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#151425 02/28/09 11:33 PM
Joined: Aug 2008
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Fingerling
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Hello everyone, This is my first post but I've been lurking for several months. I just finished renovating a 2.5 acre pond. It has been filling since the end of december. It currently is about 6 foot deep at the deepest part. It likes about 2.5 feet from being full.
My first question, the water is clear. Is it ok to start stocking or do I need to wait?

I would like to have BG, redear, cats, & LM bass. What rates and when should I start stocking?

I will appreciate any advice.

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Welcome lhopkins! glad you joined the group, and sounds like you've got a nice pond. JHAP will be asking for photos soon. \:\)

Where in SC are you? I used to live in Augusta and love the SC area.

Before we give too much advice can I ask for a few more details on your goals and objectives for the pond? Little details mean a lot, and how you do things now will have effect for many years to come. There are standards, but stocking should be tweaked for your goals. We see the species you want. Do you want good all around fishing? or big fish? if so, which ones? Do you want to feed the fish? Do you plan to harvest? Are you looking for table fare or sport fishing? Aeration?

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Welcome abord Ihopkins.Always glad to see another new face.With a little more info from you,we can give you the advice you seek.JHAP will be along deamding pics,but if you play your cards right you can make him pay up front before you show him any.Dont give him your GPS coordinance because he does have keys to the deathstar on his keyring.(If he gets overbearing,spike his rum&coke!)


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Welcome, you should see what Bill Cody has to say and listen very close he will help you out, he is a gold mine!!!!

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Fingerling
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I'm in Bishopville. I'm really not looking for trophy fish but I would like to have some nice bass. Just want a nice place for freinds and family to fish. I don't plan on feeding or aerating. Some fish will be harvested.

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Sounds like you are a meat and potatoes kinda guy... Nothing fancy, just want a fishing pond to have some fun! Here are my recommendations.

This spring stock:

25 lbs of FHM
750 BG 3"-4"
250 RES 3"-4"
100 CC 5"-7"

This fall stock:

100 LMB 4"-6"

Next fall stock:

100 LMB 6"+

This will give you a good ratio of BG to RES. The spring stocking will allow your BG and RES to put some size on them. It will also allow your FHM to spawn several times and fill your pond up with baby FHM. When the LMB go into the pond this fall, they will be too small to feed on the BG and RES but will start feeding on the FHM. Come next spring, the BG and RES will spawn adding to the food the LMB will have to feed on, and the LMB will help keep the BG and RES numbers in check.

The following fall, you'll need to stock LMB again as the original stocking will not quite be large enough to spawn yet. The CC are just a bonus to your pond. Unless you add(ed) some sort of spawning structure for your CC, they will in all likelihood not spawn. So they will essentially be a put and take fish. So you can replenish them as often as you take fish out. Most people tend to restock them every other year or so...

This fish community is a classic scenario. You should be able to start fishing for them in about 2 years from your first stocking for the sunfish and 3 years for the bass and as soon as you wish for the CC. Pay attention to your fish sizes to make sure your sunfish or bass do not overpopulate and you end up with a lopsided fishery. You can consider adding FHM annually, but this in my opinion is an expensive bass snack. My stocking recommendation is a little sunfish heavy so your bass should show a little better growth rate, but you will have to keep a close eye the sunfish do not overpopulate. The over all stocking numbers are a hair bit low, but this will allow room to grow and take into account that you are not feeding the fish or aerating the pond. In my opinion, in ponds that are not heavily managed, such as yours it is best to stock light.

You can consider stocking CNBG over northern BG as you are far enough south they should perform well. As far as the LMB, you can consider FL or F1 bass, but if you are not going to heavily manage this pond I would lean more towards northern LMB.

With some luck and patience, with the fact that you aren't feeding you can expect the BG and RES to grow about an inch to an inch and half a year. The bass will be 12" about 2 years after stocking and 15" within 4. From there on out, they'll grow about a half inch to an inch a year with some luck and a little bit of management.

Best of luck!

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Thanks for the info. We just had a big rain over the weekend and water rose 7 inches so I'm getting closer to a full pond.

Does it really matter where I get the fish from? Dunn's fish farm will be making deliveries to my local feed and seed store this weekend. I may just go ahead and get the fish this week end.

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I have no experience with Dunn's. Perhaps someone else on here does... I looked at their website and I don't see any reason not to use them. My experience with fish farms when they come to local feed stores is they will try to sell you more fish than you need or species you don't want. Stick true to your plan...

From their website, these are the sizes and their price:

FHM at $9.95 Per pound x 25= $248.75
1"-3" BG at $0.45 each x 750= $337.50
1"-3" RES at $0.50 each x 250= $125.00
4"-6" CC at $0.45 each x 100= $45.00

For a GRAND TOTAL of $756.25

Then in the fall you can pick up your LMB... Best of luck! Let us all know how Dunn's treats ya if you decide to go with them.


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