Recently moved and am working on getting everything in order to dig out a 1/3-1/2 acre pond on the new property. I had just finished digging and stocking the pond at the old place, but oh well. The good news is I finally found a source for the Sacramento perch I’ve been looking for, and they currently have fingerlings. These things are tough to come by, so I’m thinking of getting about 75 to put in a small retention pond that’s already on the property. It’s maybe 75x50 ft, about 4-5 ft in the middle. The idea is to leave them in until other pond is complete, probably a yearish. Is this doable? These perch are supposed to be very temp tolerant, so that should help with shallow depth. There’s a ton of forage in the form of insects/tadpoles/frogs, but I’d probably stock with gambusia for when they grow out some.
Just via doing a quick search for "Sacramento Perch," they kind of look like Rock Bass, or maybe even a type of green sunfish. With mouths of that size, they probably need a good supply of minnow-type fish to really thrive.
I don't know what your winter temps get down to in the winter, but that would have to be compared to any kind of stated temperature limitations with Sacramento Perch.
Excerpt from Robert Crais' "The Monkey's Raincoat:" "She took another microscopic bite of her sandwich, then pushed it away. Maybe she absorbed nutrients from her surroundings."
One of the most common postings on Pond Boss about grow out ponds is developing an easy way to recover your fish after placing them in the pond. Lots of people have deliberately designed their grow-out ponds to be easy to seine.
Does your little pond have one deep hole in the middle? Can you walk on the bottom, or is it boot-sucking muck and silt?
If you can draw down the water into a small area and easily retrieve fish from that area, then I think your grow-out pond is a fine idea.
75 fingerlings will not use much of the available oxygen. Does the retention pond ever overflow in a heavy rain event? I would hate to have your fingerlings wash out of your pond.
Good luck on your grow-out pond AND your new pond!
Sacramento Perch is another name I have seen tagged to a "special breed" of YP too.. Guess I need to do some research. EDIT: Agree with sunil, this is another member of the sunfish family that can reach 2.5-3lbs, native to CA.. probably gonna take some minnows to support it.
EDIT: Agree with sunil, this is another member of the sunfish family that can reach 2.5-3lbs, native to CA.. probably gonna take some minnows to support it.
New project for Snipe!
Who wouldn't like a pond that contained 3# sunfish to go along with 10# LMB.
Recently moved and am working on getting everything in order to dig out a 1/3-1/2 acre pond on the new property. I had just finished digging and stocking the pond at the old place, but oh well. The good news is I finally found a source for the Sacramento perch I’ve been looking for, and they currently have fingerlings. These things are tough to come by, so I’m thinking of getting about 75 to put in a small retention pond that’s already on the property. It’s maybe 75x50 ft, about 4-5 ft in the middle. The idea is to leave them in until other pond is complete, probably a yearish. Is this doable? These perch are supposed to be very temp tolerant, so that should help with shallow depth. There’s a ton of forage in the form of insects/tadpoles/frogs, but I’d probably stock with gambusia for when they grow out some.
I think I would sure give it try for getting a head start with your SP. I don't think it would do any harm to get some GAM and if you can in CA some FHM going in that little pond. They can bank (sequester) food for your SP while they are growing along side of them. Also, that little pond would be a great asset as a forage pond to produce minnows. Sized just about right for your planned ~.42 acre BOW.
Just really great to have you back and starting this SP project in earnest. Was even thinking about sending a PM a few months ago to check if the project was a go. Good luck with this. Just curious, are you going to stock any predators for crowd control in this pond?
It isn't what we don't know that gives us trouble, it's what we know that ain't so - Will Rogers
Just via doing a quick search for "Sacramento Perch," they kind of look like Rock Bass, or maybe even a type of green sunfish. With mouths of that size, they probably need a good supply of minnow-type fish to really thrive.
I don't know what your winter temps get down to in the winter, but that would have to be compared to any kind of stated temperature limitations with Sacramento Perch.
I can't seem to find a clear answer on minimum temp they tolerate. I'm planning to throw in a aerator and there was no ice on the pond this past year. They're native to this area, which hopefully means they'll be okay.
Originally Posted by FishinRod
One of the most common postings on Pond Boss about grow out ponds is developing an easy way to recover your fish after placing them in the pond. Lots of people have deliberately designed their grow-out ponds to be easy to seine.
Does your little pond have one deep hole in the middle? Can you walk on the bottom, or is it boot-sucking muck and silt?
If you can draw down the water into a small area and easily retrieve fish from that area, then I think your grow-out pond is a fine idea.
75 fingerlings will not use much of the available oxygen. Does the retention pond ever overflow in a heavy rain event? I would hate to have your fingerlings wash out of your pond.
Good luck on your grow-out pond AND your new pond!
