Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Creating the food chain stocking 1/4 acre pond

Well I was kinda wanting to see how many fish I should stock for my 1/4 acre pond. My goals are nice bluegill and bass pond. I would like to catch a nice bass every so often but I don't have to have trophy bass. I also plan on swimming in the pond. I plan on stocking bluegill as soon as I can find some. I figure I will have to stock native bluegill since it gets so cold here in the Texas panhandle is this correct? I need to know how many bluegill to stock? And how many fatheads minnows as well? I was also thinking about golden shiners? I plan on feeding and hopefully before the end of the year getting an aerator. Does anyone when where I can get some fish I know Wes Harden used to have a hatchery in Sulphur Oklahoma which is only 4.5 hours from but what I understood he sold it is that correct? Does anyone have the new owners number? Also I have looked at Overton's but I'm a little hesitant being 7.5 away. Also I was wondering what size of bluegill to get? I don't mind spending a little money on bigger fish since it's only a 1/4 pond. I also plan on stocking bass next fall. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

It would be helpful and beneficial if you purchased only pellet trained bass. Your fishery will be much better if you use pellet trained bass. Several places around northern TX have them; probably even Texoma hatchery -903-564-5372. If they don't have them they will know who does. Consider tilapia for algae control. I know numerous ponds in your area have coppernose bluegill. Do your homework.

Thanks Bill for the advice I'll look into the feed trained bass and the coppernose bluegill. I talked to Walt with Overton's today and from what he was telling me that I should be alright if I got fish from them. He was telling me that someone pick up fish maybe 2 weeks ago and they live an hour and half farther than me even and they made it without losing any fish. I was also very impressed that and the knowledge he had. It looks like I maybe making a trip down there pretty soon since he said there are almost done selling fish for awhile since it's getting so hot here in Texas.
I was going to run some numbers by everyone and see what y'all think?
1/4 acre pond

250 coppernose bluegill
50 redear sunfish
5 pounds of fathead minnows
5 pounds of golden shiners
10 pounds of tilapia since I have some algae but it's not too bad yet
then I'll come back next year with feed trained largemouth bass

Options since weather is hot and hauling fish is risky in hot temperatures. You may be able to get your fatheads and shiners (asap) closer to you. Then stock RES and CNBG this fall. Since you don't have much algae consider manual removal and pond dye for this year. Tilapia next spring and also the bass.

ok I'll get on the fatheads and shiners. I have a question if I stock in the fall when would my timeline be to stock bass? Also when are the fish most likely to die when transporting? Is it when the hatchery is loading them, them being transported, or the fish actually being put into the new body of water?

If you want bass to grow the fastest then stock them after the forage fish have spawned at least one complete summer or buy pellet trained bass/predators where food is not a big limiting factor and the predators do not 'hammer" the forage, but instead eat 'welfare' pellet food.

..""when are the fish most likely to die when transporting? Is it when the hatchery is loading them, them being transported, or the fish actually being put into the new body of water?"" Each one of those factors can cause the biggest stress, plus the stressors can be accumulative. It is not a simple answer because we are talking about a live product.

The trick that I've learned to minimize death of stocker fish is to buy them from a very reputable source that is very careful how they handle their fish. Fish can be heavily stressed during harvest and if they have been held in tanks along time. Determining very reputable source is not simple either. The other factor is to only haul them when water and air temps are not above 75F-80F when water holds more oxygen, fish metabolism is slower thus producing fewer metabolites and less ammonia. Then you do everything in our power to not stress them after they leave the fish farm. Or for big orders have the fish farm deliver the fish and ask about replacement policy of fish that die within 7-10 days. Hauling fish is a learned art and science.

Thanks for all the advice Bill. I'll give you an update we had a break in the heat this last week which was really nice and really surprising since the high for a couple days was in the low 70s. I made the decision to go ahead and get some fish from Overton's since it was cooler. I picked up
200 coppernose bluegill
5 lbs. fathead minnows
10 lbs. of tilapia
The fish were in the bags for a total of 8.5 hours. I lost probably 15 fathead minnows, 0 tilapia, and 3 bluegill I was really surprised.
Right after I let the tilapia go you could see them cruising around on the top water. I went down earlier today which would have been 24 hours after the fish were stocked and I threw out a handful of feed and was pleasantly surprised to see my fish actually eating it they cleaned up the handful so I went ahead and threw out one more handful. Thanks for all the advice

Overton's have a good reputation with good healthy fish.