Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose Sacramento Perch

Dylan, I think you are on the right track with your thoughts. Just reading a bit more I found 1 reference indicating that the Sacrameno Perch was the dominant Picsivore in its native range. So this fish could probably be stocked alone but would greatly benefit from having a smaller highly reproductive prey species stocked along with it. Ideal would be a native fish which is appropriate for small still waters. But if Gambusia Affinis are already established in your watershed and use of this fish is not prohibited in your state or area for pond stocking, they can and will substantially increase forage for the Perch. The Golden shiner are probably to competitive to be ideal.

I don't think the predator is absolutely necessary but CC might be a good match. CC need to be in the >20" lengths to provide meaningful predation. They will help to limit perch reproduction too. I've watched big CC muscle into BG beds (tail up) and presumably inhale the eggs and yolk fry. Given the perch are popular for aquaponics ... I don't see this as a problem because you would have access to additional stock if you needed to ladder the perch. These fish obviously can be fed artificial diets ... otherwise they would not be popular for aquaponics so recruits could be fed up to releasable sizes if they do not reproduce well with the combination.

From research thus far, it seems these fish, similar to crappie, need a minimum of two or three years of age to reproduce. So your plan might be to delay stocking the predator until the third year. By this time, you could easily have raised perch to > than 10". I would personally try to work with a reasonable estimate of natural production. So possibly 150 to 200 lbs of perch as a goal for standing weight. So an initial stocking rate of 200 to 300 per acre along with minnow species. May be a benefit to let the minnows have a head start. If you can buy advance sizes (4" to 6" fingerlings) I would stock the advanced sizes in a two year ladder at half that rate each year. I think 15 20" CC to the acre may be ideal. They would reach this size by the third year when the predation is needed. It is very doubtful CC could recruit (a good thing) under the scenario. I think a good approach for the CC is to use them as a bonus fish catch and release using only artificial lures to catch (like flies ... yes I catch 4 to 6 large CC annually fishing for BG with flies). Ladder in CC as they are harvested in sizes > 12" and try to keep the weight of CC < 60 lbs/acre. I think this kind of plan would work and would be an enjoyable fishery.