Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose Stocking a new pond with RES, YP and SMB

If you got your LCS from Zimmerman I am betting they were pellet trained from a young age and are pellet feeding.

I personally wouldn't go to a 5D06 even if you think they are big enough to eat them. I's stick with what I saw Jamie had which appeared to be slightly smaller than 5D05. Just my opinion of course. Jamie had feed from Zeiglers when I was there.

Jamie,

Do you have a local supplier of Zeigler's feed?

Years ago on the forum I think someone theorized that feeding smaller pellets enables fish to ingest more, and over the years, equate into faster growth due to increased consumption/nutrition. Smaller the pellet, the more one can fit into a certain volume container - like a stomach. Weight of 1/4 cup of AM - the heaviest would be 500, followed by 600, and LMB formula would come in last due to the additional air space between pellets. Does this theory hold up? If the fish will target smaller pellets, it might. My larger SMB and HSB prefer pellets in this order: AM LMB, AM 600, and they sometimes ignore AM 500 altogether, even when it's all that's available. Toss in a few AM LMB pellets and the water erupts and they'll feed for 45 minutes.

Interesting topic - do you feed the largest pellet possible, or the smallest?

From the studies on feeding.

Because fish growth often is limited by food availability, supplemental feeding is a logical tool to improve the condition of fish in small impoundments as the energy cost for bluegill to feed on pellets is small relative to the high caloric intake, which can be 4-5 times greater than those fed natural foods (Schalles and Wissing 1976).


Substantial increases in the standing stock of bluegill in ponds that receive pellet feed have been recorded (Schmittou 1969) and, in lakes, pellet feeding has been found to increase the number of large bluegills (Nail and Powell 1975).


These results indicate that total fish production and production of bluegill were each increased approximately 75 to 80% by supplemental feeding in 19 months after stocking (Schmittou 1967)


Previous studies demonstrated that feed in excess of 10 pounds per acre per day in bluegill ponds was not utilized. Some accumulated and decomposed, thus depleting the supply of dissolved oxygen which resulted in fish kills (Schmittou 1967) .


the rate of growth of sunfish can be increased by short-circuiting the food cycle, thereby producing harvestable size sunfish in a shorter period of time than would occur under natural conditions (Carnes 1966).


The pellet size should be approximately 20-30% of the size of the fish species mouth gape. Feeding too small a pellet results in inefficient feeding because more energy is used in finding and eating more pellets. Conversely, pellets that are too large will depress feeding and, in the extreme, cause choking. Select the largest sized feed the fish will actively eat.

Addition of supplemental pelleted feed did not contribute to the rate of growth of young shad, but did increase the growth and spawning frequency of adults.

Thanks Eric good timing. To address the situation above I broadcast both AM 500 and 600 in my feeders to hopefully address feeding smaller and larger fish. I have to hand feed the AM LMB pellets on my visits to the ponds - maybe 3x weekly. Not sure they benefit much from such infrequent feedings, but it's a blast to watch the fireworks show.

I feed a mix of AM500 and AM600 in my pond as well.

At the moment I have eight RES in my aquarium in the house and my largest one which is 6-1/2" to 7" won't eat AM600 pellets just yet, but has no problem eating up to ten AM500 pellets in a few minutes. Pellet size does matter.

I only feed 500 in all of our ponds. Our fish are used to this particular size, and it has produced well for us. Esshup did bring down some 600 for me to try, and there was minor interest but nothing like the activity on the 500. Conditioning is so prevalent....just ask Scott how many bluegills he caught on the 600 sized Stubby Steve's.

I do think there's something to be said for the smaller pellets simply fitting together better, (as in a higher quantity) in a confined space, but I'm not sure what effect a softening of the water soaked pellet might have, and I'm also unsure if this applies to a variable space, (like a stomach), as it does to a fixed space.

I know I have watched a single fish pluck 25-30 AQ500 pellets many times, with the record being 37 pellets eaten at one feeding.

I get the Zeiglers pellets from a dealer in Ft.Wayne. I bought that smaller size for the shiners and still have a half a bag left so I will use it up before buying more or anything different. We also have some lower grade catfish food that we've been grinding up for the FHM. It's a little larger and the shiners seem to struggle to get them down.

Jamie,

Who is the dealer in Ft. Wayne?

