Tracy, I'll start out by saying that for the most part, I've enjoyed my hatchery pond as much or more than my big pond. It's far easier to micromanage, and obviously taking care of the water is much cheaper. I've raised or grown out RBT, LMB, CNBG, HSB, and Tilapia at some point, and all did very well. For me the RBT are the easiest to grow out and remove, and Tilapia were as easy to grow, but a royal PITA to get out. They'll jump over a net like a gazelle when crowded.I've stocked thousands of fish into my big pond, and probably killed that many when I started the whole hatchery thing. I will say that I've never stocked any volume of my hatchery fish that permanently corrected a imbalance in my big pond. Results were temporary, some longer than others, but still temporary. As most of us know, culling LMB still remains a priority. If you decide to do this, give me a shout this fall, and I'll run down and give you a hand.

I guess the actual size of the pond will depend on how many fish you're wanting to supplement your big pond with. There's really no need to make it 40-50 wide at the bottom, and have to manhandle a larger net. A shoe box shaped hatchery pond can replace circumference volume with length. And by that I mean that you can have 20-30' wide pond, and make it as long as you want to get the volume you need.

The shoe box shape works well for several reasons. For me, having to seine a round pond means that you're spending a lot of time dragging the excess net in muck, or on the shore, because there's only one point in time when a properly sized net actually fits the pond, and that's at it's widest point, the rest of the time you're just wrangling with the dead weight of the net. I know Esshup, TJ, and I have all had to address that same issue. By having parallel banks, a net can be smaller, always stays in the water, and generally just easier to deal with. "If" I was going build a new hatchery pond, I don't think I'd make it any deeper than 5', with a flat 30"-36" deep area at the end of the pond that I'd use as a working area to pull the fish out. The shallower flat gives you a level working area, that's easier on the fish, and a lot less work for me. Next time you go to Todd's, look at his ponds if he has one drained.

Hatchery Pond Potpourri. Just stuff I've learned over the years. No science, no general truth's, just observation and experience.

Water volume's not a bad thing. I've only pushed my HP to sketchy levels once or twice. Nothing worse than having to remove fish because of a potential O2 crash. I've got a semi-permanent platform for my 3" pump, that's set up as a surface aerator. I use it quite a bit, but usually in late summer. Having a HPond close enough to add water from the main pond can sure be a benefit.

Seriously consider the possible implications of a feeder. Unlike a regular pond, single species hatchery pond fish like CNBG, usually spawn at the exact same time, which means fewer mouths feeding for a few days. A day or 2 of little or no feeding, because of a spawning cycle or a cold front, can dump uneaten food into the pond. On a small pond like this, you really, really, don't want that.

Learn your fish, and feed accordingly. The only time I use a standard 1/4" etc. pellet, would be for an original stocking if graded fish from a hatchery are stocked. after the first spawn, there will quickly be various sizes of mouths to feed. Bruce Condello referenced this same thing on one of Bob's podcasts. Feed your fish early, and feed food that is appropriate for their size from then on. I carry 4 different food sizes in coffee cans, and hand feed each food according to the volume of fish eating it. I carry bottom of the bag fish food dust for fry, 2.2mm, 1/8", and 3/16" pellets. I feed Cargill, and the 3/16" pellets aren't as hot as the 1/4" pellets, which is why I use it.

Stock, and then, if possible, maintain a survivable population of FHM's . I've yet to stock a fish that wouldn't eat fry of any type, so there's always something for them to eat.

Set a fish target size, and stick to it. Nothing more fun than watching a bunch of 6-7" CNBG chowing down on food unless you were wanting 3-4" CNBG.

Accumulate a good water testing kit. Water is obviously very important, and you need to be able to easily check the status of HPond water.I use usually check, PH, hardness, nitrates, and alkalinity. Maybe more is needed, but that's all I check. After a heavy rain, hardness and PH seem to be the ones that change the most.

Keep pond bottom angles as gradual as possible. Sharp angles can allow nets to lift off the bottom when pulled, and fish will swim under that gap.

"Dry" seine a pond before you ever put a net in it. And by that I mean, walk through every step of the fish transfer from the HPond, to the main pond, and acumulate evrything need like, buckets, dip nets, how the fish are going to be transported and released, etc. This leads to the next point.

When moving fish, keep the fish in water as much as possible. Buckets are good, dip nets are bad.

Sonar is your friend. Weeds in HPonds can really make seining a chore. Because of the size, treating a 1/4th of the pond at a time is labor intensive, and can become a part time job here in the south. I've been using Sonar RTU the last few years, and 1 bottle usually handles everything I need treated in a very slow manner, so less stress on the fish. Well worth $100. We're stocking our tilapia this weekend, and I'll probably throw 5-10 males in the pond to handle the algae part.

I don't seine fish in water above 85 degrees, or below 50 degrees. Less potential stress if staying within those temps.

If I'm going to continue a one species HPond for more than one cycle, I pull my jumpers, and throw them back in the HPond as my brood fish. They're the biggest, and most aggressive, and those are traits I want in future spawners.

Ok, Tracy, I'm done rattling. Hope this helps.