Choosing the best fish for mini-pond can be a challenge. Choices will depend on pond location and GOALS for the pond and fishery. It is really about your goals. Forage pond? Sport fish pond? Swimming - aesthetics pond? General recreation?

The most common fish combo suggested for the mini pond has been catfish. with or without some forage fish. Catfish feed 'em and harvest 'em. This works but what if you are like me and don't prefer catfish. Plus I have never seen a small pond with several to numerous larger catfish that had water clarity more than a few feet. Many pond owners like clearer water to better see the fish. Clear water IMO tends to be more appealing. Thus my suggestions will be to use fish that will allow clearer water and do not have a strong tendency to cause problems associated with over over population.

Bass only. This can be any one of largemouth(LMB). smallmouth(SMB) or hybrid striped bass (HSB). Each of these species by themselves in a small pond will usually not grow much larger than 12" and often be 9"-11" unless you do some sort of regular supplemental feeding. Numbers of only non-pellet fed bass per acre usually range from 50-90 and each close to 0.7-1 pound. The easiest supplemental feeding is high protein fish pellets. Without supplemental feeding the bass have a subsistence diet of invertebrates and eating baby bass; exception is the HSB who usually do not reproduce in ponds. Bass only ponds rarely have very many frogs unless there is a fair amount of shoreline vegetation or cover.

Feeding pellets can allow more bass numbers or bigger to live in the pond and average to be larger sizes. The more bass per acre in the pond generally the smaller the average size to be. Fewer bass generally results in larger individuals because each gets more food per day. Bass only numbers should be monitored annually to watch for overcrowding which will be displayed by smaller average sizes. Bass only ponds tend to be clear water ponds; some in my limestone based clay soils have water clarity to 16ft - very clear, although the average clarity is 5-8ft. Pond clarity is usually closely related to pond productivity (fertility) and amount of nutrients. Pond conditions, pond inhabitants, base soil composition, water shed, and wind exposure and blown in materials can have a strong influences on water clarity.