This was about a 2 acre pond that the dam got cut before the spillway was completed. I'm also building a house and just now able to get back on the pond and increase it to 3 1/2 acres. This is my first attempt at attaching pictures so my apologies if messed up. Also not sure if I can add to this post as other pond projects are completed.
Are you in Arkansas? I see you mentioned Arkansas weather, but your location links to Malvern, PA.
Excerpt from Robert Crais' "The Monkey's Raincoat:" "She took another microscopic bite of her sandwich, then pushed it away. Maybe she absorbed nutrients from her surroundings."
All good, I was just seeing if there was a fellow Pennsylvanian amongst us.
Excerpt from Robert Crais' "The Monkey's Raincoat:" "She took another microscopic bite of her sandwich, then pushed it away. Maybe she absorbed nutrients from her surroundings."
Finally getting some rain and pond starting to fill up. Now on to stocking. I've been reading posts on here but have a few questions. What is the best forage fish in Arkansas, pond will be about 4 acres when full and depth at the Dam is 16' and averages 7' over two acres. The upper 2 acres is 4 to 5'. With the drought like we had this year I could lose 3 to 4 feet but most years 2 to 3'. I want this to be a LMB and blue gill pond. The pond now is about 3' over what the pics below show and about 6' from full. Are fat heads good in Arkansas? I read a few posts that made me think they were better suited in Northern climates. Can I stock blue gill at the same time? When could I add adult blue gill and red ear, those and sunfish are plentiful in the area lakes. When do you add the LMB? I posted these pictures earlier and thought they went to the gallery and you then uploaded from the gallery to the post. I don't know I may be getting it mixed up with another forum. My apologies if these post twice and please let me know.
Fatheads will work just fine to get your fish started, then after a few years they will be all eaten. Bluegills are the foundation of a good forage fish for LMB. Stock some RES to help with snail control, you might be able to stock CNBG, but depending where in AR you are, they don't go well if you get ice for any length of time. Add the FHM if the hatcheries are open now, if not, as soon as they open in January. Stock the BG/CNBG/RES when the water temps are in the upper 50's to low 60's.
Thanks esshup, How many of each in 4 acre pond. How long to wait before stocking LMB. Is it ok to add fish caught from area lakes if so should you wait before adding adult BG and RES. What about threadfin will they spawn in a pond? You can catch them by hundreds with a throw net in area lakes.
It depends on your fishery goals for the amount of BG/LMB to stock. Threadfin will do OK if you have a decent phytoplankton bloom, BUT if you get ice they will most likely croak. They will do OK in bigger bodies of water (BOW) because they have deeper, warmer water to hide in for a while, plus the more water volume the slower it is to change temps.
RE' adding fish from another BOW. You have to watch out for bringing in invasive species that you may not want in your pond. You can bring baby zebra mussels to the pond - you can't see the fertilized eggs (called veligers. - they are microscopic). You can also bring white or yellow grubs to the pond too. If you really need to bring fish from another BOW then you really should do a salt dip 3 times and do not transfer any water from the original BOW to your pond. You can bring in unwanted plants/algae too like Stony Starwort, Eurasian Water Milfoil, etc.
What are your fishery goals, large BG or large LMB?
I would like to have both large BG and Large LMB is that posible? Maybe Tiger Bass if the cost doesn't rule them out. Would also like to eat some of both. From what I've read on here you have to take out quite a few Lbs a year to keep from overpopulating that should provide us with all we want to eat and then some. I'm adding FH as soon as I can get some and then adding BG and RES this spring. I also read that you can add the BG, RES and FH at the same time is that the best option. Whats your opinion on the Tigers? There aggressiveness should make it fun for the grandkids not to mention myself. Do the Tigers spawn in a pond. If not I wouldn't want them, I want a fishery that is pretty well self sustaining as far as forage goes. I have quite a bit of structure and adding more but torn on the plant situation. Leaning toward not adding any for the fear of it taking over but would really like to have some if it could be controlled in the shallow end. Thanks esshup
It's very difficult to manage for both large BG and large LMB in a pond. Wait, let me back up a bit. What's your definition of a large BG and large LMB?
I have no experience with Tiger Bass and have no idea where to source them.
Large LMB 10LB plus would be exceptional with numerous ones in the 5 to 7 Lb range would be great. I've never actually weighed the BG caught on the area lakes but a good one is bigger than your hand. So what is that maybe 1/2 to 3/4 lb. I've only read about Tigers but like what I've read if they spawn.
Large LMB 10LB plus would be exceptional with numerous ones in the 5 to 7 Lb range would be great. I've never actually weighed the BG caught on the area lakes but a good one is bigger than your hand. So what is that maybe 1/2 to 3/4 lb. I've only read about Tigers but like what I've read if they spawn.
