Hi guys, so we’ve just dug a 4 acre pond in Southwestern Ontario. It’s still filling but about 1/3 of it will be 25-35 feet deep, 1/3 10-15’ and the last 1/3rd will be about 8’ with some shallower flat areas and trenches mixed throughout. We’ve got a ton of rocks piled throughout different depths giving some good structure and probably 50’x300’ of washed sand which is basically a super fine gravel placed from shore down to about 7-8’ deep in the water. I’ve got a few different questions as it would be awesome not to screw it all up at this point.

First the fish mix: I would really like Yellow Perch as they seem relatively self sustaining and would hopefully be the kind of thing we could have a few big fish fries a year without hurting anything too badly. I’ve also always been a big trout guy, would some Rainbow and Speckles do okay with the Perch? I was originally hoping to do Crappie as well but as I’ve done more reading I don’t think I have enough water, is that right? As far as feeder fish go what would you do? I've seen ponds with Creek chub overrunning them and definitely don't want to get into that. Are there any sunfish that stay small enough to be feeder fish their entire lives? I’ve already put some crayfish in to give them a head start on the big fish, what (If any) fish could I put in this year and how long should I wait to add the Perch and Trout for instance? Currently the deepest areas of the pond are 15-16’ deep with lots way shallower. The whole thing will definitely be full in the Spring.

As for fish habitat is there anything I should do besides all the rock stacks we made? I understand that Trout spawn in something pretty similar to the washed sand but with running water, do you think I’d have any hope of getting them to spawn in the pond if I placed a pump say 30’ down and used it to pump cold water through the sand to simulate a spring coming through?

Any other ideas that I should do now but may not have thought of? Thanks in advance for any input, this seems like one of those things where preventing future problems is a lot easier than fixing them.