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Joined: Apr 2011
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Hey guys -
I'm sure this has been asked a hundred times before, but I'm restocking my pond and I could use a little expert advice. I messed up a couple of years ago with stocking my little 1/3 acre pond and it took a complete drain to correct it. So I want to make sure I do it right this time.

I'm in the Piedmont section of western NC, just outside of the mountains. My pond is well-fed and I had it dug so that my family could swim in it often and fish in it occasionally. About a year and a half ago, I put in 50 CC and about 100 HBG. Fed them everyday and had the aerator going all summer. But by the end of the first year the water was so muddy nobody would swim in it. I thought it was turbid so I poured in gypsum, but it didn't help. Finally dawned on me that I had overstocked the CC. Like I said, I took desperate steps to correct the situation.

Now it's refilled and clean and I want to restock it with something that we can all live with. I've been reading this forum and thinking I should stay away from BG because we swim in the pond, but I'd like something that kids and adults can both fish. I also don't want to go back to throwing food pellets in everyday. I'm thinking about a few SMB (instead of LMB) and RES (instead of BG). Also, a couple of grass carp might help with weeds. Yellow perch sound pretty good, but I don't think I can easily get them where I live.

What do you guys think? Thanks for any advice you can give.

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Try brook trout it the pond stays under 75 in places year round fun to catch and eat


3 ponds mountains of NC. One 5 acre and two 1/4 acre ponds. SMB Redbreast sunfish LMB YP CC brook trout WE and warmouth perch
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Before you restock the predators, get a good forage base built up of FHM and GHS. Then add the RES/SMB/YP.


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3/4 to 1 1/4 ac pond LMB, SMB, PS, BG, RES, CC, YP, Bardello BG, (RBT & Blue Tilapia - seasonal).
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Search for places that will ship to you next day air fingerling yellow perch. Have them shipped during cool weather of fall Oct or early spring Apr. Where ever you locate SMB they likely will also have YP. RES (30-40) can be stocked with the minnows/shiners. Perch and bass can go in together after minnows spawn. Use timing noted by esshup. For 1/3 ac, initially use 60-100yp and 18-28 SMB fingerlings.


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Thanks for this information guys. I've been told it's too warm for trout where I live - NC mountains would be better - but I'm gonna look into getting some YP and SMB.

Question: what's the major difference between LMB and SMB? I know LMB fingerlings are easier to get, but would there be a major difference in their food or basic needs? Or their attitude about humans swimming in their living space? Also, if I stock FHM and GHS this fall, how many should I put in along with the 30-40 RES?

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SMB have smaller mouths so eat smaller foods and don't get as big. In the Piedmont they will not reproduce so you can manage your numbers


3 ponds mountains of NC. One 5 acre and two 1/4 acre ponds. SMB Redbreast sunfish LMB YP CC brook trout WE and warmouth perch
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Originally Posted By: cshankles
Question: what's the major difference between LMB and SMB? I know LMB fingerlings are easier to get, but would there be a major difference in their food or basic needs? Or their attitude about humans swimming in their living space? Also, if I stock FHM and GHS this fall, how many should I put in along with the 30-40 RES?


Fecundity and appetite are the two main differences. LMB reproduce at a much higher rate than SMB, largely because they aren't near as picky about where and on what they spawn on. While all fish will eat whatever they can fit into their mouths, LMB are notorious gluttons and because their mouths are large, they can dent up a forage base pretty good. LMB pretty much require bluegill as their primary food source, while SMB cannot usually keep up with bluegill reproduction to keep their numbers in check. FHM will be a good start, but will eventually go extinct in the presence of SMB. GSH and RES are generally good additions for them. Another difference is habitat. SMB prefer rocky habitat, higher oxygen, and possibly deeper water than LMB. Neither species will bother swimming humans.

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Guys, this information is great. Thanks for taking the time to help me out. I'm still looking into what's available to me before I decide what to put in my pond.

I've got one last question that's more general knowledge than anything. I know that predators - like LMB and SMB - keep the forage fish population in check. But I can't help wondering what keeps the predators from over populating? Fishing? Lack of forage? Since I overstocked with CC my first go around, I'm a little shy of stocking anything that doesn't have some form of built-in fry control. I think I would tend to understock before taking a chance on overstocking and mucking up the works again.

Thanks again!

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Fishing is one way. Others use traps and/or seines to cull fish, but LMB may be difficult to apprehend. Electroshocking is a good way to remove unwanted specimens.

There's always single sex stocking also.


"Forget pounds and ounces, I'm figuring displacement!"

If we accept that: MBG(+)FGSF(=)HBG(F1)
And we surmise that: BG(>)HBG(F1) while GSF(<)HBG(F1)
Would it hold true that: HBG(F1)(+)AM500(x)q.d.(=)1.5lbGRWT?
PB answer: It depends.
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For new stocking with time allowed for reproduction in 1/3 ac for FHM and GSH, 2 to 4 lbs of each would be plenty; equal amounts or slightly more for the specie you want the most of. FHM are more prolific than GSH but GSH will be more the backbone forage of the YP-SMB combination. If the SMB become numerous you may have to periodically add GSH and/or cull the SMB. SMB can overpopulate in good habitat.

Last edited by Bill Cody; 07/19/14 09:45 AM.

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It may not be possible where you are, but we stocked walleye so we can manage their numbers as needed. They tend to not reproduce in ponds.

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Smallmouth bass should do OK in a pond around Hickory.

You could always go to the Catawba River below and Above Lake James and catch some legally while fishing and put them in your pond.


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