The wife and I finally found some rec property, that may turn into main in 6-10 years. The pond is way less than what i have been looking for, but, it’s the clearest spring fed pond I’ve seen and my wife loves it. Barely over an acre with rocky bottom as its "newish". 16ft deep near levy and has plenty of shallow bank at the other end of pond. Previous owners had it re-dug last year to eliminate the creek that ran into and through it. Now, its fed by 3 springs and overflows at an existing spillway from before remodel. Johnny Morris looking pond.

They stocked with bass, 2 grass carp and some trout. Doubt the trout will make it. they also "said" bluegill but i haven’t seen any. My goal is MO trophy bluebill, which is 1lb+ & 10"+. Redear do well around here so wouldn’t mind those, but not if it worsened my BG population. Finally, would love to have some decent LMB as well, a 5lbr here and there. No interest in any other species. There is currently no structure and due to the clarity of the pond, vegetation will probably grow in most of the pond.

I don’t know what kind of vegetation, I’m a newb. I'm looking to set a game plan. Do i need structure? Do i need to keep the carp? etc... All of these I’ll start to try and answer by searching the forums. Feel free to point me in any direction you want. The owner said he'd put me in contact with the MO conservation rep that helped him stock it last year. Will run that down as well, but again, i was surprised they didn’t put any structure.

Total habitat/vegetation/structure should not be more than 22% of total surface area. Now you could run some linear footage and % would be totally different. Target different age events in the life of the fishery. Make some dense for newly hatched fish, semi-dense for larger (1-4"), and big hang outs for those big bass. Most new ponds don't come with a plan for the fishery, so research or picking the brains of this forum works. There is a thread on habitat types, believe esshup or Sunil have it readily available.

If you HAVE NO VEGETATION- Carp are not required or suggested.

Get your CNBG and RE in quickly, stock high on CNBG and moderately on the RE. Numbers would depend on budget and goals-how quick to that goal.

Lastly have fun and enjoy your place.

Have you checked the alkalinity and PH? I’m concerned about the fertility of the clear water.

Welcome to PB fellow Miserian.

Considering what the previous owner told you was stocked in your pond, I recommend you stay as far away from the MODoC as you can when seeking advice.

I'd be inclined to drain it, kill it with rotenone, and then start over. It will be a lot of work and $$$ to get where you want to go from an unknown starting position.

If Toby's water is 'gin-clear,' he should be able to get a better sense of his existing fish population, one might think.

Are you seeing any fish at all?

We take possession on 30th so I'll have much more info then. I see dozens of 8-10 inch bass hanging out. That's all so far but only 1 good visit. I'll test the water ph and report back in a couple weeks.

Actually I used to fishing rights to a couple of MDC stocked ponds, they some some very good fishing balance in them, tons of BG obviously and then a balance of LMB CC and BC, we would catch a decent amount of nice sized slab Crappie to eat and hook some nice LMB for a little excitement, never werew as much for CC fishing out of a pond but I knew people who would catch them,, they both seemed to have a real nice balance. till the owner got lax and let a herd of cattle hang out in the ponds and they just sort of went to crap, they stomped all the edges and cover, and just made the fishing suck, havent fished them much since, also got my own pond now that I spend more time in so sort of faded away from them.

So we closed on the property today!! I wasn't able to take a PH meter so i'll do that soon. I saw about 2 dozen 8-12" LMB but they weren't interested in the little slider i took to throw. I threw out about 15 times and caught 12 trout. So, they're doing well but i doubt they'll make the summer here. Also took a pic of the vegetation that does seem to be prevalent.

Next steps are to test water, stock some BG maybe some HBG and add structure. I'll talk to the MDC guy and see what they had in mind when they stocked it last year.

TobyH, I'm not able to view the pictures, and my apologies for not being able to help you with it!

yikes, please, can someone reassure us that the dreaded empty picture upload bug hasn't started up again?? oh dear...

I'm curious what a little slider lure is?

Maybe https://sliderfishing.com/ ?





The image posting bug isn't there, you just have to host the images on an on-line hosting site and use the correct code to post them.

There is a thread here on how to post pictures. Everybody that is having problems should read and bookmark this thread: How to post pictures that show up in your post.