Very Interesting. I'm feeding about 2.5# per day max. Less if the fish are not hitting the pellets well like back when when the water was so hot in summer.

What would be a safe amount to go to without risking fish kills? Five pounds? 7 pounds? I really don't want to push the limits too much, and risk a fish kill. Using aeration.

Been eating a few of the CC (and an occasional BG if we accidentally gut or gill hook one) but the CC are only about a pound. Takes two of them to feed my wife and I about right. Can't wait for them to get to 2 pounds so one fish equals one meal. I never was crazy about catfish before, but these things fresh out of the pond are delicious! They taste 95% as good as the BG, which really surprises me. Sometimes the restaurant CC I've eaten in the past seemed kind of oily, which I did not care for. Not these.

So now I'm wanting to pack some pounds on them by next year.

Cecil, I got the pellets from Jones fish. Do you know of another dealer near me that may be a better option? They only carry their Silver line, which is 34% protein and Id like to start getting their gold line which has protein levels in the 40%'s. How does the Zeigler compare to purina?

How close are you to Kalida Ohio?

Bill, I'm about 90 min from Kalida.

Okay - Remlinger Fish Farm - they have the Zeigler feed you are looking for in various sizes. Call and ask about size availability and pricing.

P.M. me.

I agree on the conditioning! 3#-5# LMB in my pond will swim past a Purina LMB pellet to grab AM600 pellets.

But how many LMB did sprkplug catch on the AM500 vs. AM600 pellets?

You mean you were deliberately targeting those nasty LMB thingies?? Huh. I've heard that some folks do that.

I thought you needed some of the larger ones removed?

I still do, but I'm hoping they die from lack of forage. I don't want to actually have to handle one.

Jamie your pond is fabulous. I have taken many of your ideas and used it on my new pond. In looking at all of your photos I do have one question, and by no means am I the safety police. Why do you operate your tractor with the ROPS bar down and no counter weight on the rear?

Todd, I rarely use my ROPS or seat belt. After almost flipping the whole works, I had the liquid added to the rear wheels. Now, I doubt that I could flip it if I tried. Well, knowing me, I probably could.

My tractor shed is too low for me to get the tractor in with the ROPS.

I have a lot of low hanging really large oak branches that I couldn't get under with the ROPS.

I no longer drink beer when I get into those kind of situations working sideways on a hill.

Actually, after almost flipping the dang thing I just no longer even work sideways on a hill. One time pretty well cured me of not thinking when using the FEL on a tricky spot.

But, you pose a good question. I just might be found someday all wadded up under the darn thing.

ToddM, I'm a bit different than Dave, I operate with the ROPS up, but I'm normally on and off so much that a seatbelt is really a PITA. I know enough and can think quick enough that I need to hold on if it's going over, and keep my feet on the floor.

I was a supervisor in a steel warehouse. We'd have to take the fork lift outside to load wire mesh onto contractors trucks. Seatbelts had to be worn. One of the guys went out to load a truck, didn't pay attention to what he was doing and tipped the fork lift on it's side. Yes, he had his seatbelt on. But, the dumba.. stuck his foot out like you'd do on a bicycle to keep from tipping over. The result? Compound fracture......

Just like hard hats that had to be worn there. I didn't see the point. Yes, they'd protect your head from bumps and scrapes. I don't know how much they'd help if a couple thousand pound stack of steel sheets fell from the crane tho. What good is a hard hat going to do if you're squished like an ant on the bottom of somebody's shoe?

Thanks for the comments about the pond Todd. I agree that my pics of the tractor are not a very good example of how to be safe running a tractor. I normally would have some type of weight on the back of the tractor for example a roto-tiller, but in this case the tiller would have prevented me from backing up once I pushed the rocks out into the pond. I got in a few situations where the tractor had to climb back over builders and this would have been impossible with equipment on the back. It was a very sticky situation, but really the only way to get the job done. I run the tractor without the ROPS most of the time as I work in open flat fields and they do not fit through the door of the barn where I park the tractor.

Hey Jamie, I'm down in Fl and am wondering what the water temps are up there. Also are you still feeding those YP ya got from Cecil?

Bob, just in time for the hurricane? You sure bailed out of here fast!!! You're missing the low 40°F temps, 10-15 mph NW winds and the 1/2" of rain that we've had today.