I would pump now because you may get heavy rains and the whole pond fills before Apr-May of 2015. In NY not much benefit to adding forage fish in fall since they will grow very little if any before Apr2015. Broodstock FHM and shiners are usually larger in spring fish sales. Plus the water in the new pond will culture and develop natural zooplankton and invertebrate populations as a buffet for fish introduced in spring. Adding filtered old pond water to new pond water will help seed the new pond with plankton, etc.
Focus on what needs to be done now and "get er done". Use winter to study fish combination options and formulate the stocking - management plan.
The old small pond does not look very big. How many fish esp bass a sizes can it have in it????. It would be a VERY good idea to inventory all fish and their sizes that come out of it to get a good idea of the carrying capacity of the new pond and what to expect from the new pond. You might be surprised what is actually in the old pond based on what you have historically put in it! This info would be good for all members to read and have documented.
Last edited by Bill Cody; 10/25/14 09:27 AM.
