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Greetings Pond Boss members! I am a new member, and new to the pond world. I have been scouring this site for the last few months learning and gathering information. I would love some suggestions on how I should stock my pond right, the first time. I am located in NW North Carolina. The pond was completed and filled this December. It is about 1.5 acres, and an oval shape. The west side of the pond is roughly 5' deep, and the east side is 10' deep, gradually graded across it. I have three deep holes roughly 8' wide by 15' long arranged in a triangle shape in the center, that are 18'-20' deep. The bottom is mostly river rock and loamy sand. I purposely left the bottom roughly graded with deep dozer tracks throughout to add some terrain, along with some 3'-4' boulders throughout. It is fed by a mountain creek, getting about 170,000 gallons of fresh water per day, and the same exiting through drain pipes. I am originally from Michigan, and YP has always been my favorite pan fish. So my goal with this pond, is to harvest 100-150 lbs of YP per year for eating. Everything else in the pond will be to support that. My thought for stocking was this spring to stock 20lbs GS and 20 lbs FHM. Once they have spawned and have been established, release 400 YP, ranging in size from 3"-8". The following year, I would release a predator fish. I am still on the fence, but I would prefer WE, even though I know they can't reproduce. I am not a fan of eating bass, so SMB and LMB are my least favorite options. I have learned about HSB from here, so if that fish does better in my region it may be an option. Once the forage base and YP are established, I think I would introduce RES and crawfish. I am not opposed to BG, I just don't want them competing with my YP. I have been looking for different fishery options, and I have found these three near me. If there are better sources you know of, I would love a recommendation. I don't mind paying more for a better source that is farther away.
Onely The Best Fingerlings- Hertford, NC
Aurora Fisheries- Aurora NC
Trophy Pond, Hohenwald, TN

Thank you kindly in advance for your time!

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If you don't want BG in there, you need to stock RES that are a minimum of 3" in length, 4" minimum is even better. When RES are fingerlings (1-2 inches) they are very difficult to tell apart from Bluegills. I would educate myself on positively IDing the fish and ID every fish by hand before they go into the pond. Call every one of those suppliers and see if they can supply fish that are a MINIMUM of 3" long. If given a size range, make sure that the 3" fish are the minimum size that they will supply. It is very easy to get a few BG mixed in with the RES. Typically it's not a big deal, but if you don't want any BG in the pond, 2 BG could cause problems down the road.

I would make sure that you have spawning habitat in the pond for the YP to spawn on the following Spring of the year and not release a predator until you are sure that the YP have pulled off a successful spawn. You should plan on feeding the YP in the pond a good commercial fish food like Optimal Fish food. They can grow to 14", maybe 15" in your pond with the correct food, and it will take them around 3 years after stocking to get that big.


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3/4 to 1 1/4 ac pond LMB, SMB, PS, BG, RES, CC, YP, Bardello BG, (RBT & Blue Tilapia - seasonal).
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Welcome to Pond Boss!!!

You've got an interesting project going there. How many Yellow Perch, using an average weight, would you expect to harvest to yield 100-150 lbs/year of Yellow Perch fillets?

I'm just guessing here, but I would think a healthy 14" long YP would produce less than 1/2 pound of meat, probably less.

If you start with (400) original stocker Yellow Perch, it sounds like you might be harvesting several hundred YP each year, after year 2 or 3. Reproduction of YP could occur in Year 2 or 3 depending on size of the YP stockers.

It's almost like you might not want a predator fish in order to produce enough YP for harvest, yet you'd need enough forage to grow the YP to harvest size.


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."

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That is great to know! I will definitely look into this. Thank you

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Welcome to PB posting.

You will have to manage the pond as the balance mechanism. Feeding will be critical for your goal. YP are known to stunt in the absence of predators (you being the main one). I would stock a few RES early (use adult fish). I would not overstock the GS but lean toward FH while the YP are small. You will need a predator that primarily eats 2–4-inch YP. A few WE might be the right one as you can control #s and size. Same for HSB but they may be able to spawn in your pond given the description of moving water and rock.

See this about HSB spawning in ponds.

https://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Main=26336&Number=336804#Post336804

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Sunil,
Thank you for the response! I can definitely wait a year or more for the predator fish. My only reason to have it is to keep the young YP from stunting. I should have clarified, the 100-150lbs of fish per year would be an eventual goal and was total weight ( i would estimate 150-200 perch). If it took 3-4 years to get that, that is fine. The 100-150lbs was only based on what i have read on pond yields in other articles. Not doing any pellet feeding, i may only ever get to 50-75lbs. But one can hope!

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Thank you ewest! Do you think 3-5 WE will do the trick in about a year? Or do i need to introduce them right away with the RES? How many adults, 50? I did not realize the HSB could spawn in such a small pond, that was the only reason i was thinking of them as an option. I was worried about the WE with higher water temps being located farther south. But our temps are not that different than southern MI being in the mountains here, and i have the constant flow of water plus the deep holes.

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I wonder if the HSB are the Sunshine or Rainbow cross....Hybrid striped bass generally cannot naturally reproduce, so their numbers depend on the number of fish stocked. In the spring, hybrids may undergo spawning migrations to upstream areas into reservoirs in an attempt to spawn despite being sterile. The average lifespan is between five to six years. The HSB produced at Keo Fish Farm are sterile. The reciprocal, "Sunshine" cross can potentially get non-sterile hybrids, but I'd think it is rare or virtually all lakes and ponds stocked by states would not need restocking



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Lot's of good & interesting points coming out here. I'm assuming you are NOT planning to use fish feed; if you did feed, that would open up possibilities, but let's just assume you're not going to feed.

