I have a large power right-away going through my property that once had a small pond at the bottom maintained by beaver. The beaver eventually left and/or went missing by some means and their damn eventually collapsed and the pond became a small swamp.
Due to power company clearing neglect and messes, I took action, complained and they then came to clear and cleaned up my complaints.
Working with the company that did the cleanup, we came up with a plan to reclaim the pond. Follows is a pic of swamp left behind and in existence for at least 15 yrs and the overgrown right-away, top center of the photo.
Well as I await more rain, I’ll introduce Piper. From the time we established a level in the new pond, Piper showed up, at this point it’s his pond. He is a constant, a loner, and getting more and more comfortable having me around. He’s fearless and doesn’t hesitate to come very close. Since he first showed up there hasn’t been too many visit of mine he hadn’t showed up. I got a couple decent videos of him eating yesterday ……
After construction, we received plenty of rain and it filled a bunch pretty quick, still short of the overflow. Pond relies on rainfall, numerous small springs, and over flow from a neighbors very small pond. We're currently in a bit of a drought, we've only got 1" of rain in the last 22 days and the pond has lost some level. Rain projection for the next week is not good either. frown The deepest part is at the over flow at approximately 11' and level gradually declines from natural slope going right
Because the pond was mostly filled in Aug-Sep, I would not add any BG or sunfish. I would even consider not even adding FHM anymore this Fall; although you can add some FHM to get a small group well established in the new pond water conditions for healthy individuals for a Spring spawn. In my experience new stocker FHM from bait suppliers will very likely not be in an egg bearing nor spawning condition enough for the short time available for the water to be in the FHM preferred spawning temp. Stocker FHM have usually been in crowned conditions and have been food deprived so they tolerate movement, handling and stocking. Stocker fish are almost always deprived of food prior to being moved, held and sold. Aged water and future warm water conditions and FHM food availability are all lacking in very new water in early Fall. Very soon in West PA ,water will be lower than 60F temperature conditions below spawn temp for FHM. Been there and experienced with this. If you add some FHM add only about 1/3 to 1/2 the suggested number so they have enough natural food of the limited food available to be able to accumulate some better body condition to tolerate winter ice cover conditions.
Let the pond develop during fall, winter and early spring to build a better and stronger natural good supply of plankton and numerous invertebrate species. Then add more FHM and other fish so they are placed into a pond teeming with natural foods that will be available for any new small stocker fish. New fish in Spring will survive better and grow better plus and older FHM and new added FHM will be able to spawn better and provide more of a natural food invertebrate basis compared to adding many fish now that overeat whatever new invertebrate foods that are trying to develop a small foods community in this very new water pond. Give the pond and natural production time to develop first before overloading it with new fish in a current low production pond system.
Not bragging, but I am a trained aquatic biologist with experience of invertebrate food production in new pond systems. Now if you are going to feed the minnows and new BG appropriate sized high quality foods to get them well conditioned this fall until water gets 50F then more small fish can be stocked now.
Your very first pond task is to get that bare dirt side of the pond vegetated so it sprouts and starts holding the surface soil in place before the fall rains that will wash and erode lots of dirt and sediment into that side of the pond. That unvegetated hill side can develop deep eroded gullies channeling dirt into the pond. The eroded gullies will be hard to fill in and plant with cover grass like materials.
Because you are located in western PA you do not have to stock the standard bluegill(BG) - largemouth bass (LMB) option. You mention that - "I have another neighbor with a very nice pond, she’s gonna start netting next summer for bluegill." I would be VERY careful using your neighbor's pond fish for stocking your pond, IF you want a good quality fishery. Her BG could be other types or a mixture of sunfish species. some could be hybrid sunfish types. Some would need to be caught by angling and correctly identified. We on the forum could help ID sunfish types using some pictures.
Do diligent homework before adding any fish besides fathead minnows (FHM). FHM are the basis starter forage fish for all ponds.
