Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Corrective stocking Stocking an Old Pond

Hello all,

I've been lurking on the forum for several years now and I've got a question that I figured I should bring to the experts.

I have a 2 acre pond in south central KS that has not had much attention in many years. My grandfather dug it out in the early 80's and it was redone in the early 90's. There is a dry river bed that runs into a small "silt pond" above the main pond. Most of the pond is 5 to 7 ft deep with a foot or so of muck when you get 10 feet out from the shoreline. It holds water fairly well, better than other ponds in the neighborhood.

As for fish I have caught mostly 4-5 inch GSF and BH, which can get over a pound. I've seen small schools of minnows and 2-3 inch sunfish in the shallows, as well as swarms or baby bullheads. I haven't caught a LMB for over 4 years, and I think my grandpa stocked LMB, BG, and CC about 12 years ago.

My goals for the pond are to have a LMB/CC pond, not necessarily trophies, but I'd like to go out a catch something to eat on a consistent basis.

I plan on installing an aeration system this spring and I plan on feeding the fish that I stock.

I'm not interested in draining the pond or resetting the fishery with rotenone. I'd like to use corrective stocking to establish LMB/CC which I plan on removing and eating as necessary. I don't mind the BH too much, they put up a pretty good fight.

Thanks for your suggestions!

GSF/LMB/and CC all compete for the same food..minnow or BG. With a good forage base you can stock others but you need a starting point of what you have. W/O starting over a electro survey would be best.

I'm not sure who would do electro surveying in KS, can anyone chime in? I was thinking that stocking 8-12 inch LMB might bring the GSH under control, or would I need to stock BG as well? I plan on feeding the CC and never releasing them when caught.

I'm not opposed to an electro survey but I've got a pretty tight budget. I was hoping to get a healthier pond through aeration and improving the fishing through stocking, is that a reasonable goal? Thanks for your reply.

Welcome to PBF!

Sounds like you have a pond full of stunted GSF feeding off of BH. That would explain why you catch decent size BH with the GSF controlling their numbers. I, for one, understand the tight budget thing. We can't always do things the perfect way. Sometimes we have to do the best we can afford!

IMO, if it was my pond, I would stock the LMB and CC. I would consider Hybrid Blue Cats (HBC) instead of CC. You can let them get bigger and they're still tasty!

Once the predators have had a chance to thin the GSF herd, you could then look at what other actions you may want to take.

I'm not a pro, just offering my 1 cent. Hopefully, a pro will be along to offer some sage advice.

Good Luck and, again, welcome!

Bill D.

You might ask why the LMB disappeared. They tend to overpopulate if not managed.

Here's the biggest LMB the pond has produced, a buddy of my caught and released it in July 2010, I haven't caught one since but something hit a night crawler I was reeling in the other night. It broke my line so I didn't get to see it but the way it hit and splashed made me think it was a LMB. How old of a fish do you think this is?

Going off the OP assumptions of few or no CC, LMB, BG

My guess would be 300 adult BG, 75 12" LMB, and 50 CC.

One more thing. Stocking is one of the more expensive cost on the pond. Corrective restocking or starting over will cost about the same, if not more. Adult fish aren't cheap.