Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose Advice for 1/4 narrow mostly wooded pond

We live in Central Texas and recently did a pond ourselves. I had a friend with a dozer and I was on the excavator. It has a maximum depth of 10 feet. It's not a bowl shape and has deep spots in different areas. What we did was damn up an old dry Creek bed, so it meanders through the woods. The water is mostly shaded and I have aeration via solar. It utilizes a natural earthen spillway versus a culvert. It's about a quarter of an acre pond but it's only 40 ft across at its widest point. I haven't stocked it yet but wanted to do something other than channel cats. Everyone I have spoken to just recommends channel cats to me and if that's all we can do that's fine but wanted to see if there was anything else. I wanted to do something a little unique since it's in a unique spot being in the woods. Also sorry for the grammar on my phone and this is my first post haha appreciate all the help

Welcome to Pond Boss!!

How long has the pond been filled, and does it maintain it's water level fairly well?

Also, what part of TX are you in?


That sounds odd that people are only pushing channel cats to me. Sounds like you could do many different things. Hybrid Striped Bass are good, and Largemouth are an option too.

The largemouth option really is not unique though.

Do you plan to feed the fish?

A 1/4-acre pond that is 10 feet deep - you have LOTS of options!

The long, narrow shape gives you a little more shoreline than a more compact pond, and therefore a higher % of shallow water. That could be a positive or a negative. Any minnow species that you stock might survive longer in your pond.

The trees shading the pond will impact the bottom of the food chain a little by limiting your photosynthesizing organisms. However, you are in Texas - you should get sufficient sun unless all of the trees overhang the pond.

(I think the leaves and twigs in the ponds will have a bigger impact than the shading. The debris will increase the rate of muck accumulation in your pond.)

Read some of the threads in the "Types of fish to choose" sub-forum, and decide if you are going to feed pellets. Then you can make some informed choices for what YOU want for the pond.

Good luck on your new project!

Rod, wouldn't his area and circumference be the same no matter what the shape, or am I misunderstanding what you're saying?

I think I know what you mean, but am not sure.

FishingRod is correct about perimeter and area. Also correct I think about what this would mean for minnow species. Especially for a minnow species like Blackstriped Topminnow or Gams. But other minnows should also benefit and probably also BG fry.

Sunil, think of a 1/4 acre as ~10,000 sq ft. If a square the perimeter is 400 ft. But if 1 ft wide it is 10,000 feet long with a perimeter of 20,002 ft. So the skinny example is very extreme but the perimeters of otherwise equal areas are very much dependent on shape.

If you like panfish you could stock hybrid bluegill(HBG) and a few catfish(CC). CC (16"+) will eat small sunfish. Although without some bass present the CC would eventually reproduce and likely result in lots of small stunted CC unless you fed them pellets to keep them growing. You could also stock bass instead of CC. Another option would be 10 bass 5-10 CC and 100-150 HBG. Feed them pellets and have a decent fishery. Bass would likely stay smaller if you did not carefully manage their numbers (harvest small ones) because bass can be prolific and become too abundant that results in small bass. Bass will grow better and larger if you buy pellet trained bass and regularly feed them pellets.

There are many ways that you can go with this but Bob and others usually ask, "what are your goals?" What fish do you like to catch, will this be for kids or grandkid fishing? You may not get trophy bass or bluegill but many on this forum have worked with this size water successfully and, as FishinRod said, there are good threads.

Thanks for all the replies. I'm going through them now. My goals are really something for our kids to enjoy. They're young, and I wanted to get them interested in fishing. I'm new to ponds but trying to learn. My wife isn't a fan of catfish (haha), so trying to find an alternative. I messaged several fish farms in our area (north of College Station, TX) but got minimal help or recommendations. I think our ponds are too small for them to make big money. I understand... I don't mind doing research and working to figure it out. Here's a picture of the pond as of today. We had a good downpour a week ago, and it filled up fast. I realized we had set the culvert to low, so it's not all the way full, yet. I decided to pull the culvert the other day with my tractor after realizing a leak formed under it when we moved it up. We had a shower and so I took the opportunity to regrade the dam and pack it down solid. I decided to use a spillway instead of a culvert since the area drains off in the back into another dry creek which drains eventually into the Brazos River. I haven't had a chance to add the solar aeration but hopefully can get to it this weekend. I realize this is a process and not immediate but was hoping I could get something going in there. Strangely we already have what seems to be Bluegill despite not stocking it. Guessing birds brought in eggs? Also, we have a large abundance of bullfrogs and other species swimming around, as well.

My first attempt at a pond so go easy on me haha! It's kind of a one man operation... lol

JPS, yes, thanks.

