Pond Boss Forums Thread Like Summary - Winter Stocking

I have pond that was dug about 18 months ago. It is about 1 acre in SW Mississippi. I have had plenty of problems with it leaking and we are in what the weather people call an exceptional drought. I finally got a well dug and electricity to power it, so I am now pumping and the pond is filling. I would like to stock with fathead minnows, bluegill, readear sunfish, and when I get a forage base established I want to stock some largemouth bass. I stocked some fathead minnows and bluegill during late summer, but the water was only about 1-2 feet in some areas with some areas 6 inches or so. The egrets and other birds loved this and ate most, if not all of these fish I stocked.

My question is:

Do you guys think it would be ok to stock going into winter? It may get in mid 20s for a day or so, but usually not a harsh winter down here.

I would like to get a start on spring time and stock more fish then, I also have fertilized pond and have has a good algae bloom and there is still algae in the water. I have lots of structure, including rocks, gravel, wood, and PVC trees and have a feeder I can feed fish with.

What do you guys think about the ability of the fish to survive at this time of year?

Can you just make a run to a nearby reputable supplier and grab a few ponds of fathead minnows in oxygenated bags and put them in the pond?

FHMs are omnivores and there should be some food supply still available in your pond in SW Mississippi. Some (or a lot) should make it through the winter, and as soon as the conditions are right in the spring for them to start spawning - they will get busy filling your pond with forage!

Pretty small cost to you, and all of the timing and planning considerations in the spring will be perfectly solved by the minnows themselves.

Then, if you do a spring BG stocking, their will be plenty of forage to jumpstart your BG population.

Good luck on your new pond management goals.


P.S. Did you get your leaks fixed, or are you just using the well to keep up with the leaks?

I have a hatchery that is about 2 hours away, I can drive there and get some fathead minnows and get them to the pond within a few hours. I may try that, I also was thinking about having some shipped from Anderson Minnows. They are a little more, but saves me the hassle of making a four hour round trip for some minnows. But I can only get bluegill from the hatchery.

As for the leaks, I worked with TJ and applied the polymer sealant. All though, it did not completely fix the leaks, it slowed them down enough for my water well to start to fill the pond. After about 10 days of 24 hrs a day pumping, I raised the water level about 12 inches. Pump pumps about 10 gallons per minute.

Go ahead and stock now. Don't stock in Jan or early Feb. to much risk of a cold snap.