I have a 1.5 acre pond that was stocked with LMB (50) 3 years ago. When I put them in, I didn't have much money to spare, but I wanted fish! I'm sure there were some "stray fish" in there before... because there were tons of minnows swimming along the shorelines.
My bass are 13-16 inches (avg.) now. I have been doing a ton of reading, and I know that I need to add bluegill. I found some prices for some small adult (3-5"), but when I called to ask about them, the guy said that he only sells 2-3" BG.
I called another hatchery that delivers to my area, and they only sell 2-3" BG, as well.
Would I be wasting my time and money by purchasing 1000 2-3" BG to put in my 1.5 acre pond of ~15" LMB's? What would you do with limited options?
Yes you would be wasting your time as your bass eat prey that is 1/4 to 1/3 of their size. It would be nothing more than a quick snack.
There are quite a few members from the Southeast and maybe they will chime in good hatcheries in you area.
Would you expect a portion of those to survive to maturity, considering a TON of cover?
Depends on the habitat. Maybe you could have some survival. Could you describe the habitat?
I would try to get 5-6" BG.
The pond was built, surrounded by a good mixture of pines and hardwoods. You can't walk around the pond; you can't even fish from any of the "banks". Every couple of years, my brother and I cut some of the "less desirable" trees that sit really close. The pond is probably a 250' diameter circle. We have trees cut every 30-40 feet along the edges.
I'm sure some will survive, but it'd be money better spent by stocking at least 5" long fish. Bigger than 5" is even better.
Hi JH - welcome to the forum!
If you head to local lakes/ponds with a few buddies/rods/licenses you should be able to get 1000 5"+ BG in a weekend of intense fishing if you can't source BG that size from a nearby hatchery. Or, you can buy those 1000 BG and grow them out a couple inches in cages very easily in a couple months with daily feeding of AquaMax 400/500 and release when they're ready. Just make sure you are following regs on daily bag limits...transferring fish usually isn't a no no, as long as you maintain you're keeping them alive for cleaning, and not stocking. Keeping fish alive so one can clean fresh fish is a common practice, just be smart about it. I have moved a lot of RES and SMB into my pond that way, just be sure you are positively iding the species of fish - you don't want to make any mistakes.
Thanks guys; I need to find someone who sells bigger fish! Would you recommend a few trips to a lake and bringing home as many good BG as I can catch? (If I can't find a good size fish for sale?)
Be careful of introducing any invasive vegetation...don't dump lake water into your pond, be careful when you transfer fish.
I have a 2 acre pond that was full of stunted bass and large crappie when I bought the land and had no bait fish in it at all. I never saw a minnow or a bream. I bought 400 small copper nose blue gill, 2 inches or less. I made the mistake of releasing them in too shallow ,warm water and many died. I just wrote it off as a stupid mistake . To my surprise though I am now, 3 years later , catching mature copper nose and it appears that the food chain balance is a lot better, with my bass being different sizes. So in my opinion, it is worth a try. Make sure you have cover for the small fish to hide in. I did fish the pond hard, and took out many small bass and crappie. All ponds must be fished to be managed.