Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Selecting a site New WE/SMB/YP/RES Pond near Ft Wayne Indiana

I agree with Bill on the vertical slopes, I have a customer that has a 1/2 acre pond with pottery making type clay. He had vertical sides made when he renovated the pond. Those sides collapsed and fell into the pond. exposing the underground sprinkler system. His pond now is larger but 40% shallower because of all the material that fell into the pond.

With regards to your stocking, feeding and habitat plan, I see a few issues. BUT, this is on the assumption that you want to grow bigger SMB/HSB/WE than growing bigger YP/RES.Is that a correct assumption?

1) What habitat will the FHM utilize for spawning?
2) Your plan is way heavy on predators and really, really light on forage fish. I am including the YP, RES and FHM as forage fish. Putting a Texas Hunter directional feeder and feeding 2x day 7 days a week will mitigate some of that.
3) I really like having GSH in the pond, but again, what habitat will you have for them to use for reproduction?

SMB, like LMB need food that is 1/4-1/3 their body length to thrive. Feeding 2x week won't be enough for them, and they probably will not stay feed trained. Once those SMB get to 14" in length, what will their forage fish base be? Remember the 10# of forage fish = 1# fish flesh. Given that formula, I have a question for Bill because he knows YP way better than I do.

Bill, as you know, the gape of the SMB favors them eating a fusiform fish vs a round RES shaped fish. Since the forage fish will be small when stocked in the fall, and the predators in the Spring, the YP and RES will not have a chance to spawn for a year, so if the SMB, HSB, and WE want to eat fish, they have to eat the stockers (if they will fit in their mouths), and the FHM that are in the pond (no GSH). FHM won't feed fish larger than around 7" in length because of their caloric content will equal the caloric expenditure of a fish that is over around 7" in length.

If there are no GSH in the pond, then the predators will have a choice of eating FHM (max 3") for 1.5 years. I'm thinking YP hatched Spring 2028 won't surpass 3" in length until August of 2028. Iif no GSH are stocked Fall of 2026. RES stockers will be too big for SMB/HSB/We to consume. So, given the plan that is now in place in regards to stocking numbers and spawning habitat, the SMB alone will need to eat 250# of YP in 2028 to go from 1/4 - 1/3 pound (7" fish) to 1 1/4 - 1 1/3 pound fish in 2028. How many 3"-4" or 4"-5" YP does it take to weigh 250#? Is it possible that those 100 initial stocked YP can provide that amount of forage considering that both SMB, YP and WE will be eating the YP that hatched Spring of 2028?

If it was my pond, here's what I'd do.

1) Make sure that I had plenty of habitat that was specific to the preferred spawning habitat for FHM and GSH. I would add YP specific spawning habitat in the fall of 2027, the more the merrier. It can be removed in early May if it's objectionable.

I'd change the stocking numbers:

Fall Stocking Plan (when the pond is 50% full)
20-25 pounds of FHM
20-25 pounds of GSH
2 pounds of Rosy Reds
800 RES fingerlings 1"-2.5"(they will be eating any of the small FHM/RR that are stocked this winter under the ice in addition to any invertebrates that are in the pond) BUT you will need them in the Spring to start reproducing and since they only spawn once a year you need more to start than if you were to stock BG which I do NOT recommend given your predator fish. If you get that size fish, be dam sure that the RES don't have BG mixed in with them. It's pretty durn impossible to sort them for species at that size. Once they hit 3" in length they are a LOT easier to sort. Some hatcheries aren't that picky about keeping BG out of RES hatchery ponds.

Spring Stocking Plan (2027)
100 4"-6" YP
100 6"-8+" YP (see if you can stock them in Feb or March before they spawn)
25, *maybe* 50 SMB 4"-7" (Since they spawn in late April/early May, getting 2"-3" fish in April - June will be the runts left over from last year)
20-25 HSB 4"-6" or 6"-8"

Fall 2027

Walleye. They aren't available in the Spring........

Why stock the GSH? I feel that they will take some of the pressure off of the YP in a pond such as yours, and in a pond with HSB, they occupy the same area of the water column, so they are the perfect forage for them.

In your pond, I'd put up a Texas Hunter (solar powered) directional fish feeder and feed Endurance fish food. The first year I doubt you will feed more than 20#/month and after that I doubt you'd feed 2x that per month. You COULD feed up to 60-75 pounds a month but that would require more fish management - i.e. harvest than feeding a lower amount.