Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose New 2.2 acre pond walleye perch stockinh

Per Roundy and Snipe - I strongly recommend absolutely verifying species ID prior to stocking into fishery. Not worth cutting any corners here - it's the most critical stage of fishery development. Purchase from reputable hatchery and STILL hand sort prior to stocking. That's the advice I give all my clients...also, do not stock Rusty Crays, adults get so large they're largely invulnerable to predation and can denude a pond of all vegetation as a result of their dense adult population. They are invasive, and if found in your fishery could be subject to some bad legal mojo....highly unlikely, but still worth consideration.

If I cannot 100% identify them they are not going in. I�d rather spend the money and buy the right ones.

What do you think of chub suckers???

Is there any other way to get them in pond without catching from local waters??

Are there bad suckers to avoid?

Chubsuckers have been researched and published as good forage for SMB ponds. Researchers did not see excess turbidity from them. Only a very few if only one place (Ohio) I know of sells small chubsuckers as aquarium fish (expensive per fish). There has been a "fair" amount of past PBoss forum discussions / threads about using chubsuckers in ponds. Do a google search of - Pond boss forum chubsucker chubsuckers or lake chubsucker. Lake chubsucker is different specie than creek chubsucker. They may also spawn differently. Do good homework.

Most if not all suckers (Catostomidae) reproduce only in streams or stream-like conditions. The main problem with suckers as I see it would be if a pond has too many per acre and they roil the water searching for food that is in limited supply. Roiled water significantly reduces primary productivity and thus carrying capacity.

I have saved and read a decent amount on here about the chubsucker, that�s where I got the idea to catch them in my nearby creek.

I have not read anything about white suckers and other sucker species that may or may not be good for your pond. I was looking to see if someone could assist in ID�ing the suckers to confirm they are lake or creek (as they do look to be)

I did a little research and found most suckers get between 10-15� full grown and are not very prolific.

I do remember stealhead fishing and catching them off spawn sacs so I was concerned about egg predation.

I will probably keep them in my aquarium until I begin to get some vegetation next year then release them.

Thanks for your insight guys!

I was able to use a better google search function and find more information. It seems the sucker is a preferred fish with almost zero issues.

Except the issue Bill brought up.

Thanks again Bill

As I saw them in your pictures I saw no lake chubsuckers.
As I see your pictures I think 1&2= white sucker 3&4 = longnose sucker 5= northern hog sucker. Not positive about 3&4 unless I have it in my hand for close examination.