Pond Boss Forums INTRO New Forum Member Introduction New pond owner

I live in Southeast MO, and have 1 roughly 1/5 acre (maybe 1/4 acre) pond. It was built by the previous owner as part of a government grant deal. it just reached 10yrs old and we can now make alterations. The previous owner still lives close by and has the equipment to build up the levee and raise the water. Which we plan on doing.

I'm not an expert on ponds by any means but it seems to have good balance, no algae, some cattails and other plants along the bank. I believe it has bluegill, bass (for sure), and crappie.

I was wondering what other fish should I add when we raise the pond level? I'm mainly looking for good eating fish, not a big trophy fisher. Not a big fisher at all really, but starting to get into it. If possible I'd like to add some fish that aren't super elusive either, I know that's probably an oxymoron, but figured I'd throw it out there.

I will get some pics tomorrow if I remember and post them here.

Thanks for having me btw, and hope you all are having a good spring so far!

Welcome from West Central MO!

The easiest ponds that I have fished have been channel cat ponds. These tend to yield the most consistent catch rates with the least amount of fishing effort and time. They may or may not breed and be self sustaining depending on the underwater structures available for their nesting habits. Depending on their reproduction, if any, and how many you take for the table will determine how often you need to restock CC.

Small ponds tend to over populate and stunt with the LMB, BG combos and crappie are not recommended for small ponds for the same reason. If you really want to manage the pond and upcoming increase in size, consider killing the pond and start over with exactly what you want. This greatly increases your chance of meeting your goals.

If spending little time managing the pond is more your idea of a nice summer, determine the size of fish you already have (the larges sizes in particular) so that you know what size of fish to stock. Stocking several hundred fingerlings could be an expensive way to feed fish that are already large enough to eat the newly stocked fish. It's not hard to fish the pond and figure out what your biggest fish are IF you like fishing, but it is difficult to determine the actual numbers if fish the pond contains without an electro-survey.

Read up on Relative Weights for fish. This can be a good tool to determine what size classes are needing more food and will give you and idea of how populated (or overpopulated) a certain type and size class is. This requires you to identify, measure and weigh the fish you catch and then compare the numbers to a standard chart. The comparison will tell you if the fish is lacking in forage for it's size.

Here is a chart with a nice explanation of how to determine relative weight for LMB...

https://lakework.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/74-LMB-Bass-Relative-Weight-Index-Pounds.pdf

Will yo be feeding the fish?

Welcome from another Miserian.

Think I'd spend some time fishing it and figure out sort of fish you already have, and what kind of condition they're in, before I started adding more fish.
If the fish that are in there now are in good shape they should only improve when you make the pond bigger. Then they will make more fish to fill the new
water, and they will do it without taking any of your $$$.

The three species that you mentioned are all good to eat, and easy enough to catch. If you put the pond on a feeding program you will be amazed at
how fast those bluegill make it to pound size.

You have lots of options. Best advice I can give is listen to the advice that you get here, weigh it against your goals, and don't get in a hurry to stock fish.