For Reference here is the original stocking plan.
Stock 20# FHM the fall of 2015
Stock 350 6-8” perch and 50 redear sunfish in the spring of 2016
Stock 25-30 7-9” walleye and 30 8-10” Hybrid Striped Bass in fall of 2016
BillD. is correct you will not need 20# of FHM unless you plan to stock fish larger than fingerling which is the original plan. FHM will survive in your partially filled pond. However the pond will develop more of the natural fish food items if the minnows are not stocked until early next spring. Then I would stock the 10# FHM and use the extra money to add more RES probably 150-200. FHM at 10 Lbs will also be easier to sort. Also in Spring one tends to get more adult (breeder size) FHM than in the fall when most of the FHM are YOY and smaller individuals from crowded fish ponds.
Consider using two stocking sizes of YP 4"-6" and 6"-8". More of the larger size if you want to harvest some 8"-11" YP in fall off 2016. With ample food or pellet feeding the 6"-8" YP stocked in early spring will easily be 8"-11" by fall. YP will eat few if any 2"+ RES if YP are fed pellets and FHM or other minnows are available. YP thrive on 1"-1.7" minnows/shiners. If you expect the fishery to truly flourish in years 4-6, you are going to need some other multiple forms of forage if you stock WE and HSB. Consider adding GSH although they are known to be nuisance bait stealers when angling with worms and ice fishing.
If you want to stock some fish this fall spend some effort to get a few bluntnose minnows, or spotfin shiners or less common species of beneficial forage fish such as lake chubsckers. Let them establish, get a head start and do some growing before others are added. Line up some crayfish for spring stocking. The papershell crayfish is a very good crayfish for Indiana-Illinois ponds.
You can add some RES now but it will be probably better if you add them in spring when small fish foods will be more abundant and the fingerling RES do not need to survive winter conditions with limited food reserves.
What you should be working on now before the pond is full is to add abundant spawning habitat and small fish habitat along the shallow areas to promote the forage fish that will later spawn. Drive the country side looking for piles of rocks or concrete to haul back to the pond. Contact some smaller construction guys or concrete installers for them to bring you some waste concrete removed from some of their projects. Broken concrete along one or two whole shorelines will also stabilize the shoreline from erosion due wind action. Broken concrete of various sizes either placed or haphazardly placed creates great spawning areas and habitat for producing fish foods and all types of small fish. Concrete rip-rap lined shorelines down to 5-7 ft deep also help reduce the amount of weeds that will grow and could become a nuisance in shallow water of sloping banks. Some weed growth in shallow water is good and it can occur in the other 1/2 of the pond without riprap. At the base of the deeper rip-rap will be a good place to catch the walleye you plan to stock.
Also if you don't have it done get your dock built or at least the dock posts in while the water level is low.
Last edited by Bill Cody; 10/01/15 02:14 PM.
