Pond Boss Forums Thread Like Summary - SMB stock rate

Just about everywhere I look online, nothing really shows the SMB stock recommendation per acre?

Can’t be the same as LMB?

I’m putting in YP and RES this fall after minnows and now tadpoles are running wild in the pond.

Does anyone have the SMB rate? I can get them 3-5 and 5-7 inches.

Pond is just shy of .5 acre

We did a SMB RES only lake in spring 2019. It was a new five acre lake that we wanted to make unique with SMB. We stocked 5000 RES and 250 SMB (3-5 inch). We fed Optimal since the initial stocking and RES came to food easily. Today we catch SMB over 14 inches, have had several success SMB reproductions and have some nice RES.

We are keeping the pond catch and release. I have a concern when we should start removing a few fish. Our removal will mean taking them to another lake to live with LMB.

In my experience managing several ponds with SMB, WE, YP, HBCP and/or HSB serving as apex predator I've never witnessed tadpole predation - even through intentional experiments. Per Bytor, it might happen if faced with starvation, but I too have hundreds of thousands of AMBF tadpoles that exist seemingly without a care in the world.

I further agree that LMB and perhaps CC too are able to overcome the enzyme on the tadpole skin which discourages predation from other fish. Several on the forum report their tadpole populations plummeted once LMB were stocked.

I wish tadpoles were readily utilized as forage by SMB, HSB, YP, WE or BCP - my fish would all exhibit 150 WR and I'd never have to feed again!

Regarding SMB stock rates - depends on several factors including other predator, panfish, and forage species, fishery goals, supplemental feeding program, dedicated spawning beds, etc.

Depending on these factors I recommend clients stock 10-100/ac and potential supplemental stocking [in presence of LMB]. Tell us more and we can help provide more defined guidelines.

If you want you can contact me and I can cover a lot more ground over a 30 min chat. Email me at tj@hudlandmgmt.com and we can set up a time to circle around. I've been working with these species specifically the past 13 years and have made every mistake possible, happy to share my experiences.

I stocked mine with 10 SMB each in 2 consecutive years (20 total) in a 1 acre pond. They spawned pretty quickly.

I am checking back to this thread how is the SMB and RES pond doing? I may be doing that to my .5 pond and leaving YP out of it.

I’m not looking for trophy SMB but just some decent ones and a nice RES population for the kiddos to catch.