Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose Getting a plan for stocking my pond...

Yeah, I performed the jar test. Here is that picture. Glass on left is the control, middle is powdered gypsum, right is pelletized gypsum after 72 hours or so.

No crappie, I didn't think so. Just thought I would double check. Thanks.

So you know turbidity is caused by ionic imbalance I assume the jars were left for a matter of days and still didn't clear up?

That is correct. Before I performed the test you saw in the picture, I pulled out a gallon pitcher of the pond water, let it sat undisturbed for 2 weeks and there was no change. That is when I started testing the gypsum.

Good job. Please let us know how the gypsum treatments work for you - I hope it clears everything up ASAP!

I'll post how it goes, if I ever get it. It's been about 1.5 months since it was supposed to be delivered. So we shall see. Can't complain whent it is as cheap as I'm getting it.

Update: just found a 5" white crappie in one of my traps... What's the odds of there being some fryers in there too?

fryers?

Fryers = big enough fish to fry. Sorry, that's what we always call the fish big enough to eat.

Ah... It's certainly possible there are larger crappie in there. You'll just have to break down and do some fishing for them! HAHA

That's what I figured, fished for them most the night last night to no avail. Will keep trying though!

UPDATE: Still catching WC in the traps, biggest has been 7" now. Still have not caught one though! UGH! Pulled a 5" CC out of one of my traps at lunch.

How old do you think a 5" CC is?

You sure it was a CC and not a bullhead?

If it actually was a CC, it was probably born last year...

Yeah, it is definitely a CC.

Since CC have yet to spawn in your area yet this year, it was most likely born last year.

Cool! Surprised they spawned and made it through the draught last summer.

On another note, gypsum has been canceled. I put in 6 bales of Alfalfa last night. Hopefully that will do the trick for the muddy water.

New to the forum but also from ks getting ready to dig my own pond. Curious about your location. Also everyone here seems to hate putting crappie in. I love crappie and have had great luck catching good ones in ks ponds. One close to the state record. On the other hand I have also seen several ponds overstocked with undersized crappie. I guess just a matter of management. In fact a neighbor of mine with a great bass pond stocks crappie about every year to feed his bass and catches all of them he can to keep them from being overpopulated. Seems to work great for him. I want the same in my pond. First priority bass, then BG, CC, then the bad word around here crappie.

Brandon, you're right. It is all about management. All successful ponds have to be managed. However, with crappie, it can be intense and ongoing management. The crappie seem to be manageable for awhile and then explode. One of their characteristics is spawning earlier than other sunfish, including bass. With their large mouth, they become a top predator of the newly spawned BG and LMB. And that may not be all bad if you worry about the other fish getting out of control.

Interesting about the guy annually stocking crappie as a forage fish. How large is his body of water?

I live about 40 minutes north of Wichita. From everything I read, you are correct, it is all about management. And Crappie seems to be a very time consuming management fish. In my case, I have yet to catch a WCP other than in my traps. And the largest has been about 6.5" - 7", granite my entry doesn't allow bigger fish to enter, but I am worried that I have a stunted WCP population. They could be overpopulated or simply can't see to feed due to my turbidity problem.

Every week I seem to catch something new in my traps as well. Yesterday I pulled out this guy...

That's a nice looking GSH.

Ok, finally got the go ahead on my first round of fish.

Looking at starting out with 15 LMB 8-10", 15 HSB 6-8", 1 GC 12" and 1000 FHM. Or would I be better money ahead to get 100 BG instead of the 1000 FHM?

Concerns, my pond level has dropped to about 3'. (2.5' in some areas 3.5' in others) We need rain!

Will it still support LMB and HSB?

UPDATE: Finally got some rain, guessing depth is back up to 4' or so.

Summary: In the pond I now know I have: BH, CC, WCP, GSF, GSH.

With the current species already in there, would I be better off with 1000 FHM or 100 BG?

THANKS

BG. I don't think the FHM would last very long.

esshup, thanks for your response. I will be calling my guy today now and seeing what they have for me. Thanks again!

Here's my reasoning (and if I'm off base, someone let me know):

The FHM will be eaten rather rapidly. I don't known if they will have a chance to reproduce or not.

If the BG that are stocked are large enough to avoid predation by the LMB/HSB in the pond, then they possibly could pull off a spawn or 2 this year, providing food in YOY BG.

If I could, I'd stock both FHM and BG. FHM would give the fish something to eat now, and take some initial pressure off of the BG.

That's right along the same lines I was thinking. Also, with GSH, 2-4" GSF and BH spawning, I would think there would be some nice snacks lingering around for the LMB.

They are out of HSB right now, so I have to wait on those, waiting on a call back to find out how many LMB he has left.