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Thread Like Summary
Donatello
Total Likes: 6
Original Post (Thread Starter)
by Donatello
Donatello
I have just Build a new Pond along I-70 Corridor in Central Kansas in the Smoky Hills region. I own 80 acres and my pond is about 5 acres total. Clay and Topsoil bottom-Earthen dam, with about 2.5 acres of deep water and a 2.5 acre wetland of undisturbed soil. I have a 48" drain style tube with 32" pipe outflow system. There are four big holes in the deep end that will have a depth of 18-20 ft with the remaining areas 6-9 foot. The wetland end will be 5 foot to 1 foot. Springs are running (even during our drought right now) and pond is coming up about 8 inches per week at the moment. Watershed is about 300 acres and 90% or more comes off pasture grass. Pond has multiple large and small man-made fish structures made of pallets, Concrete Blocks, Tractor Tires, Scrap Concrete, Concrete Culverts, and Porcupine PVC Balls. It also has many Contours and depth changes. I have added a 60 tire spawning bed area and tires are filled with River Sand and Pea Gravel. Another semi load of sand was spread in about 4 foot of water next to a deep hole on a shelf. Wetland end has natural wetland plants like smartweed and cattails in natural wet soil areas from existing springs. Dam is in the process of being rip-rapped now. There will be a beach area too and I can Imagine some of that sand will be used by fish for spawning too.

Goal: Diverse Specie Fishing Pond That is Balanced. Emphasis on Diverse. It will be well monitored by Fishing and Snorkeling. Harvest will be Based on Populations with slot limits.

I have found this site very informative and in-depth. My plan is to stock and build up large amounts of bait and then introduce my predators the next two years. Most Fish will be Purchased and the others will be caught from other sources (Balanced Private Ponds).

I am looking for some critics to look at my Plan and give some ideas on Initial Populations. Some Fish Farms say 200/ac predators per acre and others 100/ac with 500/ac Panfish. Some recommendations on her are as low as 25/ac My Predators will have little to no reproduction in my pond and I want to have Yellow Perch and Crappies (act like both panfish and predators).

I am most likely going to stick to having these species but with my 5 acre (2.5 acres deep and 2.5 acres shallow) do I base it on 5 acres or 2.5?

I am thinking Panfish (Bigger BG & RES) will have their first year of Reproduction before the predator species are eating them, since predators will be stocked at a small size (less than 5 inches) and most likely be concentrating on minnows the first year.

I love Redears, so they may be a Touch High!!!!

So comment away!

Fatheads 50 lbs Spring 21
Golden Shiners 50 lbs Spring 21
Misquito Minnows 1000 Spring 21
Native Minnows ? Spring 21

Coppernose Bluegills 300 Summer 21
Bluegills 500+ 100 BIG Summer 21
Readears 500+ 150 BIG Summer 21
Longear/ OS Sunfish 200 ANY SZ Summer 21
Yellow Perch 500 SMALL Summer 21

Green Sunfish 200 SMALL Summer 22
Black Crappie 150 ANY SIZE Summer 22
Walleye 300 SMALL Spring 22
Smallmouth Bass 200 SMALL Spring 22
Wiper 100 SMALL Spring 22
Channel Cat 200 Summer 22

White Bass 50 LARGE Spring 23
Gizzard Shad??? 25-50 Large Summer 23
Largemouth Bass 50 Large Summer 23

Thank You!
Liked Replies
by RStringer
RStringer
I can't help ya on the amount of fish to put in. I will welcome ya from one Kansas fella to another. I do know its ezer to add than to remove.
1 member likes this
by FishinRod
FishinRod
Donatello,

Another "Welcome!" from a Kansas guy.

The pond you have constructed sounds awesome!

Your goal of a diverse pond is good, but IMHO you are going to be juggling way too many balls to have much control over the end product in 2024 and 2025.

