Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations new pond finally full

hello fellow pond guys
i'm new to this pond stuff.
built 5-6 acre pond in southern iowa last fall
went there for vacation in may it rained 8 inches in two days and the pond is full, stocked over 1000 fish in 15 days some from the hatcheries and some form local ponds, have put in several lbs/gallons of fathead minnows. i'm planning on adding some hybrid stripers, walleye's, smallmouths, and redears as soon as the hathery has them big enough to stock.
they said by late summer. I do aerate the shallower end 3-4 feet of water, with a windmill type aerator, because i have no power there. unfornately i live in colorado and can only vacation at my property a couple of times a year for now. my pond is almost 30 feet deep in front of the dam. I would like to post pics but wil require help from someone who's willing to walk me through it. does it sound like i'm on the right track?

Hi Chris welcome to PB. I'm sure the experts will chime in soon to give ya some advice.

30 feet deep - dang you could scuba in that pond!

hey jeff, suppose you could scuba, or snorkel.

me i just want alot of great fishing!

the initial stocking was 300 hybrid bluegill
300 black crappie, 300 large mouth bass, 100 8-11 inch channel cats
and 2 grass carp


chris garton

Hey Chris,
You and I are both new to this program. I would love to see pics of your project. Check out this thread in the archives for some pic-posting options.

Hi, Chris.

For limited presence (hence low management time) I think avoiding LMB & BG may be a good approach.

HSB, WE, SMB, RES, (FHM) - may be light on forage species, depending on predator numbers. Have you considered YP or Golden Shiners? I'm assuming SMB will probably breed, WE will probably not, HSB definitely not. What numbers are you thinking?

I have RES/SMB/a few HSB planned for my next pond, thinking the HSB presence will be mostly grow-out of fingerlings to get them big enough to transplant in my other pond.

pond in iowa is low presence for me, but i have family and fiends who frequent the place at least 1 if not 2 weekends a month. so fish will be caught and removed on a regular basis. thought about catch and release only for the first two years.

i really want a diverse number of species to fish for that is why i'm adding smb, we ,hsb and res to the already existing stocking

figured the walleye's wont breed, nor the hsb.
not sure about smallmouth

forage includes crawdads, fathead minnows and tons of frog and tadpoles, along with all the other insects that live in iowa that will become dinner
for my fish, not sure if I can obtaingolden shiners in the midwest.will research the yp option though.

thanks for the input. i lokk forward to many years of great posts to come.

i'll work on getting my pics posted


thanks again

chris garton