My advice for this fall is as Sunil mentioned above - maybe stock some FHM. Since it will soon be Fall,,,,, ,all stocked fish in Fall will soon go into winter where little if any growth occurs due to low water temperatures of PA. Cold winters and ice cover are the hardest season for pond fish. No growth happens and little fat is, has been accumulated, thus numerous fall stocked fish do not survive harsh winters.
Use the Fall period to get the bare dirt planted and vegetated. Use Winter to do diligent homework to decide pond goals and for the best fish to stock based on your pond goals. Learn about the various fish species available to West PA and how they perform as pond fish and their pros and cons. Lots to know about stocking fish. Some fish species require more checking and monitoring of their annual numbers and balance to produce a higher quality fishery experience. If your fishery pond goals are just a general fishing pond for the occasional catching of a few fish regardless of size of fish caught then BG - LMB can work very well.
If the goals are for having a unique, uncommon fishery, that can definitely be done. Fish such as yellow perch(YP) & smallmouth bass(SMB), walleye(WE) could be added as a bonus fish. Hybrid striped bass(HSB) are another option as predator in most any fish combo. Unless you like to eat catfish leave them out. Here on the PB Forum they often talk about pumpkinseed sunfish, HOWEVER few if any fish farm sells them. Very hard to buy for pond stocking. Redear sunfish being a more southern climate fish might survive in your pond. Learn about hybrid sunfish - know their pros and cons. They can be a good pond fish for having aggressive bigger size easy to catch panfish, although they do have some negative attributes.
Then when fishery goals for the pond are decided, then stock appropriate fish in Spring (Apr-June). Then if needed in Fall maybe complete the stocking package plan.
Learn about: growing LMbass, bluegill, carrying capacity, what fish need for good growth - feeding fish w/ pros and cons, beneficial pond plants, algae / weed problems and control, pond aeration is it needed – pros and cons,,,,, plus lots more topics in the Common Pond Q&A Archives.
I've seen similar activity from mudpuppy-like amphibians and even tadpoles. Try taking a sample of what's in the pond. You've stocked FHM and these should show up in samples but see what else is actually there.
On one occasion in the mountains of Colorado I came across a pond that had that kind of activity. But no fish at all. Got all excited at first and tried to fish it. Finally, after closer inspection they were some kind of gilled amphibian very reminiscent of the mudpuppies we would get in our crawdad pond.
If it was an old beaver pond, and then later a swamp, then there could literally be almost anything in there.
However, none of the little surface pips look like they came from anything sizeable.
If they are fish, they appear to be a small species.
Anything called a "minnow" in PA that is considered invasive or undesirable?
Any invertebrates/amphibians/salamander creatures in the area that are undesirable?
I suspect once you get BG or eventually a larger predator into the pond, they will eliminate any slow-moving critters.
Also, I don't think those size of pips in the video indicate something large enough to consume your FHMs. However, I have been wrong plenty of times before!
Keep observing your new pond. Maybe someday when you have clear water you can throw in some bread crumbs and see what is hitting the surface.
May be getting some where …… * Neighbors pond is primarily BG * Definitely saw a FHM in the same spot I released 2# * Saw flashes of another “fish” broader body, silver belly, 3”, assuming small BG * Tadpoles are developing Ignore my Lab panting
Other than the villainous GBH that occasionally hunts our pond, the only wading bird we've seen has been the Wilson's snipe. (Not to be confused with the Kansas variety) Have you identified that piper? Those shorebirds can often be fiendishly difficult to ID.
Our ponds support a LOT of wildlife other than just our fish!
During out recent drought, I deepened one of my groundwater ponds to get it back below the water table.
At one point, it was the only open water for miles around. I had lots of tracks in the moist clay at the shoreline, but it even supported birds and insects that I would observe when I walked in quietly.
I wish I had left a game camera up on time lapse just to get a view of every organism that utilized the pond!
I like Zetts for their LMB, SMB when they have them, HSB and Yellow Perch.
I'm not quite sure what their bluegill really are because they call them 'red green' sunfish or something like that. I had asked about it, and just wasn't really sure I understood what they said about them.
As I mentioned before, you can get a decent amount of good bluegill from my neighborhood pond and be sure what they are.
