Hey guys.
Been lurking a bit here and there gathering info, but decided to go ahead and post so I can ask more specific questions and get some informed opinions.
I recently purchased 90 acres near deep fork wildlife refuse near Morris, OK.
While I believe this little “playground” of mine will be a great spot for all types of activities (deer, ducks, turkey, four wheeling, etc...), I decided my main focus is going to be on constructing a bass fishing paradise.

I have dammed up a pretty nice ravine and it looks like I will have about a 5 acre pond.
It will have a nice contoured bottom, with lots of depth changes. The deep end near the dam will be around 40 feet at its deepest point. The pond will back up into some woods.
I am planning to leave some trees standing in the shallow upper end, pull out some, and knock a few over leaving them for structure.
Also planning to move some of them towards the deeper end and place them in 10-15 feet of water. They pulled up a good number of large rocks while making the dam which I intend to make several rock piles throughout the pond.
Going to bring in pea gravel for the 3-5 foot shelves in the shallow area.

It will have a riser pipe for drainage with some rip rap along an emergency spillway.
I am going to add a pipe off the riser to flood a couple acres during duck season.

Ok, now for my questions....
Would you guys put F1’s in there, or northerns? I’m thinking about a mixture. Maybe 150 or so f1s and 300 or so northern.
Also, really would like to have crappie. I know purists will say no way on that.
But with a pond that size with that kind of depth, can they not coexist, or is it just a hard no??
Of course the plan is to stock forage this fall then put the rest in next spring.

I know that’s a lot. Really would appreciate feedback on my plans (positive or negative), adjustments I might want to consider etc etc.
I am going to try to add pics/video to this post if I can figure out how.
Thanks!

Actually couldn’t figure out to do that on my phone.
Any tips?

Let’s see if this works....

https://share.icloud.com/photos/0I8N3VuW_h8oBcdFb3agYi7PA

IMG_2889.MOV

BassOk, I'm no expert, but I have a few thoughts that may help until the real experts arrive.

First, check the soil. Is there enough clay to hold water? Don't be fooled, as I was initially, by red soil. It might be iron oxide rather than actual clay!

Second, check the watershed. Will you have enough water to get through a hot, dry summer? Deep water is an advantage here.

Third, remember that trees float. If you wish to cut some down & use as cover, they will need to be anchored somehow. Otherwise they may end up somewhere you don't want when they finally get waterlogged & sink.

Best of luck!

Welcome to the forum. Sounds like a plan to me. They make risers specifically to allow you to change water levels easily. Can't remember the name of the web site right off hand but someone else will.

agridrain
agridrain water control

Not a purist but, generally crappie aren’t stocked for that reason in 5 acres. I’ve never tried them but listen to Lusk. Crappies out compete bass. They have the same hinged jaw. Also, they spawn earlier than bass and with the hinged jaw are there waiting for the bass fry. This allows a bunch of runt crappie to dominate the pond.

Thanks for the responses.
I’m sure you’re right on the crappie.
Has anyone has any experience with the hybrid crappie that essentially do not reproduce?

Either way, I am leaning towards no crappie at all.
Any thoughts on the F1 hyrid bass vs northers?

I know TJ for 1, has experience with Hybrid Crappie. We also are experimenting with these in some lakes in Kansas. It's still too early to say on my part but it appears there has been some recruitment and at this point we feel too many variables are in play to make an assumption either way yet.

I have a 6 acre pond and do have crappie, into the 5th year and from what I can tell the BCP have only spawned once and that was the first year. With that being said it’s probably gonna happen at some point but so far not. Welcome to the forum

You can mix the F1 and northern LMB. With excess food the northern strain should in OK grow to 8 lbs a very nice bass for all anglers. Your LMB number per acre of 90/ac is a little high for a trophy bass fishery. Learn more about this in the link below. IMO I would reduce the number of LMB and add HSB(10-20/ac) especially if you add some crappie. IMO your very best success will be will be using only hybrid crappie to minimize fish balance problems. HSB will help greatly controlling crappie reproduction. Create a strong forage base then add predators and use proper harvest after the bass have reproduced twice and you should be well on your way to having a bass paradise esp if you add some HSB.
Read how this fellow Oklahoma pond owner is growing large bass.
http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=405499#Post405499


Read through and learn from these threads for growing great bass while the forage community develops.
http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=255372#Post255372

Thanks! Some really good info in those threads.
So let’s say you wanted to make a 5 acre pond the sweetest little largemouth honeyhole one can imagine.

With what fish and when would you stock?

The dam should be complete by next week. There is a pretty good watershed so I’m hoping it will be full by early fall.
Looking for stocking plan ideas.
I know I am going to go with a mix of F1s and native LMB, probably less than what I was initially thinking. Maybe 100 F1 and 150-200 northerns. I would be putting those in next spring.
Sounds like most think I should mix the crappie idea. Or at the very least go with hybrids.
What forage fish would you guys put in this fall?
I’m thinking Coppernose bluegill, redear, and fatheads.
What else?

To diversify the forage community you should add GSH, threadfins, crayfish, tilapia in summer, and seriously explore some regular trout additions in the fall. Proper amount of the correct habitat is critical for producing an optimum fishery. Seriously consider using feed trained LMB. When at proper sizes use Aquamax Largemouth.

For crayfish I would try for white river crayfish or virile crayfish (aka northern crayfish).

As explained in the links proper harvest of the bass recruitment is critical for growing average sized larger bass. LMB recruitment in 5 acres will require a concerted effort for selective harvest to maintain larger average sizes and reduce total predation to better maintain the forage species community so it is not over eaten by too many predators. LMB are prolific. In 5 productive acres you may need to remove a total of 110-150 substandard LMB per year.

Half of your stocked bass will be males that generally stay small and never reach the sizes of your females. About 50% of the stocker bass will be males. Learn about how to recognize which LMB to be removing. Lusk has written several articles about this - find and study the methods. Subscribe to the PB magazine there is a good recent article about bass harvest. For starters see pg 8 in Mar-April 2019.

I agree with Bill - Good advice !

Start you LMB numbers low - its easy to add them later but hard to remove them if they get ahead of your plans.

Bill Cody is right on!