Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose Stocking Plan

2.5 Acre Pond
Northern
Goal: Balanced Fishery leaning towards heavier bass. We want some panfish for the kids as well.

Currently Stocked with Golden Shiners and FHM They have been in there since spring and are doing quite well.

We have 100 RES coming in on the fish truck this weekend. I will be going through them looking for BG. My plan is to add LMB in the spring of 2015 and some advanced size bluegill in the fall of 2016. Does it seem like I am on track?

IF your plan is to grow big LM I would stock the BG before the bass and let them spawn once.

Also HBG are fun for kids to catch as they grow bigger than regular BG but they will compete with your LM for food.

If you are leaning more towards a balanced pond but with some nicer bass, in a NORTHERN pond such as yours I'd go with the stocking plan as you wrote it. Keep the bass numbers around 75 per acre if stocking 2" fish. Then stock 5"+ BG. Your bass will do great feeding on the abundant FHM and GSH until you get the BG in. This will prevent the BG getting too big of a head start on the bass.

I'm not aware of any scientific evidence HBG get larger than BG. For your stated goals, HBG would be a poor choice IMO.

I agree and meant to address this when I saw it and got distracted and forgot.

I think pond owners have seen hybrids grow quicker than straight bluegill in some situations, but the hybrids do not tend to get as large as straight bluegill later on in their lives. Which makes sense since straight bluegill tend to reach greater lengths than green sunfish.