It's a steady decline to the deepest part down by the dam. I think it would be pretty easy to get in there and seine them out afterwards. I was going to throw in an aerator, my only thought was that with the shallow overall design it might get too overgrown this summer and then crash the DO. Do you think it'll be fine without it? I haven't seen significant flow through the outlet pipe, mostly a small stream during major rain. It seems like it'd have to be a very unlucky fish to get pulled out that way.
Originally Posted by jpsdad
I think I would sure give it try for getting a head start with your SP. I don't think it would do any harm to get some GAM and if you can in CA some FHM going in that little pond. They can bank (sequester) food for your SP while they are growing along side of them. Also, that little pond would be a great asset as a forage pond to produce minnows. Sized just about right for your planned ~.42 acre BOW.
Just really great to have you back and starting this SP project in earnest. Was even thinking about sending a PM a few months ago to check if the project was a go. Good luck with this. Just curious, are you going to stock any predators for crowd control in this pond?
Thanks! It ended up being harder than anticipated tracking them down. Turns out quite a few aquaculturists in CA will put them on their list of species since it's a 'freebie' to get licensed for as a native species. Not too many people have luck actually producing them commercially. The guy I finally found produces them as a semi-hobby out of a few farm ponds he owns. He only does it occasionally so I'm trying to jump on them since they are available.
I can do GAM, but no FHM in CA, unfortunately. I'll plant GAMs in case the perch end up in there long enough to need larger forage.
I'm currently between using either smallmouth or HSB for predation. I'm also going to put in Sacramento blackfish (technically a very large minnow), which would provide additional forage for either predators and hopefully allow for good recruitment of larger perch. There's not really anything I can find for data on a pond like this, so they'll probably be some trial and error. Maybe I'll keep some extra SP in the small pond for a while, just in case.
If the Sac. Perch is indigenous to your area, I'd stock them with confidence.
There's a question of how many minnows you'd need to let the Sac. Perch thrive, so you may want to consider stocking minnows as early as you can, and maybe have some structure to help the minnows 'hide' a bit longer. Further, maybe you could net off an area where the minnows could spawn.
You may be able to get the Sac. Perch on to feed which could enable some growth that may be hard with natural forage alone.
Excerpt from Robert Crais' "The Monkey's Raincoat:" "She took another microscopic bite of her sandwich, then pushed it away. Maybe she absorbed nutrients from her surroundings."
I was going to throw in an aerator, my only thought was that with the shallow overall design it might get too overgrown this summer and then crash the DO. Do you think it'll be fine without it?
I am NOT an expert on pond aeration, but your plants in that shallow pond should be excellent providers of oxygen.
One of the causes of DO crashes is when you get a huge algal bloom, and then the bloom all dies off at the same time and decomposition of the dead algae robs your pond of oxygen. Your rooted plants work to protect against a big algal bloom by taking up some of the nutrients.
One other cause is ice on the pond that is then covered with snow to prevent all sunlight from reaching the plants. I don't know your elevation, but even if you got that condition you could easily sweep the ice of such a small pond.
75 fingerlings plus minnows does not have a very large oxygen requirement in the first season. Only when your perch get large and your minnow populations explode would you be pushing the limits. In that case, if you do observe the fish piping for oxygen you could set up some emergency aeration.
I would definitely talk to the SP grower that you've found and get his thoughts on the best forage foods for growing the SP. He has success doing this. Ask if he knows anything about getting them to eat high protein fish pellets. Please keep us updated on your pond progress for growing some quality fish.
Last edited by Bill Cody; 03/14/2410:25 AM.
aka Pond Doctor & Dr. Perca Read Pond Boss Magazine - America's Journal of Pond Management
Finally got my hands on the sac perch. Got 100 fingerings, some up to 4 inches. Seller told me that he has gambusia in his ponds and that that’s all he uses for forage. I’ve got some stocked in the pond but it’ll be a bit til they can eat them due to size. Lots of insects for now and I ordered some pk shrimp, because what doesn’t love those. He also said he periodically pulls them from the pond since they have no predation. They grow into being piscivores, but it sounds like they’ll still need something with them or they’ll overpopulate like bluegill. Leaning towards hsb for ease population control.
Excerpt from Robert Crais' "The Monkey's Raincoat:" "She took another microscopic bite of her sandwich, then pushed it away. Maybe she absorbed nutrients from her surroundings."
Excerpt from Robert Crais' "The Monkey's Raincoat:" "She took another microscopic bite of her sandwich, then pushed it away. Maybe she absorbed nutrients from her surroundings."
The color pattern looks a lot like smallmouth bass.
Excerpt from Robert Crais' "The Monkey's Raincoat:" "She took another microscopic bite of her sandwich, then pushed it away. Maybe she absorbed nutrients from her surroundings."
