We’ve got a 40 acre ranch and the pond is mostly for swimming and eating out of, and I’d really like it to be self sustaining rather than requiring additional stocking.
Dylan, that sounds like an interesting and fun pond project!
(I DO NOT want to rain on your parade, but rather want to get you ready for the pond management project ahead of you.) There are many threads on Pond Boss, by actual management experts using well-documented pond species combinations, that require subsequent intervention to get the pond back towards the optimal balance.
I would love it if your pond was 100% self-sustaining, but I expect that will be unlikely. Get your good plan in place. Then do your actual stocking as close as possible to the planned stocking. (Recently the fish suppliers have not always had the species and/or sizes available that people needed for their ponds, so you may have to adjust.)
Then monitor your pond fish populations. Then make your adjustments as needed. Fishing and eating will hopefully be a big part of the adjustments. However, you may also have to add trapping and/or seining to cull some species. You may also have to have some supplemental stockings to improve the pond as it matures.
1.) Is your initial stocking going to be from fish suppliers or from friends' ponds and local waterways? If the latter, then make sure you are absolutely following the California laws.
2.) When the rains start to fill your pond, is it possible for floodwaters to introduce unwanted species from other bodies of water? If so, then that may complicate your management efforts if you get some unwanted species reproducing in your pond (such as bluegill or green sunfish).
Good luck on your new pond venture!
