Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Raising Forage and Bait Golden Shiner spawning questions?

Hi all,

I plan on bucket stocking some GSH into my new pond which is lil over 1 acre. Question is I don't know what kind of habitat they like to have to spawn, what time of year the spawn or how many times a year? wanting to do my home work know while the pond is still in the construction phase, got to have happy shiners so I have fat bass

thank you for any and all help

From SRAC fact sheet. See this https://srac.tamu.edu/index.cfm/getFactSheet/whichfactsheet/12/


Golden shiners spawn in the
spring when water temperatures
rise above 68 oF (20 oC). They quit
spawning when temperatures
exceed 81 oF (27 oC). Once spawning
begins, fish will continue to
spawn even when temperatures
drop below 68 oF. Golden shiners
spawn frequently, attaching their
adhesive eggs to aquatic vegetation
or spawning mats. No care is
given to the young. Eggs are
about 4/100ths of an inch (1 mm)
in diameter and hatch in 3 to 4
days, depending on water temperature

IIRC, Golden shiner females only spawn once a year, but not all of the females spawn at the same time, like many species. The SRAC posted could be seen as a little misleading on the spawning habits, but bottom line is, GSH are a great forage species for LMB and other piscavores.

Grassy marginal and submerged plants provide excellent cover and spawning habitat for Golden Shiners and many other species.

you can put out breeding matts around the pond too.

I read shag carpet or something like that for the eggs to stick to can help, it can be attached to some structure in the pond.

I bucket stocked mine around feb and was able to find large ones carrying eggs ready to spawn. But I already had predators so needed large ones ready to spawn in an attempt to get recruitment.

If you dont have predators yet, I suppose timing doesnt realy matter as much.

However, dependant on you completion date and your return date getting them in before spring would stil be ideal. If they go in mid to late summer you might have to wait all the way till next spring to get a spawn.

Thanks Bobby, and did you get that last message I sent Ya? Didn't get a reply back yet