Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose BG and PS and and/or RES

Hello Everybody:

I need some advice concerning my designated LMB pond:

My designated LMB pond was stocked in 2010 with BG and FHM. I am planning to add LMB in 2012. For 2011 I was planning to add PS and GSH. The reason I was planning to add PS instead of RES was that I have two designated SMB ponds. (Both were stocked in 2010 with the following: YP, RES, FHM and GSH.) So I have already plenty of RES. I read that PS will behave like RES, i.e. shell-cracker if there are no RES present in the pond. Therefore I thought why not more diversity on my dinner plate and have PS instead of RES in my LMB pond. Now I have second thoughts concerning the PS/RES issue because PS will not become as large as RES. But on the other hand, PS reproduce more than RES.

What should I do?

1) Stick to my original plan: LMB, BG, PS, GSH and FHM.
2) Add both PS and RES. (+LMB, BG, GSH and FHM)
3) Forget about the PS and add RES only. (+LMB, BG, GSH and FHM)

Constructive advice is much appreciated.
Regards,
FRIZ

PS are not the same as RES in several respects. Dave Willis did an article in PB on that very point. The most important issue is that PS tend to stunt and overpopulate and RES do not (no reports of that anyway). Also PS are much better at cold tolerance than RES. PS are smaller than RES at least where RES can easily overwinter.

Not sure you should wait so long to stock LMB in a northern pond. BG and PS can stunt quickly in northern ponds so LMB introduction should be early. Check with Nate , Cecil or Bill Cody wrt that issue for your area.

Friz, in the local lake the PS run smaller than the RES or BG by about 40%. I've caught BG to 10" and RES to about the same size, while I have never caught a PS larger than 7", most are around 6".

ewest, so far the sunfish in his ponds have been stocked at 20% to 40% of recommended stocking rates, and went in at 2"-5" long last Spring.

Friz, it's really a personal preference IMO. If you absolutely want something different, then stock them. I have seen ponds where both RES and PS were stocked. Most ponds the RES dominated, a few the PS dominated when compared to each other.

I am not sure you need to give your sunfish that much of a jump on the LMB. I would stock the LMB this year and even consider stocking advanced sizes... 6"+ fish. I am afraid as Eric said, your BG are going to stunt badly. Even if stocked at much lower percentages than recommended, all it takes it one good spawn with no LMB present which is easily expected if fish 2"-5" were stocked last spring. Get some bass in there to start eating all those BG that will be born this year.

As a generality in the south a pond will go from 0 to full (carrying capacity) in about 18 mths from stocking even at reduced rates and with BG and LMB. Up north it takes a little longer 24 mths. Again this is with predators. Without predators its quicker. Given that LMB don't spawn as soon up north (2 yrs vs. 1 ) things can get out of whack fast. Without those yoy LMB cropping the yoy BG the first year it can happen fast. Sure worth watching.

Travis and Eric, with YOY BG stocked last Fall, (IIRC 200 fingerlings in a 1 3/4 ac pond) how fast will they spawn? The BG stocked were between 1" and at the most 3". I think he'll be O.K. not stocking LMB this year, but in 2012. Is my thinking flawed and that small amount of small fish in the pond will explode? He wants to harvest roughly 500# - 700# of fish per year for the table to feed the family, so he might be a larger predator than the LMB. I think he'll have a hard time reaching those harvest numbers fishing all 3 ponds.

I also suggest that you add fingerling LMB maybe twice this year. Some in spring now to mid-June (2010 year class) and some fingerlings in the fall (2011 yr class) which will give you sort of 2 year classes to be thinning the BG numbers and targeting two sizes of small sunfish. Too many BG with the goal of 250-300 lb fish harvest per ac is a challenge esp if you want all the BG harvested to be 7.5"+. Do all 3 ponds total 1.75 ac?

Hi Everybody:

Thank you for your comments.

During a drought (2010) my three ponds total 1.5 acres. During a normal year they total 3 acres. I scaled down my expectations. I will be happy to harvest in total 250+ pounds of fish (LMB, SMB, BG, PS, RES, YP) a year from my three ponds.

Regards.
FRIZ