Pond Boss Forums Thread Like Summary - 1/4 acre pond digging it Monday

I am finally digging around 1/4 acre pond (maybe slightly bigger) at my house monday. It will be 5 to 8 feet deep rectangle. I have had really good luck with my one acre pond at the farm. I stocked RES and FHM first then added CNBG. I feed everyday and will with this one. With this pond being smaller, and first hand seeing how prolific spawners they are. I fear they will over populate in this smaller pond. My plan for now will be to stock 5 lbs of Fathead minnows and 150 RES in late feb/march. Feeding them Aquamax starter for a couple of months and getting the RES to take the feed without other fish like I did before. ( RES reached 7 inches in 7 months)

I was thinking of then adding 100 to 150 Hybrid Bluegill. Is this a terrible idea? I do not want to use CNBG in a pond this small. I would put some bass in the next fall maybe 30 to 40.

My goal is just to have a place for the kids and me to fish and another place to feed fish. I would kind of like to be able to compare the growth rates of CNBG in the other pond with Hybrids in this one just to see the difference in growth rates with same food. Once the fish get up to 4 to 5 inches move to Optimal JR.

Would love to have big bream!

I have a .25 AC pond dedicated to male only feed trained lepomis species [NBG, RES, BRES, GSF, GRES]. Optimal supplemental feeding plus fatheads, gambusia, and grass shrimp. It's by far my favorite pond on the farm to manage and fish. I stock an additional 20-25 male lepomis that exhibit signs of great potential annually in order to keep population level as I assume 10-20% annual mortality. My fish average 10" and have some 12"+ that may challenge state record dimensions [although I'd never report one to the state]. Consider making this pond a male only lepomis species fishery - they are an absolute blast. Feel free to reach out anytime to chat, here to help however I can.

IMO a small 0.25ac Indiana pond would be much better long term if it had 8ft-10ft or 12 ft depth. Once dug it would not take very much extra time and $$ to dig the small belly area 3-4ft deeper than 6ft-8ft because the bottom of the funnel shape area is a small square footage..

Instead of using regular HBG (BGXGSF) seriously consider using specklebelly HBG (BGXRES) SBS. I think this hybrid will grow bigger than the regular standard HBG. Another bonus to SBS will be the surviving offspring genetics will not revert toward the green sunfish genetics. There are a few places in IN where you would be able to get SBS. Jones Fish Hatchery and Shelby Fish Farm in western central OH. Steve at Shelby is raising some SBS overwinter inside aquaculture. He said they are growing fast and by Apr-May they should 6"-7".long. It is common with lots of food for the SBS to grow to 3 pounds. Once state record is 6 lbs for SBS.

Malones' suggests 25 to 50 SBS in 0.25 ac.

https://www.jmmaloneandson.com/specklebelly-bream-.html

Another comment about growing fish to be as big as you can get them.

It is very important to get or buy the fish to be as big as possible in their first year of life because lost growth for the 1st year is LOST forever and never regained no matter how much they grow each year thereafter. Thus if they did not achieve maximum growth at one year old and were 1", or 2" or 3", or 4" short at age one, the final length at death will be 1", 2", 3", or 4 " shorter. So if you are interested in trophy class fish it becomes very important to get the biggest 1 year old fish that you can find.

For each year class or spawn of a fish species, the fish in that entire group at one yr old, will have around 15-20% runts, 60-70% regular or average size ones and about 10%-15% as largest fastest growing ones also known as 'shooters' or 'jumpers'. The entire year class is often graded but not always by the fish farm and each size group is then sold at a different price. Buyer Beware and informed as to what you are buying. The 'runts' will never get as big as the average size ones nor the shooters. That is why I always try and buy 'shooters' or the best fish from places that actually hatched and grew those fish. If those largest 1yr old fish cost a little more, they are well worth the added money if you are really interested in growing trophy class fish.

So if a fish farm receives fingerling fish in the fall and grows them indoors all winter,,, those fish will be much bigger than the other fall sibling fingerling fishes that were held in cold water ponds all winter. Both fish will be 365 days old on their first birthday. Those grown inside would be 6”-8” and those held over winter in the cold pond would be classed as fingerlings 2”-4” all one year old. Know what you are buying if high quality fish is your goal.

I think I'd forget about putting CNBG in the new 1/4 acre pond. Stock it with FHM, crayfish, and RES. Add scuds and grass shrimp if you can get them.

You'll have red ear like this one in no time, and no worries about how to control the BG numbers.

Shelbyville Tennessee not IL. Big difference it is to cold for them up there.

I got the coppernose in last saturday within 2 hours of being stocked they were hammering newly spawned Fat Head minnows. But they will not take the starter food at all. And I do not see them chasing minnows like the first 48 hours. Now I have been feeding my Redear worms every day. At my other pond the coppernose were on the pellets within days and full on in a week. It has been 8 days now and you get minnows and a few RES to take the starter pellets but no coppernose. Should I stop feeding them red worms every day and make them eat pellets or not eat?

Half the fun of this is watching them come up and eat.

Well it took eleven days but they started taking pellets this morning. As they say every pond is different. Glad they taking feed. I never thought I would enjoy feeding them as much as I do.

If you catch bass especially in shallow water nesting area during the relatively short spawning period window, males where bellies are gently squeezed should be thin bodied and oozing white milt used as egg fertilization. Females should be plumper than ones oozing milt. This is the only time I would even attempt to withdraw females for restocking. Done carefully success rate should be close to 95%-97%. Also using the genital pore shape during spawn should improve the success rate to 99%. If success 100% is needed then I would use the catheter tube to sample for eggs to verify if those in doubt were actually females. Pay very close attention to the genital pore of ones proven to have eggs.

For visually sexing CNBG, the individuals should be a minimum of 8" long for best accuracy and sometimes 7.5" for good accuracy. Using prespawn to post spawn CNBG are easiest and most accurate to sex. Provide several photos of Spring prespawn & spawning representatives of the population and we can help choose male vs female. Clear water helps with color to help for recognition of the fish.