Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Creating the food chain New pond stocking

User - Other members have suggested SMB with the yellow perchYP instead of LMB and I firmly agree with initially using SMB instead of LMB,,,,, If and a BIG IF you do not add bluegill (NO Bluegill with SMB) as first sportfish stocking. Go with the SMB and YP and RES. see 3rd paragraph

My comments about using and having RES basically still apply with the SMB as predators. I question if your "fish supplier" can actually get you the SMB when you need them. WHO IS YOUR PROMISING SUPPLIER of getting you anything??
IMO most fish suppliers can promise most anything and rarely produce, especially when it comes to having SMB when you need to have the SMB for a timely stocking. Note - SMB are most commonly available in Fall and rarely available in Spring. SMB are a premium stocker fish so get your wallet out for them.

With the above fishery YP,RES, FHM and initially maybe some shiners, it provides you later with other sportfish stocking options. When using SMB,, I would not let the YP/RES go more than one spawn season ahead of adding SMB because the YP are and can be prolific spawners. A reproducing SMB population is not of a big predatory force on YP as LMB. Reproducing LMB can easily eliminate subadult YP. Thus with lack of SMB predatory force too many YP initially usually results in slow growing YP and not as many regularly big YP for harvest. My experience is good well managed YP populations usually results in lots of YP in the 8"-10" range with good numbers during angler harvest in the 11"-12" -13" range.



REMEMBER if you are ever dissatisfied with the progress of the SMB-YP fishery, years later you can always resort to the BG/LMB by just adding BG and LMB. Those two will easily outcompete both YP and SMB in the long term. HOWEVER with an initial basis of BG/LMB you essentially cannot successfully change it into a SMB/YP fishery unless you completely start over.

You do not have to have ALL species stocked at the same time!!! . You can easily haul fish yourself 2hrs, 3hrs even 4 hours if the fish are initially healthy and properly placed in Oxygenated bags for transport. I have done this many times and I am still regularly doing it. Fish transport is always best done when water temps are less than 70F-72F with 55F to 65F temps as being the best successful transport and survival results. Stocker fish can also be transported for hours during in cool weather in larger containers with good quality oxygenators; not bait bucket aerators.

Theo above mentions that Cody successfully manages ponds with only YP in them,,, but this is a very slippery slope and has to be managed and monitored with special methods to make it a good YP production pond of regularly harvestable jumbo perch. YP really need to have decent, balanced and appropriate predation pressure to make it a really premium YP fishery.

PS - IMO I would never buy fish from a traveling fish truck. #1 There is no recourse if the fish die. Plus other negatives often occur.

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