Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Corrective stocking 2nd year pond

Hi all,

What a great source of info. here. We had our .5 acre pond dug in the summer of 08. Last spring with the advice of a local fish hatchery we stocked with 1.5 - 2.5 inch YP (100), LMB(100), and BG (250) along with 100 breeder G. Shiners and 500 2-3 inch FHM. Also 50 crawfish, 100 Bullfrog tadpoles, 100 trapdoor snails and 25 FW mussels. We added submerged trees for structure and have some plants (water iris, rush, lily's). I know we had some FHM reproduction last year. This spring the bass are now about 5-6 inches but I see no FHM fry in the shallows. Is it likely that these bass and perch who were introduced as fry along with adult FHM have already decimated the forage fish population? If so, how many FHM would I need to add now to sustain a healthy forage population? Thanks for your thoughts.

Welcome to PB ! It is likely that the FH have been seriously reduce in #. Can you tell if any of the other fish have spawned ? What size are the various species you stocked ? BG , GShiner and YP fry along with LMB fry will be forage also. Adding 10 lbs of FH can only help.

Hi BonZoso, and welcome to the Pond Boss Forum!

The answer really depends on your cover. If you have shallow areas with plentiful weeds and/or grass in your pond, chances are your forage has survived. If you have little, then your LMB and YP have probably decimated the forage. It takes lots of very shallow water and/or lots of vegetative cover for FHM to survive and reproduce. Iris's, rushes, and lilie's are good cover if they are dense and shallow enough to admit large numbers of FHM but obstruct the LMB and YP. If you have little cover, adding more FHM would be more akin to a large feeding than to a permanent food source.

Don't give up on your forage reproduction yet. FHM and GSH fry are probably tiny at present, and could be very hard to find.

Thanks for the responses. I must admit that the vegetation cover has only been minimal since it was all just planted last summer. The YP, LMB, and YP were all in the 1.5-2.5 inch range when stocked. I couldn't tell if any of the other species were reproducing but I assumed that due to age the fry I saw were only the FHM and GS.

How big were the BG when stocked? Often times when BG are stocked, they will spawn well before the bass. I would not hold out much hope of your FHM surviving. Your GSH have a better chance of taking hold but even they will struggle top maintain a lasting population in a pond your size and build.

Some things that I see that you will want to watch... Part of the reason your forage is taking a beating already is you have some very heavy stocking rates. Normal stocking rates are 50-100 LMB per pond acre. You have a .5 acre pond and stocked 100 bass. That is twice the maximum recommended stocking rate for LMB. LMB are ravenous eaters. You may want to remove some of your bass. Second, your BG have a huge jump start on your LMB which means they will probably spawn several times before your LMB do. This can lead to stunting of your BG and a lack of reproduction by the LMB once the LMB spawn. This only furthers the problem as there will be no small bass to feed heavily on the BG fry meaning a continued BG stunting issue. YP rarely maintain a reproducing population in a small pond with LMB predation. YP are fusiform shaped and therefore easy prey for LMB. Over a few years, your original stockers will be big enough to avoid predation, but their young will not. Throw in a larger than normal LMB population and hungry bass and they don't have much of a chance. However, you show grow some decent sized YP from your initial 100.

The BG were stocked at 1.5". Bass at 2-2.5" Do I have any hope of creating a sustanable FHM population with the growth of my cover vegetation and stocking more FHM. I'll start removing bass. I wish I had found your site before I stocked. I just followed recommendations from the hatchery. Thanks

FHM rarely if ever sustain populations when LMB are present... FHM fit a niche where predators do not exist. They make a great starter feed for ponds, but not long term. So I wouldn't worry about sustaining them. Right now I would just stock more to keep your fish fed until you can remove some of the bass and try to get them not so crowded. Your BG will spawn this year and start providing food for your young bass and YP. Remember, hatcheries are out to make money... Many tell you to stock more fish than you need and in time lines that benefit them in you needing to stock more. IE you now having to stock more FHM. Be thankful you have now found the forum. Subscribe to the magazine as well, it's full of great info not found here. Any more questions... Don't hesitate to ask!

FH as a supplement for YP and LMB until BG , GShiners etc. can become established. Adding FH takes the pressure off the others for a period. You might consider supp feeding of pellets for the BG , YP and GShiners.

thanks for all the great info.

I put 20 LMB in my .5 acre pond and in one year they wiped out all my FH. You need to take out some bass to give the rest of your forage base a chance. The YP probably won't spawn until next year and while the BG will spawn this year probably, next year will probably be a much better one.