Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Renovating a Pond or Lake? Restarting a Pond?

I have a 1/4 acre pond that is essentially a mudhole. Some bluegill and bass in it, but hasn't been managed since before I got it.

I just put in a 3.5 acre pond down hill from the pond, probably 400 yards away or so. We're struggling for water there, so my thought was to run an overflow from the small upstream pond to the new one. New pond will be SMB/YP/RES/Crappie.

Talked to a fish guy and he suggested doing a kill, then using the upper pond as a feeder pond for my YP and RES. We'll have to connect the overflows from 1 to the next, but that's doable. May have to dance around a dirt township road, but we'll get it done.

Thoughts on that plan? I've heard of guys who have feeder ponds really liking them to get their panfish up to size, but would like to hear some feedback.

Echo what I said in your other thread about completely killing off the upper pond. Put in your stocking plan for the new pond, FHM, SFS, BNM, RES, then YP and SMB. I'd wait until the SMB have some size on them before introducing water from the upper pond. And check and triple check that no LMB or BG remain. Along with the the additional water source, you could definitely use it as a feeder pond for additional forage, or as you're considering, more YP and RES. Especially if you're able to control what goes in and what doesn't. That'd be a pretty cool. Fun project man.

Oh, do a lot of research on crappie in small ponds. It's generally discouraged.

Read my reply in the other thread. I'd nix the idea of the crappie - they will be a hindrance to the other species in the ponds.

haven't stocked the feeder pond yet, but the plan is YP and supplemental feeding. Any eggs wash down stream and we'll just have them in the big water. We'll fish them for fun and those big enough will be either moved down to the big pond, or eaten...