Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Stocking fish into muddy water, waste of money?

My pond is just starting to fill up. 5 feet deep now which will eventually be 8 feet depth, surface area about 1/2 acre now. The water is grey clay colored, kinda like chocolate milk. Visibility clears some, but not completely if left to settle in a bottle. Even when settled, visibility is a couple of inches only. The shore line is still much exposed, and slowly grassing itself in. After every rain, it gets cloudier for a while before becoming a little clearer. I've stocked 3000 FH's and about 200 BG, and recently 20 Hybrid Catfish fingerlings. I figured bass would be a bad idea, and haven't stocked any until the water clears. I'm hopeful that with the shorline covered in grass, and some water vegetation invading, the water will clear a bit more, over the next year. Have I wasted my money with the BG?

eddie walker had great luck stocking his little muddy pond, and i suspect you will too, especially if you are feeding some.....although they might have a tough time finding the food.

have you seen any floaters yet?

when my pond was filling for the first time after renovation i was amazed at how fast there were aquatic insects and small plant life, within days !!

edited.....it was proabably good you waited on the lmb though, i'd let yer BG spawn at least once first.

I haven't seen any floaters at all. But, I only get out there once a week, and if there were any floaters, I bet the coons and birds would get to them first. I stocked a few fish last summer when it was only 2 feet deep, and after seeing Wicked's zero visibility pond producing, I'm more optimistic. I put about a dozen hand-sized BG, and 3 12" CC's in there last year that I caught in a neighboring lake. I'm going to try to catch some on Sunday, and see if they've made it over the winter. Wish me luck!

Hey Jack,

Not to worry about the mud. One of my best fishing days ever was in a muddy 2 year old pond. It was in February, so I didn't catch any bream. But we caught some nice bass and lots of slab-sized crappie.

I guess that once a pond settles for 30 days, the remaining muddiness is harmless to the fish. There is far less mud than it appears. The clay particles are kept in a very even suspension by an equal electrical charge between the clay and water, not because of huge amounts of mud.

If you stock very small bass, just make sure there are plenty of insects, baby FH, or BG for forage. I hope to find and stock bass large enough to eat grown FH.

Sure hope it's not a waste. I stocked 2000 FM and 300 BG in my muddy half acre pond two weeks ago. I new to all of this though.

If your ponds are brand new or have gone dry and are refilling back up, there shouldn't be any problems. Ponds that are new are routinly muddy. It is just natural. If ponds remain muddy after a few months of being full, then there me be other issues. All that being said we stock fish in muddy ponds quit often. And you have done nothing to hurt your fish population.

Good luck, Poland! Your fish should be fine in muddy water. Sometimes I think it bothers us more than them. Our muddiest pond is arguably our most prolific and fun pond. We took 9 CCs out of that one Sunday after returning from the conference. We got home, dropped our luggage, changed clothes, and headed to the ranch immediately. After talking about ponds all weekend, we were ready for some action! All fish were fat and happy, despite a visibility of a few inches at most. Let us know how it goes!

I see no problem with stocking a somewhat muddy pond. Mine gets that way due to the occasional rains after our extended drought. The problem I find involves recruitment. Without sunlight penetration, you just can't get the bloom which fry need. No fertility always means poor recruitment. Eggs need sunlight penetration and oxygen. Suspended mud retards the growth of the planktonic base that is the bottom or base of the food chain.
It can be done but is a pretty poor second choice compared to a balanced pond. I've caught some really good, healthy bass out of a particular muddy lake that I love. However, I rarely caught a small one or one below about 14 inches. I also never saw a bluegill nor a small catfish. On a new pond, I would do it. However, I would artificially feed until it cleared.