Recently moved and am working on getting everything in order to dig out a 1/3-1/2 acre pond on the new property. I had just finished digging and stocking the pond at the old place, but oh well. The good news is I finally found a source for the Sacramento perch I’ve been looking for, and they currently have fingerlings. These things are tough to come by, so I’m thinking of getting about 75 to put in a small retention pond that’s already on the property. It’s maybe 75x50 ft, about 4-5 ft in the middle. The idea is to leave them in until other pond is complete, probably a yearish. Is this doable? These perch are supposed to be very temp tolerant, so that should help with shallow depth. There’s a ton of forage in the form of insects/tadpoles/frogs, but I’d probably stock with gambusia for when they grow out some.
EDIT: Agree with sunil, this is another member of the sunfish family that can reach 2.5-3lbs, native to CA.. probably gonna take some minnows to support it.
New project for Snipe!
Who wouldn't like a pond that contained 3# sunfish to go along with 10# LMB.
Finally got my hands on the sac perch. Got 100 fingerings, some up to 4 inches. Seller told me that he has gambusia in his ponds and that that’s all he uses for forage. I’ve got some stocked in the pond but it’ll be a bit til they can eat them due to size. Lots of insects for now and I ordered some pk shrimp, because what doesn’t love those. He also said he periodically pulls them from the pond since they have no predation. They grow into being piscivores, but it sounds like they’ll still need something with them or they’ll overpopulate like bluegill. Leaning towards hsb for ease population control.
I would definitely talk to the SP grower that you've found and get his thoughts on the best forage foods for growing the SP. He has success doing this. Ask if he knows anything about getting them to eat high protein fish pellets. Please keep us updated on your pond progress for growing some quality fish.