A 5-acre pond is bigger than most of the member ponds on Pond Boss. However, your pond still has an upper limit for the amount of biomass as fish that can be supported.

Gizzard shad in Kansas are dicey. They can grow larger in your pond than a Kansas-sized big bass can eat.

Green sunfish have a life cycle similar to bluegill, but a much larger mouth. They will compete to some degree for forage with your top predators.

ewest is a good expert to heed for pond advice. "Learn about crappie" is his diplomatic way of saying they could be a big problem in your pond. (I am NOT an expert, so I can be a little more direct. When I say something stupid, there is usually an actual expert to come along behind me and make a clarification.)

There is a chance in your pond, that you could end up with 90% of your fish biomass as 10-12" gizzard shad, stunted white crappie, and thousands of small but voracious green sunfish. I doubt that is your ultimate goal.

If you state your primary goal, and a secondary goal, then there are definitely a lot of experts on Pond Boss that could help you achieve those goals.


Good luck on your project!

Rod
1 member likes this
by ewest
ewest
Are you sure you can find , identify and acquire all those species in the numbers stated , size and at the right time for stocking ?

Just a couple comments - gambusia - mosquito fish will interfere with the newly stocked FH and minnows.

At your location I would skip CNBG and use regular BG.

That is a lot of predator numbers - some of the predator species in ponds do not do well over time together. I would reduce the predator #s by half +-.

Learn about crappie in ponds before using them.

Learn about GShad in ponds before using them.
1 member likes this
by Snipe
Snipe
Nope, straight down I-70..
If you are going to go a year with forage only, 5lbs/ac of FHM will fill the pond this summer. You still have the requirement of supporting plankton for the FHM and GSH I don't feel it's necessary to stock 110lbs of FHM.
Your WAE, YP, SMB would be fall stockers, or possibly the smallies next spring.
1 member likes this
by ewest
ewest
There are some very good examples of quality RES /SMB ponds with FH and another minnow type and even a few with that plus HSB and another low offspring lepomis (other than BG). You have options especially if feeding. YP and WE might also work in small numbers. As a general rule the more species the harder to manage because the interactions are so large and unknown within a closed environment.

Don't worry about the amount of FH to start (maybe 25 lbs) but don't put in the GSH with the FH to start. Let the FH have time to reproduce before adding any fish other than another minnow type. You can start FH anytime you have water that is 30 days old (assuming its not frozen). If you have 1/2 acre of water and ok temps then add the FH. Any other plan you decide on can be done on top of FH without issue.
1 member likes this
by esshup
esshup
If you stock the LMB in there, over time the LMB will out compete the SMB for habitat and the SMB might be extirpated from the pond. Don't assume that the predators won't reproduce in the pond. SMB and LMB will unless you stock advanced sizes of the fish in the Spring of the year when the sex of the fish can be positively Identified. All it takes is one male to throw that single sex stocking plan out of whack.....

Black Crappie or White Crappie, you can still have problems.

I'd not stock the Green Sunfish. They can get out of hand quickly, out compete many of the other fish, especially without an apex predator to limit their numbers, and can eat small fish as if you stocked 5"-7" LMB in there.....

Unless you like eating catfish, you don't "have to" stock the CC and they will compete directly with the top apex predators for food once they are 3# or bigger.

I'd recommend NOT stocking the following:
Mosquito Fish
Coppernose
Crappie
Gizzard Shad
Green Sunfish
White Bass (the Hybrid Striped Bass will utilize the same niche in the habitat)
and maybe the CC.

If you stock Bluegills, you will have to stock LMB to control their numbers and would be using the SMB as a "bonus" fish.

My money is on that you will see reproduction of all the rest of the fish in the pond with the exception of 2, possibly 3 species - Wipers, Walleye and Channel Cats. You will see reproduction of the CC if you have places where they can hollow out a spawning cavity or if you put barrels in there for them to spawn.

For stocking rate, your pond is 5 acres.
1 member likes this
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