Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose Initial Stocking

Hello from SW TN. I have a pond that was constructed last May and filled during the summer. It is around a half acre runoff pond with max depth of 8-9 feet and average of probably 7 feet. My main focus is growing big bluegill so I did not add any structure other that some small bottom humps and a shelf along the dam at 3 feet. My question is about stocking rates. How many BG and LMB would you recommend if I plan to feed but not aerate? Thanks in advance.

Brian

Good questions. As usual here on the PB Forum for an answer - It all depends.
IMO there is a steep learning curve for you if you want to truly and consistently grow trophy BG.

1. Firstly, are you aware of the website bigbluegill.com
This will also be a good informational source to help you achieve your goals.

2. Read through the Common Pond Q&A topic in the Archives of growing big bluegill. Learn what factors it takes to get BG to the trophy size class. Focus on getting started to use proven BG stock that has the genetic ability to quickly grow to large sizes. Research well your BG supplier and his available stock. Trophy BG usually have genetic trophy parents.
http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=189988#Post189988

3. IMO you are possibly too far north to use coppernose bluegill (CNBG). But learn about them and do homework to see if they will survive winters in your area of TN.

4. Feeding the fish pellets and not aerating is a slippery slope where you can easily get too many pounds of fish in the pond (too much carrying capacity), with too much organic decay with a dying plankton bloom, plus a mid summer pond turnover that in some combination will cause a hefty fish kill of trophy size fish. Be aware of this and manage closely with knowledge to minimize it.

5. There are a few options to achieve your goal of big BG in 0.5ac. Basically the management plan is to keep BG numbers low reducing competition so the remaining BG have plenty of food both pellets and natural items to grow to trophy sizes. If you feed pellets be sure to use high protein pellets (40% minimum) that are proven to grow healthy big bluegill. Explore the new specially designed BG food called Optimal.
http://optimalfishfood.com/free-sample/

6. Before I add more advice please refine your goals.
Do you want to regularly harvest BG to eat?
Do you live at the pond where you can daily monitor & manage the fishery?
Would you consider using single sex male BG to maximize the number of large trophy size BG in the pond? Our Forum member TJ
has a trophy BG-YP pond where he grows single sex BG. Several of us have done it. See the link for some of his fish. Learn from his previous posts how it is done and what is involved. He may provide links to what he did to achieve his current fishery which works well for small ponds.
http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Main=33075&Number=438514#Post438514

How much effort are you willing to put into growing trophy BG?. Efforts such as manual regular harvest of excess BG (non-angling) & bass, weed control manual & chemical, fish density monitoring (seining, trapping, data/record keeping), willing to regularly do supplemental stocking?

Thanks for the reply Bill! I will answer some of your questions below.

TJ should be here to describe his method or provide a link to his posts for raising single sex BG in his trophy fish pond.

No BG harvest makes it easier to maintain BG density in the single sex pond because you are only periodically replacing annual mortality.

Pond at the house allows for close, effective, management.

IMO the best way to research or explore the best genetics for bluegill to stock is to ask potential suppliers of how their BG perform. I think most fish farms sell 'regular run' or standard BG. If you are serious about growing trophy BG you should be willing to expend extra effort to achieve your goal. A. Ask where the BG supplier's stock comes form, B. Ask for references, examples, or proof of their fish growth (pictures), C. If you know of a local lake /pond that grows trophy BG then that gene pool is adequate for some brood stock. Select good examples some of those fish for your project. D. Put some effort into raising some of your own hand selected fast growing BG by purchasing some good stock. Raise them in cages and then select the best fastest growing BG to stock into your pond.

Let's explore single sex BG small pond, 0.5 ac or less. Single sex fish pond has advantages. It does not have over population slow growth problems. All fish are large for the species. Harvest, manual, seining, trapping management is easier or not needed. It requires minimal predation effort. A few pellet fed single sex or non-reproducing predators can serve as trophy bonus fish diversity. If the pond does not meet expectations or the goals change, it can very easily be converted to another type of fishery just by adding those species of fish. Single sex male BG will eventually die out without replacing the annual mortality.

A rare harvest, single sex trophy BG pond of 0.5ac does not need a lot of BG over 70-100 individuals for the pond to be a big success. It performs best if I does not have numerous BG. With no harvest, not a lot of new maleBG need to be added each year or two to maintain or the BG density due to natural losses. Normally, BG need to be at or above 8" to consistently and dependably recognize male fish. BG at 8" weigh about 8 oz, thus 70-100 adult BG (8"-10")in 0.5ac weigh at or above 100-180lbs/ac. This is a good standing stock of BG for a non-aerated low stress-management pond. The pond then has 'room' BG good growth, lower fish stress, and space for operator error.

As an option, keep in mind that big, aggressive panfish can be grown in a small pond by using Hybrid bluegill. Hybrid BG in small ponds has some big advantages. Read through this thread from the archives to learn more about growing HBG to larger sizes. Our Forum expert on HBG is Sprkplug. You can contact him for detailed information. He also wrote a couple articles in Pond Boss magazine that you might want to get the back issues and study those articles.

May-Jun 2014. HYBRID BLUEGILLS�.. BENEFIT OR BOONDOGGLE? Tony Livingston provides his real story about hybrid bluegill and their proper management based on his experience of what works. Here is thoughtful advice, some facts and fiction and a formula for success.
Jul-Aug 2014. ART OF THE SCIENCE OF GROWING HUGE HYBRID SUNFISH. Tony Livingston explains the concepts, ideas, and requirements to grow trophy sized hybrid bluegills.

Hybrid Bluegill information from the PB Archives section
http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=256325#Post256325

Well it looks like it is time for Plan B. We have had a major rain event all week and I went out to check on the spillway and noticed something in the water coming out. I got to looking and there were lots of small bluegill around 1" that had come over the spillway. After a little investigation it turns out my sons put less than 10 big bluegill in there at the end of last summer. I also noticed lots of snails came from the pond also. So I guess my objective now is to do some trapping and see how many young bluegill are there and stock some LMB to thin them out.

Pond is roughly half acre
What size and number of LMB would you recommend stocking and when to stock them?
What is the best way to get these small bluegill taking feed? How big do they have to be to start feeding?
How many RES should I stock to take advantage of the snails.