The lower pond has the most water, as of now. I have stocked fathead minnows, 24 smallmouth bass and 12 walleye, along with 33 adult coppernose bluegill. The pond, when full, will cover about an acre.
The main pond, next to stately Lusk Lodge has only four feet of water. I still have to plant dock poles, then we'll fill with well water. So far, it has fathead minnows with coppernose bluegill fingerlings. I came across 100 adult coppernose for this pond, and stocked them. This pond will cover and acre +. The upper, existing pond has largemouth bass already, so I stocked 150 adult coppernose bluegill. Debbie wanted a few koi, so I yielded to that nudge. She can be quite persuasive, as you know. Also added a few channel catfish. This pond is low, too, as we are removing standing timber in the upper end. Too much wood in this acre pond. Then, there's the two hatchery ponds. Filled with well water in three days, each is stocked with fathead minnows, until I decide what to do with them, next spring.
Ultimately, I have decided to stock the pond next to the house with female largemouth bass, trained to eat pelleted feed, with some genetic mix of Florida strain. I want to intensively grow big bass in small water, and watch daily.
With a 150 gallon a minute well, we have the latitude to exchange fair amounts of water, and keep the environment clean.
As we go, I'll keep you posted.
