Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose HSB, BC and...?

Hello folks. I've finally got the funds together to hopefully complete my pond this summer (hoping to not get ripped off again), and I can't be more excited! It's going to be around 0.4 to 0.5 acres, 12-15 ft deep. I know I definitely want BC (Blue Catfish) and HSB, but I can't decide on the 3rd species. At first, I wanted to try Crappie, despite the risks, I thought they'd make great forage for the BC, and if they stunted, I'd be fine with that. A pond full of stunted Crappies would keep the Catfish fed I'd imagine. Then I got to thinking, what about RES? They don't overpopulate like BG can, and can get to some good sizes. Not the ideal forage fish for BC or HSB in my opinion. Lately, I've been thinking about White Perch. There's not a whole lot of information out there regarding WP in ponds. The huge negative for why they're not a great pond fish is because they eat a lot of fish eggs, and they're prone to stunting as well. They also usually require running water to reproduce, which would be interesting to try to manipulate by running a water pump(s) into the pond to create flow. I don't know. They're also great to eat, and due to their shape, would make great forage for both the BC and HSB. They also aren't picky when it comes to food, which would make them easy to feed and catch. I've caught them on chicken livers and small pieces of hot dog before.

And I do not want BG or LMB.

Steve, glad to hear you may finally get your pond!

Steve_ Let me share a bit about white perch. We have them in 2 impoundments in Kansas and it's now illegal to possess a live white perch. This is in an 18,000 acre lake. They have impacted the food chain dramatically. They are much worse than crappie and reproduction is higher than BG. They reproduce very well in near static conditions and have proven to be more adaptable than originally thought.. Maybe it would be different if controlled by the right predator, I'm not sure but once introduced it's done.

Steve, as Bobbss said, good to hear your pond may come into existence this summer.
While I understand what Snipe is relaying about big Kansas BOWs getting over run and ruined by WP, your pond could be a wonderful experiment for this combination of 3 less common pond fishes.

I have no experience with any of these three, but if you would be willing and able to draw down and nuke your pond in the event of a negative WP explosion, you just might give it a chance. All those perch could become incredible forage for your non reproducing HSB and potentially minimally reproducing BCs.

The egg eating tendency of the perch could help lessen BC recruitment. The cats and wipers could eat enough perch to allow some to grow large enough to be interesting.

If you feed judiciously, depending on whenever or if your perch or your predators need a boost, you'd have a partial control of their success.

If things go haywire, drain and reset.

Like I say, this is all theoretical in my mind.

Good luck! We'll be watching.

@Snipe: From what I've read, its only illegal to possess, transport, or release live White Perch in the western part of NC, which doesn't apply to me, and they aren't a protected game fish species, so I *may* be able to get away with some bucket-stocking. I just want to create a unique fishery, and leave out the typical BG-LMB. I'm fully aware of their reproduction rates, but worse case scenario, they overpopulate/stunt and provide my 2 other species with a ton of food. Best case scenario, I grow some huge WP and provide another species for my friends and family to enjoy.

@4CP: Yep, pretty much agree with your line of thinking here as well. It'll definitely be interesting, and like you said, its a small BoW so fixing an issue might not be too horrible. I'm still undecided, but I'm leaning towards giving WP a shot, unless someone can convince me to try something else lol.

It will not only be your ponds that need to start over. Any pond bellow will also get these fish.

White Perch, Crappie, BG, GSF, whatever kind of forage fish...I would think that it would not matter what you used or if they stunted given that the focus is on the HSB and Blue Cats. Not that I have any good experiences with stocking my pond, I'm still learning. Heck, I'd drop some of each in.

Would Yellow Perch survive/thrive in North Carolina?

I honestly kinda like the idea of "throw a whole bunch of crap in there and see what happens" haha. I'm trying to stay away from "Bluegill-shaped" fish, however, that leaves out the BG and GSF.



Survive, yes, thrive, probably not. I occasionally catch them in my cast net in the lakes around here and they're always tiny. Of course, that could be due to the fact that the lakes I've caught them from have a lot of big cats that eat them.


Don't have any ponds below me or even near me.