Rod, sorry.

I forgot my early education.

txranchguy,

You've got a lot of options. I was wondering if your wife didn't like catfish for catching or for eating or for both. What ever the case, a fish like a catfish that doesn't commonly recruit ensures good growth with little management. With feed you can grow more of them and make them larger.

Your pond being narrow offers some benefits. One in particular is that you could reserve a small portion of it for forage production. Something like densely packed cedars across a place in the upper portion might keep larger fish excluded (or maybe a culvert with screen). This way you maintain from season a minimal breeding population of minnows.

This is probably no help but an option I am considering on my newly acquired pond are HSB and minnows. Its 5 hours away and until I retire I need a low maintenance situation. The 1.5" fingerlings can be acquired from KEO and delivered overnight via FedEx. So the cost other members incurred were between 40 cents to 80 cents each depending on the quantity shipped where the FedEx was a fair proportion of the total cost. My plans were to overstock and crop each year. Then restock in the 4th year probably overstocking more than the initial anticipating predation. You could do that by stocking upper forage area allowing them to grow some while excluded from your big predators. Members north of us have recorded growth to 8 to 10 inches in the first year. So a person could thin each year to allow them to continue growing.

I would give consideration to clearing the trees so there is at least 15 ft of space between the canopy and the ponds edge. Trees will sap a lot of water and the shade prevents sunlight which drives the natural food chain. Anyways enjoy your new pond!

txranchguy,

I liked the pics of the pond. Beautiful look snaking through the forest.

I also agree with jpsdad on some tree clearing.

Is there a small section on the south side where you don't quite like the look of the forest against the pond? A small clearing that allowed southern exposure would provide sunlight in the early spring and help all of the organisms that depend on photosynthesis at the bottom of the food chain.

I also believe that the aeration via solar is going to greatly increase the numbers/weight of fish your pond will support in that setting.

Looks like a pretty neat toy. Especially with kids involved.

BTW, welcome to Pond Boss. One thing to remember. Pay twice as much attention to what Bill Cody says than to the rest of us.

Okay -- you currently have greensunfish (GSF) in your new pond. They likely arrived at some point from water in the ravine or dry creek GSF are notorious as early unwanted invaders of new ponds that have any remote connection to a ditch or even a dry creek bed. High water events and heavy rains are very good for distributing green sunfish. Texas has GSF as common as mosquitos.

GSF are 1/2 of a hybrid bluegill (BG X GSF = HBG). Thus adding HBG to your pond is a logical step. HBG with adequate food can grow to 8"-12" long. LMB bass even as 10"-14" fish in your pond would control sunfish reproduction, minimize sunfish stunting and provide excitement for young anglers.

My main concern is same as several others that the tree lined shoreline will eventually cause significant water quality problems in this long narrow pond. A large amount of tree litter will find its way into the pond. These organics will consume huge amounts of dissolved oxygen that at certain times will cause fish kills in some areas of the long narrow pond even with solar aeration present. As this happens, bass will die first and GSF last. GSF can somehow manage to survive when the pond has 0 oxygen. Thus as bass disappear due to fish kills, you will periodically need to restock some of them to maintain some sort of fishery balance.

I kinda like the Green Sunfish. I have a quarter acre pond full of them. There are 2 advantages to them. They will out fight a bluegill so they are fun fishing. Next, compared to bluegills, they have limited spawns so are more controllable. Thus, less chance of over spawning and creating an oxygen shortage/fish kill.

txranchguy,

I missed the part where you have an existing population of GSF. Don't stock small fingerling predator fish in a pond with them. Also you probably cannot get much traction with FHM in this scenario. Draining and killing with quicklime could eradicate them but this would not prevent them from swimming in in high water. A good siphon system with a below pond standpipe would probably keep them out except for overflow situations. If BG are established, they will tend to be less common in number though they could be prominent in the catch.

You could just roll with the punches and work with what you have. The CC are good in combination with them. Buy large ones that can benefit from the existing population of GSF for prey. 20" or longer from a catfish farm. It is not likely you will get reproduction in the presence of GSF which are large gaped lepomis that will target catfish fry. LMB recruits tend to stunt in combination with GSF. They are expensive to source in lengths that are large enough to benefit from your existing population of GSF. In northern OK, where this combination exists in many ponds, the average GSF is much like the average LMB in terms of individual weight (so GSF benefit from LMB presence but not so much the other way around). Though I have a lot of great memories of them and have enjoyed catching and eating them I must tell you why I am not particularly fond of them now. Of all lepomis, and in my experience, they are more susceptible to black spot than all the others. Its not attractive to see in filets though if cooked will not harm you. But your wife and kids would be turned off by it for sure. Also their flesh is not as firm as are BG, crappie, or LMB, or CC in my experience. Again not as appealing.

