Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose Fingerling fish in new pond

I have been searching for the answer or a thread on stocking 1 to 3 inch. My question is if a person stocked a new pond with BG, CNBG, or RES 2 to 3 inches. Does anybody have a percentage of how many should make it 1 year per 100 stocked. Meaning if I stocked 100, what would be the expected mortality rate due to predators death etc. Would it be 10 percent? If you stocked 100 LMB, 2 to 3 inch, would ratio be the same? Was talking to another pond owner today, his fish guy said 10 percent expected loss. So if you wanted 100 by 110

The assumption I am making is water is good etc, what is the acceptable loss and is it more or less for Bream than Bass? Any links anyone has would be greatly appreciated.

Do you have any other fish in the pond. Meaning predators

I would strongly considered putting in some flathead minnows and some spawning habitat for them you will be amazed at how much forage it will create in your pond this will give you plenty of food for your other fish. If you give them some time by themselves there will be food of all sizes for your new fish and give them a better start. Just make sure you acclimate the new fish when you introduce them I have had very good luck I just introduced four dozen large Fhm(fatheads) about three months ago and I estimate that I now have approximately ten thousand now I stocked two hundred BG and one hundred res and found no dead fish

Before stocking FHM, or any minnows we need to know what the goal is. He may be stocking LMB on top of large numbers of BG/RES looking for maximum LMB growth.
Mortality is lower for intermediates vs small fingerlings, but if everything is "right" 95% or higher could be expected.
Stocking in the heat, expect 25-35% mortality, maybe higher. Depends on fish health and how much they have been handled.

Sounds about right, but those numbers all depend on the care in which the fish received in hauling and how good of a tempering job was done on-site prior to stocking.

Looking further down the road, in a years time if Great Blue Herons or Cormorants are a visitor, all those numbers get thrown out the window. Those birds can eat a LOT of fish in a short amount of time.

Snipe what would be the downside of stocking FHM it seems like it would be a plus for either species. Bass will eventually wipe them out and BG would have a food source all through their life

My pond was stocked on May 1. I put in 10 lbs FHM and 400 RES on may1 2022. June 1st added 5 more lbs of FHM and 300 CNBG. My goal will be big Bream. I have not added any predator yet. My friend is digging a 1.5 to 2 acre pond down the road and wants me to help him stock it. So I was just wondering what the survival rate was on the 2-3 inchers.

And yes my pond is full of FHM, they spawn some every 2 weeks and on each full moon. My neighbor wants to grow big bass so I know it will require more bream per acre. Thanks this gives me a baseline. So the 700 total I stocked in perfect world 650 may make it. I only lost 5 CBNG when I stocked and maybe 3 dozen FHM. I was very lucky with the weather days I stocked it was cooler.

I am going to wait and see how big it is when he is finished. Then stock FHM and some RES. Then wait month or two and add CNBG, then wait several months and add the bass. It just seems to me that RES get started on pellets better if they are the only fish in there to me, That pond I think going to do 75 to 80 percent CNBG. SInce he wants it for bass.

Thank you snipe that was the info, I was looking for.

Consider the FH as food and stock as needed. The BG/RES you manage for as forage are not the original stockers. Keep in mind that BG reproduce at high levels ASAP in a new pond. #s range from 10 to 50 thousand YOY per BG pair per year. RES produce much less offspring likely in the range of 3000 yoy per pair.

As noted survival of newly stocked BG and RES at 2-3 inches in a new pond are high depending on the situation. Assuming a proper stocking event with few floaters then 90% survival through first spawning would be normal.

If you want to grow big bass fast, start with 3,000 BG/acre and 50 LMB/acre. I'd throw 500 RES/acre in there as well. Before the BG go in I'd toss in 10#+ FHM/ac.