Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose What do ya'll think?

Todd,

In that F1 pond, CNBG were stocked the preceeding fall and there also existed a complement of Gambusia which found there way into the pond. By spring, when the LMB and Tilapia went in, the Gambusia were very thick and the BG all ready to spawn (the CNBG I stocked in the previous fall were all 6 inch fish). There never has, nor ever will be artificial feeding in this pond.

I like your thought of stocking the Tilapia at 2 to 3 pounds per acre which in Jake's case would only be 12 to 20 pounds...that's a very small risk for a potentially very large gain, IMO. I'd stock 'em.

edit...actually, after rechecking the experiment write-up, I had stocked FHs also the previous fall and a few small BG in addition to the mature BG...my memory skipped a beat, which is why I have to write it down. :rolleyes:

I think Todd better stated the point that I was trying to make. Having tilapia will allow you to stock smaller, read cheaper, predators. If you didn't want to stagger your stocking times stock small and at the same time.
Mine are barramundi but I would guess bass are similar, mine are growing at about 2 inches a month.
ewest, only the larger fish show up at the feeding, so there is little reason for the barramundi to be there.

This is alot to take in. I love it!
I'm gonna stick with Todd's recommendation of holding off on the Tilapia. I'll get with him and see how we look next spring. This was further reinforced yesterday when I was out at my lake. I spotted thousands and I mean thousands of FH fingerlings in the shallows and around the drop offs. (I didn't see any BG going after them but that doesn't mean anything.) I am utterly amazed at the numbers and how quickly they breed. I have some bales of hay that I sunk in the lake (which have drifted around during storms)and around them I spotted a few FH males guarding what I figured were nests because they went after anything that came near , other fish, bugs, etc.
The reason I bring all this up is because the young LMB are gonna have plenty to fill their guts with!
Don't FH spawn every 28 days? Also, when do BG spawn and at what age/ length?
By the way, I stated in a previous post that my clarity was at 18". After looking, I take that back. It's actually closer to 2'. Not sure if that really matters but we'll see.