Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Raising Forage and Bait small pond for bait fish

I would like to make a small pond to raise blue gill or red ear sunfish in to get them to a size that the green sunfish would not eat when I would transfer them to the lake. Would feed but would have no air. My pond or mud hole would be 20 feet by 100 feet, 5 foot deep. How many fish could I raise in this size pond to get them to 3 or 4 inches. If someone has tried this and found it to be a waste of time please let me know? Would a above ground swimming pool work if I would put air and a self feeder with it? Would put fish in spring and take out in fall or would I be better off just buying larger fish?

Please see the many posts by member "snrub" on this subject in the past year or so. Those posts will answer most of your questions. He has some brooder ponds.

Forage Pond

Specialty ponds

You can raise a lot of forage fish in a small pond.

At only 5' deep, if you are where it freezes it might be only a seasonal pond. That actually would work fine if you put new brood stock in each spring. All my ponds are designed to be year round ponds, but you could also design one that drained dry part of the year and was only used seasonally. Both methods have certain advantages.

Edit: I see you are from Nebraska. Teejaeh57 is a Nebraskan that has small ponds for forage/grow out as well as some other members in your neck of the woods. He has been very successful with small supplemental ponds.