Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose New Pond Full. What to Add and When?

So my pond is full and while I try to get grass to grow around it and wait for it to clear up I am ready to get started planning for what I'm actually going to put in there. I'm wanting to stock is FHM, BNM, SFS, possibly LCS for forage fish. Hopefully also get some scuds and grass shrimp in there too. Then HBG and YP as the most abundant fish with maybe a few LES and rock bass thrown in as a bonus catch. With HSB and SMB, possibly one day a few WE, as the top predators. Really what I'm looking for are not trophies but rather the ability to catch fish every time we try. In my mind having all these species will make fishing that much more exciting because you never know what you have on the line until you get it reeled in. We like to eat fish so having options for good eating fish is also a priority.

So here are my questions: Is this stocking plan a viable option? Are any of the species I included a bad idea or will they not work well with the others? Are there any others you think I should add in for more diversity?
Once the species I am using are selected what kind of stocking timeline would you suggest? Also, sourcing a lot of these fish may get tricky as I don't believe Arkansas allows fish to be stocked from Great Lakes states. Any and all advice will be greatly appreciated.

Excellent forage base plan, Kart. I'd consider crayfish as well.

You can add redear sunfish (RES), as another bonus fish. I don't think you'd want to add much more than you already have planned. HSB and WE would be put and take species, so stock as many as you plan to harvest. SMB may need some spawning habitat help, or they might need to be restocked on occasion as well. They're probably not easy to come by in Arkansas.

How big is the pond? Do you plan on feeding?

In my pond, about an acre in size, I went with a similar stocking plan, YP going in ahead of other predators. Now, I can catch a YP, varying sizes (but mostly small), on nearly every cast if I wanted. The other species are slowly catching up as they increase in size, but their catch frequencies were slim and none till only this past summer/fall.

Hey Kartracer,

Exciting times for you!

I'm not a pro but IMO, once you decide on a stocking plan, I would go thru the list and make sure you have appropriate habitat and forage for each species you plan to stock before you start actually stocking. For example, SFS are crevice spawners. Do you have habitat with crevices for them? Grass shrimp want underwater vegetation. FHM and BNM want horizontal flat surface to spawn. Places for all the different little newbies to hide and feed once they hatch?