Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose Yellow Perch Pond

Here's my unsolicited take: I like these choices, I'm a cool water fan myself and have a few fisheries on my farm where I manage these species.

Describe the BOW for us. Size, depth, watershed, irrigation, etc. This will help us understand how to direct your efforts better. Will you have significant seasonal drawdown? Will you aerate? Will you establish supplemental feeding program?

Depending on characteristics of your pond like amount of shallow vegetation will dictate on how you manage the YP including harvest slots and qty, and potential supplemental stocking. QTY of WE and HSB will also impact the YP population dynamics. You can tinker/adjust accordingly to achieve your YP goals.

I suggest ladder stocking WE and HSB as discussed in many previous threads - qty will be dictated by size of BOW and goals and whether you will be feeding. I suggest you do feed your HSB and YP with high protein diet to help relieve pressure from your forage base.

What is your proposed forage base? YOY RES and YP alone? A small shiner species would be a good addition - maybe red shiner or spotfin. In my experience GSH compete directly with YP for pellets and YP lose and get shy.
Red shiner info:
http://ninnescahlife.wichita.edu/node/367

You may want to consider an additional panfish species - RBS and HBG have been proposed as cool water species companion panfish which may find a successful niche/role. Your RES and YP will not always be readily available for kids to fish for like other panfish species. Tony [Sparkplug] can guide you on management and stocking strategies for HBG best. Travis [CJBS] probably has the most experience with RBS. I think HBG can work if managed appropriately, but hybridization may occur with RES. I have those hybrids in my largest pond and they grow large and are pretty cool. I think with proper angling pressure/harvest you could keep your HBG population managed and it would add another species for kids to catch and for you to harvest. They will readily pellet train, but competition with your YP may occur.

Will you be adding SMB to the fishery down the road? They coexist well with HSB, and WE well in my experience - but again, they will impact your fishery by predation on YP, HBS, and RES and also need to consider pressure on your forage base [shiners]. All these factors come into play when developing a stocking strategy as they need to be balanced so each species can thrive. If stocking SMB, I'd purchase them pellet trained to help alleviate pressure on the forage base.

Also - be sure you have reliable. affordable, quality/reputable sources for HSB, YP, pellet trained SMB, and WE before you launch the project. If fish aren't available for your ladder stocking program the fishery goals take a quick turn you may not like.

I think we need more information from you before more specific direction can be provided.