The site owner isn't going to put up the $$$ to host all the pictures internally, so everybody here will just have to get with the program to post pictures. It's that simple.

Is it inconvenient? Yes. But until I can get Bob on here to tell everybody how much $$$ it would cost to host pictures internally, AND get the members here to cough up that cash yearly that's what everybody will have to put up with.

Also if anybody asks, yes, the date and time is correct, AND that one is leading the hit list for archery season in October 2023.

Ok, i read post about posting pics. Lets try this https://imgur.com/a/7xto42J

Toby, on Imgur make sure you look for the BBCode link and Copy/Paste that on it's own line below you text.

sorry, lets try again:

Looks awesome!!!! Congratulations!

A couple more now that i have that down. Wife took one of me fishing across pond and one pulling in a trout. Trout are a blast and boy are they hungry right now. Not sure they will make the summers here so i may have to have a catch and cook. I didn't see any blue gill and just about 2 dozen LMB that schooled and moved together around pond. Goal again is 1lb gills. So, i'll get the PH and report back this weekend.

Welcome to PB .

Looks great! The trout probably won't make it through the summer. I have to catch mine by the end of May. A pond with 1# Bluegill is easily doable if you feed 'em. Typically in 3 years or maybe a bit less, depending on what size they are now and what you feed them. I have a client that is catching BG that are 11+" and are over 1.5#. They were stocked as 2.5" fish the Spring of 2017. They were over a pound each back in the winter of 2020

Re BG and what you said, are you concerned with PH or water temp since its heavily spring fed? I'll get PH this Sat. I am not going to be living there for a few years. its just rec land for now. I am planning on putting up a auto feeder. With the vegetation and how much it will probably grow with the clarity, do i need to get structure in there?

For the trout, it's water temp. If the water temp gets above 70 degrees, typically there won't be any trout living in water that warm.

Get some close clear pics of a small amount of that vegetation. The plants could become abundant quickly with that clear water. Does the pond have grass carp in it? OK I see from from post above it has 2 grass carp. Number of them needed will be determined by the specie of plant in the pond.

The 3 spring fed clear water may keep the pond somewhat cooler so expect BG to grow a little slower compared to a pond with warmer water. Get some water temps this summer to verify summer water temp 6 ft deep.

I forgot the dang ph tester again. I did take a pic of the main vegetation in the pond that i pulled out. I was told by the MO Conservation guy that the previous owner was more concerned with look than fish so they would add quite a bit of copper sulfate to keep algae at bay. He also said i could expect a lot of that during first 5 years due to sediment from the pond creation in 2021. Again, caught a bunch of nice trout and saw the little bass, but no signs of bluegill yet.

Looks like a type of Naiad. Look up Southern Naiad or Bushy Pondweed and see if that fits what you are seeing. It doesn't look like Chara to me, but it could be that too, next time you are there, crush it some and roll it around in your hand. If it smells like a skunk it's Chara. No skunk, then not Chara.

Will do thanks. After looking, it seems like S. Naiad.

I am based in St Louis, and don't think MDC will stock private ponds....They only supply fry/fingerlings in new ponds. Plus, having Missouri state supplied fish makes your pond "Waters of the State". They can not force you to allow trespassing for just anyone to fish, but if they want, they can charge you the value of the adult fish in the pond if "public" fishing is not allowed somewhat....This is rare for them to do because of the negative PR....All that said, the ONLY fish you can legally stock in your pond now, without written permission from the state, because you have their fish in it, is Fathead Minnow. Until you kill off the pond and sterilize it, the pond will remain Waters of the State.....excerpt from part of the MDC info.....Pond owners who accept fish from the Conservation Department retain full rights to control access to their ponds. Accepting the free fish doesn't obligate them to allow fishing or other uses on their land by the public. However, ponds stocked by the Conservation Department are subject to provisions of the Wildlife Code of Missouri. The fish can't be bought or sold, and statewide fishing regulations must be observed. Those restrictions do not apply to pond owners who buy fish from commercial sources. FWIW, you could kill off the pond, restock with far better quality fish and stocking rates than the MDC standard of 500 BG, 100 LMB and 100 CC per acre, and be catching 4+ pound bass at the end of year two....The MDC plan barely gets you two pounders in year 3...Plus, you will not have to have a fishing license, or follow state regs that require permission/permit to stock any fish in "State Waters". Also, don't add Hybrid Bluegill as they will revert to their Green Sunfish genetics and harm your forage base...they also don't grow bigger then straight BG

I did confirm that MDC did not stock. Only advise on what to stock with. waiting to hear back realtor on what the #s were on their stocking.

