Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Creating the food chain Stocking before the pond is full

We dug our central Texas (Columbus) pond at the end of July... it's been 6 months with a grand total of 5 inches of rain. The county normally gets around 40 inches a year, with 22 inches from August through January (so we're 17 inches down from that). We have good watershed and good clay, so once the rains return, we should be in good shape.

The pond will be 5 surface acres with an average depth of 6-7 feet (and as deep as 15 feet). The pond holds water great and already has 1 surface acre with average depth of 3 feet, even with the meager 5 inches of precipitation. Mosquito larvae are present in the tire reefs that still stick out of the water.

Can I begin stocking fatheads and bluegill this spring? I know the basic stocking rates -- and this will be a BG/LMB pond. But it has nowhere near the water volume as it will be a year or so from now. By my calculations, I have about 3 acre-feet of water now (1 acre at average 3 foot depth). I should eventually have 30 acre-feet (5 surface acres at average 6 foot depth).

My guess is that I stock FH and BG for more water than I what I have, but less than full-volume. Then add predator LMB (and more FH/BG)next year. Thoughts?

While patience is a virtue, I unfortunately have very little.

I'd couldn't help but put some bluegill and fatheads now, and add more later when you get more water.

However, this may not be the "right" thing to do. Others will have to advise.

I'd be a bit queasy stocking right now, so waiting until spring is a better idea. You need more water, first. This recommendation stems from stocking several central Texas lakes during a drought, then watching the rains pass them by. One actually went dry. Trying to retrieve several thousand dollars of fish from a mud puddle was not only embarrasing, but it was hard work. Waiting a few months, especially this time of year, does no harm. Besides, fish aren't growing or spawning right now, anyway.
As a matter of fact, I would be using the existing water to vegetate bare areas. You should get something growing to prevent erosion, because when you get rain, it can came hard and fast. I would rent or buy a pump, put together a portable sprinkling system, seed the top and backside slope of the dam, and the inside slope down to the pool level waterline. Water it now, save trouble later.
Regarding fish, I would wait until there's at least 6-8 feet of water and the pond is half full, going into a rainy season. Then, stock all your forage fish and focus on managing them. Stocking rates are based on your goals and timelines.
The most common recommendation is to stock fingerlings and let them grow up in the lake. But, I have a favorite story about a client outside Columbus many years ago. He was in a hurry. I don't blame him. He was pushing 80 years old. He said, "Son, I don't want to buy fingerlings and wait for them to grow up. I want big fish, now. Heck, I don't even buy green bananas...don't know that I will be there when they get ripe."
All things being "normal," I would stock fathead minnows, bluegill and redear sunfish in the early spring, then follow with largemouth bass fingerlings either late spring or next fall.

This is a minor adjustment to Bob's post which you could make IF you are comfortable with some risk and you think your pond will fill (or get more water -half full) this spring. It does not include stocking right now but in a few weeks based on water temps. It does not involve much cost (so no big loss) but will put you ahead of the curve on your forage base. It goes as set out below.

Water and plant winter or mix grasses as per Bob's post. Add a few pallets (lay down and stake) in the water near the edge and a few farther up the bank on dry ground . Monitor water temps. and locate a good source of fatheads. When the water temps. get to 60 degrees assuming you have the same or more water buy and add 3-5 lbs. of FH (cost $50) and add them to the pond. They will start spawning at 64 degrees +- using the pallets as cover (they spawn on the underside of boards ,limbs, grass, etc.). This is 10 degrees +- before BG will start to spawn. About a mth. after water gets to 64 and the FH go in and assuming you have more water( by this time it should be mid to late March and you should know if your pond will be half full) add part of your small BG and 50 4-6in. BG. Assuming the pond continues to fill around May 15 add the rest of the small BG and 50 more 4-6 in. BG. at each step you have to decide if you think the pond is going to fill.

What this approach does is let you start your program with little cost and risk about a mth. to 6 weeks before you normally would. If the pond keeps filling then go to the next step. With the fist step you have $50 at risk. It results in you having a forage base of FH and offspring and 3yr. classes of BG ( 4-6in. , 2-3in. and yoy age 0 from the 4-6in. when they spawn in late spring/summer). Predator stocking depends on how the process goes.

The grass when flooded will contain lots of small critters for the new fish to eat and the larger BG will also eat sm. FH offspring. On this schedule the FH should have 1 or 2 spawns before the BG go in. You have not said if you are going to use supp. feeding for you pond. It would be good to do at least to start with the FH and small BG. This is a little more involved than standard stocking and Bob can explain it in more detail and it might be good to have pro help to pick out and advise as to steps 2 and 3. Good luck and ask questions.

Good info, thanks. We did hydroseed the dam, peninsula, island, and shoreline with combination rye/bahia/bermuda just after Hurricane Rita passed by. Although I've read that the rye root system won't help too much, that's what's mostly growing now. The dam is mostly green with this grass. The above picture was taken 4 months ago, just before the hydroseeding. The water level is exactly the same, because we've had ~3 inches of rain in four months!

I'm comfortable with stocking FH and BG this spring (maybe March/April?) assuming we get more rain. But should I be stocking for what I have now or for what I think it may be in a year? If I overstock forage fish with no predators, waiting for the pond to expand, is that OK?

Oh... I re-read Bob's post, suggesting that I wait until the pond is half-full and then stock all forage at that time. ewest's suggestions sound reasonable too.

Todd Overton might be a supplier... he's from Aggieland. If I start with FH, can I just get those from a local feed store or whatever? Thanks!

Please call our office at 800.687.6075 and ask Kathy to send you a current copy of Pond Boss magazine. There are lots of suppliers of all kinds of products and fish. Also, on this site, we have a resource guide. Click on it, and you will find different categories of suppliers to choose from. You've gotten good information above.

We go through the Columbus area relatively often and would be glad to take a look, at our cost, to give you recommendation and a very competitive bid.