Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose New Pond Stocking

FYI, a customer that does not really fish at all has a SMB/YP/RES pond. Without harvesting the SMB like should have happened, the YP were decimated along with the RES. The FHM/GSH disappeared after 3 years.

One thing that I have to add is there is virtually NO habitat in the pond for cover (a couple of root balls in the deepest part of the pond, 4-5 clumps of 5 Christmas trees near shallow water and minimal underwater weeds). There is virtually NO spawning habitat in the pond for the YP, 4-5 areas of 6' x 10' pea gravel on an otherwise sand bottom, BUT the shoreline banks are tapered pretty steeply - between 2:1-3:1 . He also stocked the ponds at 50% of the recommended stocking rate for the SMB/YP/RES In a 1 ac pond he started out with 10# FHM, 10# GSH in early Spring, then added the RES/YP late spring. FHM were in the 2" length range and the GHS were around 3 1/2" long. YP were 4"-6", RES were 1"-3.5". Smallies when stocked the next year were 5"-7" and some 10"-12" were stocked the following year. Total stocking of SMB were 50 per acre, RES were 750 per acre and the YP were 200 per acre.

The SMB were severely stunted, some that were caught in the 14" range were 55% RW. The SMB are being removed every year at the rate of 20#/acre, and they have rebounded RW wise. Somehow Hybrid BLuegill were bucket stocked in the pond and the SMB are keeping their offspring under control. There is no artificial feeding going on in the pond, and the pond owner was putting 30-40 pound of FHM in the pond annually but stopped doing that a few years ago.

It all boils down to having the proper habitat for the fish to successfully reproduce, have habitat in the pond for the fish to hide in and have habitat in the pond for fish to use as cover. Many pond owners do not realize how critical having the proper habitat in the pond is for having a successful pond, and just how MUCH habitat is needed. A few root balls and some underwater weeds won't cut it.

A pond needs roughly 20% minimum to 25% (maybe 30%) of the surface area of the pond in underwater cover for the fish to utilize. This means habitat that they can use during 12 months out of the year. Shallow habitat for summer use, deep water habitat for winter use. Without the proper habitat (think of sizes of openings in the cover) and having the proper spawning habitat in the ponds, a pond owner is setting themselves up for failure, or at the very least a lot of extra time and $$ spent managing the fish in the pond.

Every pond owner should actually go measure a few pieces of cover that they are putting in the pond, then actually do the math on whether that is enough cover for the pond, don't estimate "that looks like enough" because typically it isn't.