Pond Boss Forums Thread Like Summary - Should I stock Golden Shiners?

I'm debating on whether I should stock golden shiners in my pond or not. For some reason in my area (Central Texas) I'm not hearing of many people who put them in their ponds. Typically, the stocking schedule is just FHM, BG, RES and LMB. My pond is about 1.75- 2 acres which is going to be a high catch rate LMB pond. I do have a shallow section which adds almost another 1/2 acre of surface to the pond, however it averages around 12" deep and is fully anticipated to dry up each year (so this is not included in the 1.75-2 acres). I have heard some cons that they like to eat eggs, however it seems like the pros are that they will actually be able to stick around unlike the FHM. Headed to pick up more fish soon and can't make up my mind on this.

Thanks,
David

As far as golden shiners (GSH) eating fish eggs, many species of fish eat fish eggs such as trout, bluegill, sunfishes. yellow perch, most minnow species on and on with others who eat fish eggs. Your shallow areas are good areas for spawning of GSH. It takes a pretty big LMB to eat a full grown GSH as 10"-12" long. Big bass anglers in Florida use large GSH as a favorite bait. If you want to grow LMbass then I would stock GSH and give them some good habitat to thrive. Because you are in TX the other good forage fish you should consider using for growing bass is the threadfin shad (TFS). As a side note the RES in my opinion have little benffit for growing bass because they are not a prolific spawner. RES benefit is they eat snails and help minimize parasites in the fish fillets. If I lived in TX and wanted to grow good numbers of LMB I would stock both GSH and threadfins. Then when using a correct harvest and proper fish numbers management this will help you toward achiving your specific goals, There are many ways to grow bass depending on ones GOALS for what type of bass fishery is desired.

There have been numerous discussions here about using GSH as a forage fish. They do have Pros and Cons and their usage depends on ones pond management goals.

Golden Shiners are more of an open water fish, and will feed bigger bass than TFS just because the adults get bigger than TFS. If it was my pond and the goal was to grow big bass, I'd stock both. The Shiners will be a buffer in case the temps drop and the TFS die back.