Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose What size perch?

Quick question. I want to stock YP in my pond and I don't want to spend a lot of money stocking a bunch of fish. So my idea is to stock about 25 YP this fall big enough that they will breed next spring.

My question is, how big must a YP be to spawn? Will a 6 inch YP spawn in spring if stocked in fall?

How big are your LMB?

Yes Bocomo is correct - how big are your predators. A 6" YP can be good food for 13"-14" LMB. 6"ers stocked in fall may not be alive in spring to spawn if LMB are present. 6" perch in their 2nd year can spawn.

My LMB are 11.5 inches as of last weekend. They have abnormally small mouths so I think (hope) they will be safe. If you guys think it is too much of a risk I could look for bigger fish.

I have never seen a LMB with an abnormally small mouth. Catch one of those 11"-12" LMB and measure its length and the width of its open mouth (gape) for us. Then we can discuss stocking YP.

As a general rule when stocking advanced fingerlings , survival increases exponentially with stocker size. I would look for 10 YP (near adults). Hopefully they can spawn early spring and their yoy will stay large enough to avoid yoy LMB predation.

I will try to catch one in my free time (likely this weekend) and get a picture of gape. Little bit of a newbie question but, how do I measure gape?

Two most recent LMB, also happen to be largest caught. Need to catch another to measure gape.

Measure gape by pulling the mouth wide open and measure across the mouth opening. Gape can be measured as horizontal and/or vertical axis. The vertical axis is often slightly shorter than the horizontal axis.

Thank you. Will do next time I get time to fish.