It will be difficult to grow both big BG and those size LMB in the pond without intensive management. A 5# LMB can eat and will target a 5" BG, and a 10# LMB can target and eat BG up to 7" or so. A 1/2# bg is 9" and a 3/4# BG is between 10 and 10.5" in length. Best thing to do to achieve your goals is to feed the BG like crazy and not bass fish very much for the first 3 years. Fin clip the LMB that you stock so you can somewhat keep track of the stockers vs. the offspring. 4 acres can support 200# of bass for fast growth, leave bass in there that are under 14" and over 21". Keep track of the weights/lengths of the LMB over 21" If you see the growth rate/weight gain slow down, take a few more out. That will tell you that the forage size that they need to continue to grow is getting thin. Once you catch the over 21" LMB a few times it will be progressively harder to catch them.
There is a lot to learn and a lot more to this than first thought. This is a great site and a lot of good info to help shorten the learning curve. I'm going to start another post question on water quality and testing and would much appreciate your input. Again thanks for your advice
The next link from the library has very good discussions about Tiger Bass. Note tiger bass are a hybrid and they will reproduce and over time subsequent generations will get diluted mixed genetics between northern and Florida bass toward the dominant LM gene pool whatever that is. Too keep strong superior Tiger genetics past the original stockers new Tigers should probably be periodically stocked into the pond. https://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=274132#Post274132
Hopefully the pond will get completely full by spring. Do your best to get the watershed seeded with grass to minimize siltation and muddy water in the pond. Muddy water suppresses the pond productivity by reducing light penetration and ability of phytoplankton and zooplankton to grow its best.
In the LMbass PBoss archive library, pay attention to the best stocking density ratios and ways to improve fish growth. Learn about hook smart bass. For growing bigger bass you should be learning how to sample, know about bass relative weights (RW), when to remove bass and what sizes to remove. LMB are a prolific fish species that always want to overpopulate the pond and over eat forage fish. Thus there will usually be WAY TOO MANY hogs feeding at the trough.
esshup has the basic info correct. It is difficult to grow really big BG and numerous big LM in the same pond. IMO you should be well satisfied to grow numerous CATCHABLE 5lb-7lb bass compared to only a few 9-10 lbs that are rarely caught. You need lots and lots of smaller 3"-6"BG to feed those big bass eating machines. Example - For EACH two pound bass to maintain good body weight it needs to eat 12 lbs of the RIGHT size of forge fish and then to grow one MORE pound it needs around 8-10 lbs more fish as food for a total for that one bass is 28-30lbs of forage fish of the correct nutrition and growth building food. Now each 5 lb bass needs 30 lbs of fish to maintain weight and 8-10 lbs more fish to grow to 6lbs. LOTS OF FORAGE FISH ARE NEEDED FOR KEEPING THOSE BASS FAT AND GROWING. If you don't feed the pond fish pellets as good quality pellets,,,, you won't grow nearly as many fish in the pond. It is okay to not feed pellets but JUST remember you will not be able to grow as many bass nor BG per acre. A 4 ac pond without feeding pellets can still grow plenty of fish for a family - the Balance of the fish numbers JUST has to be watched, monitored and fish harvested PROPERLY to keep them from becoming too crowded with not not enough foods for them to be growing optimally. You don't want TOO MANY hogs feeding at the trough. Fish balance and numbers are important for a high quality fishery balance. It is all about a BALANCE of numbers of fish present.
My only commentary so far for your pond is IMO you have not created enough large cluster groupings of structure & habitat. IMO you have them spaced TOO far apart. Think of imitating big weed bed areas to protect and nurture abundant forage fish that grow bass and bigger BG. Panfish use the habitat cluster/groupings or structure like FISH CITIES as feeding buffets and refuge loafing areas. These structure cities have been tested and scientifically proven to allow for more of the bigger sizes of bass.
Last edited by Bill Cody; 12/19/2202:53 PM.
aka Pond Doctor & Dr. Perca Read Pond Boss Magazine - America's Journal of Pond Management
Here an EXCELLENT verbal in-depth discussion and education from an expert about the importance and need of fish-lake habitat and fish cities; what they are, their function, benefits, how to build them and how measured fish abundance increased with fish cities. https://www.buzzsprout.com/976324/1...and-fish-habitat-for-lakes-and-ponds?t=0
There are lots of other good informational discussions on the Sitting Dockside podcasts.
Don't forget that your pond has a carrying capacity with a standing fish stock amount that tends to fluctuate constantly due to births, deaths, growth, and productivity dynamics. How you manage and regulate the fishes comprising the standing stock determines the quality of the fishery that involves fish abundance and sizes.
Last edited by Bill Cody; 12/19/2202:55 PM.
aka Pond Doctor & Dr. Perca Read Pond Boss Magazine - America's Journal of Pond Management
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