I'm a newbie who has a chance to work on two small ( 1/5ac ) ponds on my in-laws property in Bradford TN. I live near Albuquerque and visit there 3 or 4 times a year. It seems to be a very interesting opportunity. So I researched and came up with a plan. I'd love to hear from you folks who actually have done this. The two ponds are very different. One is about 3/4 ringed by a tight band of 20ft tall trees. The other had the trees removed. No idea of the depth, but not a lot. Both ponds exhibit good pond life: frogs, crawdads, turtles, moccasins. My BIL stocked some LMB and BG ten or so years ago. That's it. He hasn't done anything, not even fish them; since then. Another nice benefit? About 15 miles away in Milan is a nice couple who run a fish pond stocking biz. They have 5ac of ponds. So It's less than an hour for me to drive there, pick up my bagged fish, and drive home. Lots of good karma here. As for fish in the two ponds? In the pond surrounded by trees (TP) my BIL and I have yet to get a bite. Though there have to be some fish there. When I was there in late April I saw lots of little minnows along the bank. The pond without trees? It's full of fish (I'll call it the FP). I have to say, I'm amazed at the fish in it. There are well established BG and LMB populations. When I was there two weeks ago, I did a little survey fishing for big bass. Within an hour I caught a 2lber on a segmented shad lure. Then I switched to a frog and a LMB just blew up on it. It had to be at least 3lbs. Dang impressive for an unmanaged, small pond. When I 1st went to fish it in April my SIL said she didn't think there were any fish in it. I've caught LMB from 6in to 3lbs with lots in between. In April I tried a small grasshopper lure with very small treble hooks. As soon as it hit the water a small, 4in, BG hit it. I caught 6 in a row before I stopped. My BIL and I have also caught some larger, spawning size BG. Given this info and some research, I made the following decisions. I'd love to hear what you think. Don't worry I have thick skin. 9/1/25 will be our 35th. Lol.

1. Aim the FP to grow big BG. For that it seems the main requirement is a lot of small and medium sized LMB. Obviously this pond has that.

2. Make the TP the bass pond.

3. Next summer catch and remove the few largest LMB from their pond and put into the TP. Assuming I do this, should I remove the big bass pre or post spawn? How many/ what size should I remove from my BG pond to add to my bass pond?

4. Get the food chain going in the TP. To this end at the end of April I added 2lbs of FHM and 100 BG fingerlings. Along with 2 GC. When I was there 2 weeks ago, my BIL and I focused on catching BG and moving them to the bass pond. We moved about 6 small ones and 2 or 3 breeding sized ones. I clipped the fins on a couple and threw them back in for a little LMB sushi. My SIL said she say tons of minnows in the TP when she mowed so the FHMs seemed to have spawned some.

5. Next spring or summer catch and transfer the big LMB from the FP to the TP.

6. Stocked each pond in late April. FP: 2GC, 2lbs FHM. TP: 2GC, 2lbs FHM, 100 BG fingerlings.

7. Should I stock BG fingerlings in the FP? I'm afraid they'll just make an expensive bass snack.

8. Is the idea to start with big bass wrong? As opposed to starting with small bass and nurturing them for years? My selfish view? I don't know if I have enough rotations around the sun for that to happen.

9. I'll be there in November. Is it worth doing any more stocking?

10. On my last visit I put a few Pondking habitats in the ponds. Both ponds got one nursery and one Grass Bed. The TP got a 2nd Grass Bed. The FB got a Shrub.

11. I'm sure I overlooked all kinds of things so please let me hear from you.

12. Yes I realize I'm being a touch anal compulsive here. But I'm enjoying the heck out of this.

And we're on schedule to have a larger pond (3/4ac) built this fall. I'm looking forward to that.

Thanks!

Brian

Last edited by AbqBrian; 08/24/25 05:25 PM. Reason: forgot something.