Update:

I still dont have a PH but i was able to get in touch with fishery that stocked it. here is what they did:

Spring of 22
BG 200
LMB 50
Channel 50

Fall of 22
Grass Carp 6 (I believe that's down at least 2 due to local eagle)
Trout 50
Albino CF 10
Minnow ?
Golden Shiner ?

I told him i want to move towards BG heavy pond. He said we could add some this spring since we do have some predetotor fish. I'm going to try and fish out the CF as best i can, thoughts?

Good news on your pond not having state fish! At this point, adding Fathead Minnow would be pointless, as they only feed bass under 6"....The only benefit to adding FHM would be to enrich the fish farmer Golden Shiner could be difficult to establish now as well, especially with Grass Carp removing the essential spawning habitat Golden Shiner need in order to reproduce. How large is the pond, as it looks much larger than the 1/10 acre the stocked BG numbers would be for. If the stocking numbers are accurate, the pond did not even have the minimum ratio of Bluegill to Bass stocked in order to feed your bass. If your water is like all Ozark ponds I've worked on, your pH will be in the 6.2-6.4 range. What do you hope for, size wise, when you say you'd like a BG heavy pond? Do you plan on adding a quality fish feeder or two, along with using a premium feed? These will be a must, in order for the BG to grow. FWIW, The Missouri Pond Owners Handbook is VERY outdated information in regards to management and stocking. As a ponds and lakes manager, my best advice to you at this point is to do nothing until you decide exactly what you envision your goals and pond being, then hiring a qualified professional (NOT MDC or a fish farm) to help educate you on how to attain your goals, and educate you on what is realistic....I can say definitively, the original stocking numbers were not good, badly stunted growth, and make corrections rather complicated

If you do want to get Golden Shiners established this year, give Anderson Fish Farms a call and get on the list for their Golden Shiner Frye shipments. They overnight ship units of 250,000 GS Frye.

Throw a few clumps of Christmas trees in your pond, and they will take hold, even with other existing fish populations.

Getting recruitment of your desired fish species down the line may be adversely impacted though.

Thanks for input. The pond is just over an acre. Two springs that run year round. I'd like to get some good 1.5lb+ BG. Not expecting much bigger. Yes, i planned on a feeder or two. Guessing i need to get another load of BG this spring.

To add to what Sunil said, Anderson's is only a couple hours from you in Lonoke, AR, but I would not stock fry. Golden Shiners lay eggs in thickly grassed shallows, so unless you have the spawning habitat, (or buy spawning mats) you won't get recruitment. Golden Shiners are good forage for juvenile bass about 6-12 inches long, but also prefer open waters, where few bass swim......I sent you a private message

UPDATE

So i finally got out again to test water and by the main spring i was around 7-7.4 pH and the KH was around 170. When i test the open water by spillway i got more like 8 pH and 200-240 KH
The Southern Naiad/Bushy Pondweed has progressed and since no one is treating it the top moss is starting to show up more around the spring side.

Some good news, I hadn’t seen any BG so after catching a few trout I switched to a Z-Viber and caught a couple BGs. Tiny guys but nice to know theyre there.

So, I want to do another stocking this spring of BG while culling some trout and catfish. What can I do or should I do about the alkalinity?





Here’s a couple vids the spillway to see how much the two springs produce

Here is the topside view https://photos.app.goo.gl/qHbC4hknkMqSXNNL8
Here is the runoff side https://photos.app.goo.gl/gjmREQt8tf1aDtc97

That's a great amount of run-off especially for a 1 acre body of water. You have a lot of water moving through the pond.

As such, I'm not sure how much you'll be able to treat pH. I don't know much about it, so we'll see what others have to say.