Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Creating the food chain Help For A New Guy?

Shawn,
Theo is right.....the most common problem in pond are catfish. They will directly compete with your bass. I wouldn't let a single one get over 3 pounds. They will not only eat your other fish, but they can also affect the reproduction with your other species.
You said you put tile in your pond. The cats usually don't reproduce which is a good thing. If you give them something round, they will more than likely use it. Next thing you know, you will have a great Cat pond, but BG and LMB really suffer.

I thought I'd add an update here a few months after my initial stockings. To recap, I put 200 BG, 50 RES, and 2000 fat head minnows in the pond in late March. A couple weeks later I went ahead and put in 100 CC, making a mental promise to all you guys to fish the heck out of them over the next couple years and keep us loaded up on fresh catfish during Lent.

I spent some time looking things over this past weekend and throwing in some food in a few spots. The minnows have reproduced to what looks like a billion of the little guys. My bluegill were coming up to the food and they appeared to be growing nicely, 3-5" if I had to guess (started at 1-3"). I saw a couple CC come up, but couldn't really tell any growth from their initial 6-8".

I've seen the local fish guy advertising lately, and he does have his 1-3" LMB available now for $.60. I'm itching to throw some in so they can start fattening up on all those minnows. What do you guys think? Am I on the right track? How many LMB should I plan on putting in? Or should I hold off until next year? Any ideas on numbers?

Thanks for all your help guys, I had a blast this weekend seeing all those new fish out there, and am chomping at the bit for something to get big enough to catch!

shawn

Shawn:

You would be ahead, I think, to wait 'til Fall (or next Spring - hard when you're itchin') to put in the LMB. Right now they don't have anything to eat but FHM, as I bet your BG/RES haven't matured enough to spawn yet.

BUT ... I also bet those BG/RES WILL spawn by Fall. Check the shallows during the Summer/Fall and you'll see the sunfish fry/fingerlings if/when they appear. Give the bass these sunfish fry/fingerlings to eat, plus even more Fatheads, and they will really jump in size once they are in.

I'd go with 50-75 LMB, 1"-3" or the next size up if available, in the Fall.

P.S. I held off a whole year after stocking FHM and GShiners before putting in the rest of my fish (which is not exactly what I'd do a second time around) and I know it's hard to wait.

Theo,

Thanks for the info, I'll try to hold off until I see some signs of the BG/RES spawning. The pond is not yet full, will the rising water hamper any spawning efforts by the BG/RES? Do they start spawning based on size or age? If so, what is the time/size when they normally start?

For now I'll try to keep myself content with feeding the fish that are in there now.

shawn

Shawn, I've got so many littel bass in my 2 acre pond ihave started shooting them with a 22 when they come up in shallow water. They are harder to catch than some people think. I have caught about 50 and disposed of them and they keep on coming.

So now I guess I'll have to start catching and eating all the bass I can, along with all the catfish I've promised to take out.

I better get my hook sharpener out and get to work!

I can't wait!

I saw the first evidence of bluegill spawning this past week. There's a big triangle of about 15 nests in the shallowest area of the pond. I haven't seen any signs of little bluegill swimming around yet. How long would you all expect it to take in southern Indiana before I start to see little bluegill swimming around?

I'm itching to head to the fishguy and get some LMB before the price goes up in August.

Shawn thanks for the update. All you other guys note another report of BG spawning around the full moon (last week). That makes 3 reports in the last 24 hours. Lets keep up with this so we can see if the moon phase idea has merit. What have you seen wrt BG spawning this year ?

I think ,given your location and fish status,it would be ok to add a few LMB ( 2-4 inch)now. I would not add more than 20 . If you look real close in about 3-4 weeks you may see some tiny BG near cover. I think you would be ok even with a very small BG spawn to go ahead with all the FH you have seen.

The reason for so few LMB is as noted it is easier to add more later than to have to take them out. I would add about 20 more next June , depending on what happens between now and then.

Will do. I was hoping you guys would give me the OK to buy some of those cheap(er) LMB before the price goes up in August

I first noticed the BG beds late last week, Thursday or Friday.

Last night was one of the BRIGHTEST nights I can remember. I turned off the lights and TV and was headed to bed and noticed some light in the kitchen. I walked around trying to figure on which outdoor light was left on. It was just the moonlight. Amazingly light.

The FH minnows are everywhere. I don't know how often they spawn, but I can easily pick out 3 different sizes of minnows and I see them pretty consistently around the entire shoreline of my 1/2 acre pond.

I've been feeding floating pellets a few times a week (depending on when I think of it) for the past couple months and have noticed a difference in the size of my CC. They are getting pretty darn close to eating size. I'm thinking in another month they'll be big enough to eat. I still have yet to wet a line, but I'm itching to.

Thanks for all the great tips guys!

I couldn't hold out any longer. 2 Saturdays ago I bought a dozen nightcrawlers and rigged up my smallest hook and bobber, and went to town. The fist were practically jumping up on the bank. Within about 15 minutes I had caught maybe 8 bluegill and 4 or 5 cats.

The cats were about 10-12 inches and the bluegill were maybe 4-6 inches. None of them worth cleaning and eating, but a big thrill, nonetheless!