Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Fish for new ponds- looking for input

It's been a few years since I found this site and got the bug. My first small pond (about .10 acre) has about 3 dozen Brook trout in it and 2 rainbows that we just enjoy feeding and watching them grow.


Last month, I expanded another pond (my second project) from about 1/4 acre to about a half an acre. This pond is fed by numerous underground springs which are flowing well even now after nearly a month of no rain. I have about a dozen rainbows left in it from before the expansion that are loving the new elbow room. I had 80 in it this spring prior to the expansion, but the Great Blue Herons beat on them pretty badly. They seem to be unable to get to them now with more deeper water & structure in place. They also don't seem to like flying into 30 pound Power Pro braided line stretch tight across the pond. I've added 1200 fathead minnows to what was already a decent population and they appear to be producing well. I've also added about 100 crayfish. I'd like to add about 100- 150 rainbow next spring along with either bluegill or yellow perch. It makes sense that the bows could eat the perch for a longer period than the bluegill due to their shape. But... I'd kind of prefer bluegill to perch. I will be supplemental feeding. My hope is that the bows would help keep numbers of small fish in check if I limit feeding in June & July when the fry are present. This pond ranges from about 18', pretty evenly sloped, with about a quarter of the pond being 4' or less to aid in natural food production & diversity and to help it warm up a bit.


I needed material to accomplish the expansion of the larger pond, and in doing that, dug a second pond next to this one. This one is about 1/4 acre and is about 12' deep, pretty uniform, not very diverse. It has less flow than the bigger pond, so I left it about 2' lower in elevation and siphon off the larger pond to supplement the flow to this one. It also got 1,200 fatheads and 100 crayfish but has no other fish in it currently.



Last night when I stopped to add crayfish, about 45-50 wood ducks flew out of the bigger pond. (they never came when it was smaller) I've watched a pair of mink playing. Kingfishers taking fatheads off the surface. A flock of Cedar Waxwings comes for bugs every evening. Big bullfrogs have moved in. All in one month! Just love seeing all life coming about.



So... my question... Except for the dozen rainbows in the half acre pond... these two are clean slates this spring, with a good forage base in place. What would you stock & why? I live in Northern New York. Much of this will be C&R but- I'd like to eat panfish from them. A local supplier recommends Black Crappie for this but from much I've read here- I'm leery of that advice. I like perch, bluegill, crappie. They're all good. Even bass taste ok when caught through the ice, so they're an option too. Thanks in advance for your opinion & advice... and thanks also for the many hours I've spent here getting completely pond bitten!

Congrats on the new ponds! Trust your instincts on the Black Crappie!!!

If your water supports trout year round, I'd go with about 500 7-9" yellow perch. The YP and rainbow both like feed, taste great, and will produce good forage. You could also add some golden shiners (10-25#), 20-40 smallmouth Bass, and 10-30 Hybrid Striped bass for additional catch options.

Being a mainly C&R pond, the trout can do quite well, HSB will not reproduce, SMB recruitment will be low, and YP will do well also.

Thank you! The Brook trout pond is currently 67 degrees- as warm as it gets. These lower ponds can get up to 78 or so on the surface but its 5-6 degees cooler below- the Rainbow trout did well year round even before the expansion, so yes- they are fine year round. I appreciate your input. Smallmouth over largemouth... why do you think the smallmouth are a better option? Lower recruitment?

Also- the quarter acre pond... I'd like a different mix in there. What in your opinion would be a good call in the smaller, less diverse pond? I could also wait a year or two and see how just using it as a place to grow supplemental feed (the fatheads) works out. I could probably support a much better population in the bigger pond by adding a steady supply of fatheads...

Hollywood,

Just keep in mind If you plant bluegil or yellow perch you will need a good predator fish to keep them cropped down. Trout won't do it. And trout even if fed pellets, that grow well, they typically won't live longer than 3 or 4 years in a pond.

Brook trout are exceptionally short lived with brown the longest lived. Rainbows are in between the two.

At least that's been my experience.

That said they can get quite large in that period of time.

I've grown 3 year old brook trout over 6 lbs, and 5 year old brown trout 12 lbs., and 5 year old rainbow a little over 9 lbs.

Do perch take to pellet feeding better than bluegill? Which of the two would offer more pounds of fillets per year? I like both- with a bit of an advantage going to the perch. It seems most ponds in this area are bluegill/largemouth combo ponds. I can think of very few with perch in them, especially a small pond like this half acre (though it is quite deep in one stretch) Either way- I'm going with advice I get from here when I pull the trigger. Many guys I know have offered their opinion. None of them have a pond. Smallmouth do seem like they might be a decent option. I kind of like them better than largemouth anyway. Had quite a group of them following me today as I was flipping rocks to gather crayfish. Very cool to see them pounce on the sculpins that scoot out!

Bluegill usually train to pellets easier than perch. It will be easier to control YP numbers compared to BG. You can remove lots of YP egg ribbons in spring if you place twiggy tree branches along shoreline out to 16" deep. SMB can very effectively control YP numbers. If you regularly feed pellets to keep perch growing, remove numerous egg ribbons in spring, and harvest YP you should not need lots of predation of the young YP. Adult YP will eat some YOY YP. For a little panfish diversity you could add some obviously male BG to the perch pond.

I very much appreciate the input you've all given me. At this point my plan is to wait a little bit. I think I know where I'm going to locate my home in relation to the ponds now. I'm going to expand the quarter acre pond a bit when I have the equipment there preparing the build site. I'm going to hold off stocking either pond until I get a more diverse forage base well established. I've added about 150 crayfish to each pond. I'm going to add a mix of 6-7 inch gold shiners and 2" ones as well. I'm putting in more/better structure for the fatheads to aid reproduction. I also know where I can access some spot tail's, especially in the spring- so next spring those will go in. I'm going to give both ponds all of next year to get forage & vegetation solid... then perhaps fall of 2016 begin stocking of YP and SMB. If I feel confident that the forage can support them, I will add RBT in time. The long term benefit of patiently building a solid forage base now, rather than trying to support a bunch of hungry mouths later, should help build a much better situation in the long run. Thank you all! I really hadn't been thinking primarily YP & SMB... but it makes good sense. Thanks again!