Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Raising Forage and Bait Brood Pond

I am currently constructing a brood pond to raise forage fish for my bass pond. It is going to be about 1 acre at about 4' deep. I was assuming I would raise coppernose but was wondering if another species could reproduce successfully. I already have a healthy bluegill population in my bass pond and think that adding another species would be more beneficial. Any thoughts?

SDB,

You could certainly grow any number of forage fish in a pond like that. In addition to the bluegill, think about shiners, fathead minnows, rosy reds, threadfin shad, etc.

Ken

BG and CNBG are pretty close to being the same fish, what about Golden Shiners, or Tilapia? I don't know how cold it gets during the winters there, but the Tilapia are out if the water gets colder than 55° during the winter.

Do the LMB have enough to eat as is ? What is the size of the non-brood pond where the LMB are ? What is in that pond ?

Are rosy reds a subspecies of some other fish or are they unique?

Rosey reds are a genetic color morph of FHM. They are the same species, they will interbreed. I have seen rosey red parents produce wild colored offspring and vice versa.

I had thought about golden shiners but wasn't sure about what conditions they need to reproduce. I already have a lot of coppernose in the bass pond, which is about 7 aces, and have stocked tilapia the past two years. I have been keeping my bass population down so I know they have plenty to eat. I catch a lot of great looking fish but haven't hit the 10 lb. mark yet. If shiners would do well in it I think they would be a good choice.

As long as you have submerged weeds or flooded grass for them to spawn on, they will like it. I catch GSH out of the local lake on imitation pellets, or Stubby Steves pellets. I've caught them up to 10" long.

I would do about 4 smaller forage ponds.
1 Fathead Minnows
1 Gambusia Minnows
1 Bluegill
1 Golden Shiner