Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Creating the food chain Forage for Yellow Perch ?

Victor thanks for the info.
Well I have more or less crossed Zetts Wva off the list and have decided to go YP if I can get some small ones at this stage . Then next fall stock HSB.
Or should I stock small HSB now and let them all grow together ?

I hope that my review in and of itself didn't make your decision 100%. I have only dealt with them twice and don't want to torpedo someone just because of bad luck.

I stocked perch at 3-4 and HSB at 5-6 both at the same time. I am supplemental feeding morning and evening. As Cody said, I am too heavy on predator right now. With a small pond it is fun to experiment. In my defense I was hoping to supplement with feed and was expecting more bass to die considering the previous year's experience with all of the stocked perch dying. Learnin' every day.

Well Zetts says they have the YP now - 1" - $50 /100 and need two day notice when you come so they can dip them. JFYI
Still looking but haven't found other source @ 1 day drive .

That is a pretty good price but be sure to hand sort them. You don't want any hitch hiker LMB getting in...

OK - any body got photo of 1" YP and LMB - or just YP ?

Yellow perch:

Thanks for posting the pic. Now if I get any I will know what they look like!

YP at one inch long should be developing the vertical body stripes. Bass at 1" will have a horizontal body stripe.

If they have adequate food, how long for a YP to get to 2 inches?

OK thanks for the pics - I think I can tell them apart now.
Some one else will need to answer the 2" question.

I have dealt with them and if you can get them on the phone they will tell you that they no longer have YP. I've been trying to find some YP that will survive here in SC.

Yellow perch with ample food will grow 1mm per day. Thus a 2" female YP could be 50 days old or two years old depending on sex and amount of food it gets.

Thats interesting Bill Is there any thing I should be feeding - they all - FHM, RRM, RES ,BG
Grass shrimp and now YP are all getting about a cup or so of Lil strike-
there has been no evidence of feeding but it seems to be gone next day.

Update on Zetts just back with 60 YP at about 1" - all vertical stripes - she said they are this years hatch - lost two on the trip but rest were swimming good
Did lose about 50% of the 500 FHM I bought today- they packed them all in one bag and the air escaped.

Guess will know next year if its all working as have only seen one fish feeding on a bug right in 2" of water. It was a RES or BG

YP at 1" in mid-June in the Midwest US are growing slightly slower than optimum. Litl-Strike will not grow YP very well - too low of protein. YP should have 40%+ protein. Non-pellet trained YP at 1"-2" will live primarily on zooplankton and immature insect larvae. Above 2" to 5" they eat primarily invertebrates with some fish fry based on what is present. Above 5" YP feed more and more on small 1" minnows if they are available and lots of invertebrates.

2 years old??? WOW! Only grows an inch a year.

One inch of growth per year or 1.5" the first year and only 1/2" the second year if food is limiting. I see at fish farms numerous 2" one year old YP, mostly males. Normally for a 2 yr old YP the size range should be 4" to 10" depending on sex and amount of food it is able to procure.

My 1/4 ac pond has been LMB heavy. Last year and this I've culled every LMB caught. I have YP in the pond. One of my present goals is to reduce the LMB population until I see more and bigger perch. As I have no forage minnows, I've never been sure how LMB fry would serve as food for the YP, smaller bass, SMB, trout and other hungry mouths in the pond. Yesterday I found out. I removed a male LMB guarding a school of 1" fry, then started dip netting the fry. As the fry school broke into smaller, now unprotected groups, fingerling LMB and YP rose to the occasion and starting picking them off. My helpers! Rather enjoyable turn of events, and very satisfying to watch.