Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Predictions for this stocking scenario?

This is a big "it depends" question. You would have to know the fertility of the water (plankton status) and what was there to start. Assuming all the fish were of about the same size then predation on all of them would be highly variable. The ones that could find food would grow but others would not. If the fish were feed trained and feeding was continued you would have an entirely different situation.

The real trick to stocking when going outside known proven stocking plans (even they are not guaranteed to work) is to know the risk and try to plan for it. The more variation in the plan (numbers and types of fish) the higher the risk. For example supplemental stocking with small 2-3 inch fish at high numbers evolves much more risk than stocking with fewer larger fish. This is because you can't accurately quantify how many small fish will be eaten or starve and or reproduce in the first year+ . Every stocking has potential results that vary. These changes lead to consequences which we are not smart enough to consider before hand (called trophic cascades). Risk tolerance varies greatly from person to person and pond to pond. So do the costs and effort to fix the situation if it is unacceptable.


All of this leads to an it depends answer. I would not try that plan unless it was just a "gosh lets roll the dice and see what happens" situation. Way to much risk of bad results. It may turn out great but I doubt it unless the fish are on feed. However the more fertile the system the bigger the chance it will work in the short term. His best bet would be to go get 100 5 inch BG and add them to the mix with more FH. He has way to many next year predators vs possible next year forage. In addition there is high variability on what the spawning status is for the spring. A good chance exists of being at spawn 1 with an unbalanced population in either direction.