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

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.