RES in to help manage snail population. Catching and stocking 100-150 crappie every Spring when they are on beds isn't more than a few days worth of fishing with a few guys helping.

Think about bluntnose minnows to supplement the forage base - FHM are a great start but will likely be extirpated within a short time frame as HBG love minnows too. A small shiner species, like the spotfin, could also help boost the forage base. Lastly, consider pellet feeding the forage base and HBG to help keep both populations strong and relieve pressure off the minnow/shiner population.