There is no proof yet without good close up pictures that the sunfish type fish in your pond are green sunfish. However IMO and experience the chance of them being GSF is 99.9%. jpsdad says don't stock small predator fish in with the GSF is because the predators that you stock has to be able to immediately eat the smallest fish as food to survive and grow. Numerous GSF are aggressive feeders and competitors and they will out compete for food newly stocked fingerling bass who then do not survive. Usually for a bass predator to eat a sunfish, the predator needs to be at least 3X longer than the sunfish. If it were my 1/4 acre GFS infested pond I would be stocking asap 10-16 LMB that were 8"-10" long.

I can attest this is plenty long for LMB. I once did a similar stocking into a GSF only pond about twice the size of the OPs. The fall stocked LMB quadrupled their weight by the following spring (14"). The 8"-10" were source to a pond 1/2 mile a way (in the same large pasture of a 10,000 acre ranch) where the combination was LMB and GSF. That pond the LMB were sourced from was fun to fish. I keep a lot of LMB and GSF from it to eat but the largest LMB I caught from it was in the 16" to 18" range and I released it. Most casts yielded >7" GSF or 8" to 10" LMB if you'd keep moving around the pond. It was an old pond (maybe 30 to 40 years) even at the time I fished it more than 30 years ago.

There was a change in ownership of the land so I didn't get an opportunity to see how the GSF pond developed past the following year of stocking. If left unattended it would develop, I think, into a pond like the one I the LMB came from. Under sufficient cropping of the LMB, they would probably grow larger. The 2 to 3 acre source pond, though I harvested LMB and GSF from it, was insufficiently harvested to make a big difference as I was the only one fishing it.

Thanks for all the recommendations. I tried calling KEO Fish Farms in Keo, AR but they don't ship or deliver fish. I called and Mike said they only raise hybrid striped bass and grass carp. Maybe I got the wrong KEO?

Here's a picture of what I found. I used a pool net to scoop them up.

@jpsdad @Bill Cody

Okay, so y'all recommend LMB instead of CC? I'll see if I can remove some of the trees when the weather is a little better. We've had some crazy windy days (45 mph) here in Central Texas. I managed to pull the culvert, create a nice spillway and raise the dam a foot so if we ever get some rain we should see more water (haha no rain in almost a month). What would be the stocking rate for both ponds if I do this late April? I saw Bill Cody mentioned 10-16 LMB 8"-10" long. I wish I knew an easy place to pick up fish near us. I think everything is an hour or more. I'm about an hour east of Round Rock, TX if that helps. Thanks again for all the help guys - much appreciated.

One place sent me this... not sure where I can get 10" sizes right now...

"All we can get in a few weeks is a 4-5” Native bass. then in June we will get the 2” Bass. the 4-5” Native Bass will eat the redear.

We would recommend 4-5” Hybrid Striped Bass. They will eat the bait fish and not spawn and over take the ponds.
HSB are $3.00 each, you only need 25 in each lake
Fathead minnows 3-4 Lbs in each lake"

For kids, in a 1/4 acre pond, LMB in a slow growth population structure makes a lot of sense. They will control GSF and the GSF that do recruit will grow to larger sizes. There tends to be a lot of 1/4 to 1/2 lb fish in such a situation and any fish falling in this size are fun for kids. They are also large enough to filet. If you go that route, I'd follow Bill's advice. Expect LMB growth to be very good in the beginning. When you see a good spawn (which is a matter of when not if) the growth may stop. You should set a goal to harvest around 5 lbs of LMB annually and around 10 to 15 lbs of GSF annually to keep them and the recruits growing well. Just wait until you get recruits to start your harvest.

I don't think FHM would do well in your pond if it is populated with GSF. I would be more inclined to add GAMs. But even these may not be able to sustain a population. A 4 to 5 in HSB is about the size of most of your GSF. Keep in mind that HSB of this size probably need to be fed due to the competition with GSF. I'd be surprised if there weren't competition also for feed. One really great advantage to the 8" to 10" LMB is that there will be enough 2" to 3" GSF to really boost their growth. LMB won't require feeding.

These fingerlings are GSF for sure.

Overton's should be easy for you to get to. Go straight up 79 to Buffalo. It's less than 1 1/2 hours away, but good products and people make it worth the drive. A phone call or email prior to a trip would be a good idea, as springtime business is in full bloom.

They called me back the other day and we're all good. Really nice folks! Thanks