The specific goal of generating and regenerating eating-size Yellow Perch to be harvested presents an interesting challenge. I say this because there may be different & changing 'guidance' for the management of the pond in years 1, 2, 3, and 4, and past that.

Normally, we want to grow certain species of fish into 'large' fish. That means we have to control the population of the target fish species so that a certain subset will grow to large size while not having the overall population of said species to become stunted....hence the role of 'predator' fish. If you are going to take out a few hundred Yellow Perch each year, the main role of the 'predator' fish is somewhat diminished as you'll be taking a lot of the largest Yellow Perch out for consumption. You'll still need the next batch of Yellow Perch to grow to harvest size, so that next size class of YP needs to be in existence, and preferably not stunted so they can grow to potential.

In year 1, assuming a spring '23 stocking, you could start getting fatheads in the pond now, in large quantities, and they'll start spawning by early summer '23. If you found larger YP before May '23, those YP would have been born in Spring '22. If some of those '22-born YP are stunted, you may not see full growth potential there. Any Spring '23-born YP that you can source will be less than 4" by June-ish, and maybe 6-8" by Sept/Oct. '23, if they are feed with either pellets or baitfish. Most likely, if you get '23-born YP, you will not have a in-pond YP Spawn for '23. However, if you get '22-born YP, and get them into your pond before March '23, you might pull off a YP spawn for '23. For '23, you probably won't have desirable YP to harvest for table fare unless many of the stocker YP were in the 8" range when introduced to your pond; if so, your forage base (fatheads) may not be able to fully blow up as an 8" YP can eat a lot of adult fatheads. So, in year 1, if there's no spawn, predator fish would have no beneficial role. If you do pull off a spawn, it would most likely only be because you stocked near-adult YP and then you may have the chance to harvest some in the Fall '23, but again, your forage base may not be exploding.

Year 2 in 2024 should see a YP spawn, and decent potential for harvest, but you do need several hundred '24 YOY YP to survive to be the next harvestable crop. However, I don't see any '24 born YP being really edible until later in '25 and only if you still have an exploding forage base, and perhaps a very controlled predator base; whatever fish you use as a predator species, it will eat on the forage base also.

Year 3, 2025??? Who knows?



I think conventional wisdom says that if you have no type of predator fish, then the Yellow Perch will spawn without any check/control, and that could result in 1,000's of YP spread over the first stocker size class, and then a few smaller classes. So, I'm thinking to go light with predator fish as you can usually add more easily, but you can't easily reduce their numbers. As such, a predator fish with no chance or very small chances of spawning might be best; that would point to HSB and/or Walleye.

If your new YP pull off a spawn in 2023, then I might consider a small predator stocking in the Fall '23 followed by another small predator stocking in Spring '24. If the new YP don't spawn until Spring '24, then I would consider a small predator stocking in Spring '24, and again in Fall '24.

The Redear Sunfish (RES) will help keep snails out of your pond thus reducing grubs in the fish meat you want to eat. Those could go in in the next few months as has been suggested.


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."

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Perhaps Setterguy can chime in on how many YP he harvests, at will, per year in a SMB pond I stocked for him several years ago. I stocked 1500 3-6" YP, 20# Fathead Minnow and 25# Golden Shiner. Later we added 100 4-6" SMB. He does use a feeder, throwing Optimal and/or Purina Aquamax, and harvests several 1 pound YP a year and catches smallies in excess of 4 pounds



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Yes, that would be a good reference point, Rex.

BCR has said he wasn't leaning towards SMB, so I left that out of the predator suggestions especially as they'll most likely pull off successful spawns year after year.


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Rex, I can tell you for sure that Keo HSB will grow eggs and milt. Now even if they were to spawn in the pond, the eggs won't hatch. BUT not to being not fertilized, I don't think there is enough O2 in the water column to keep the eggs alive long enough to hatch. I know of only one pond that has HSB reproducing in it, and that is on a limited basis. Steve pond who owns Stubby Steves.

I think the OP will have a hard time growing enough YP to the size he wants to harvest the 150-200 pounds of YP without artificially feeding. I will bet that the YP will extirpate the Fathead Minnows from the pond by year 2.

If it was my pond and had the same goals, I'd stock the YP, FHM, RES, GSH and 15 WE. Then year 2 or 3, stock 25-50 HSB and use a Texas Hunter throwing Optimal Bluegill for the first year, then switch to a 50/50 mils of Optimal BG and Optimal Bass food. The offspring of the GSH will feed the YP and some of the RES, and the HSB will control any of the adult GSH that start to get overpopulated. You want to have a forage fish in the pond of a size that the brooders can for the most part escape predation. For instance, without a heavy dense weed growth in the pond, LMB can wipe GSH out of a pond, no matter what size they are.


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3/4 to 1 1/4 ac pond LMB, SMB, PS, BG, RES, CC, YP, Bardello BG, (RBT & Blue Tilapia - seasonal).
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If we use the ratio of 10 lbs of forage fish to 1 lb. of predator weight gain, Then we'd need to be producing approx. 1500 to 2000 lbs of forage fish each year to get 150-200 lbs of YP harvested. Especially with no supplemental feed...


Excerpt from Robert Crais' "The Monkey's Raincoat:"
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Originally Posted by esshup
Rex, I can tell you for sure that Keo HSB will grow eggs and milt. Now even if they were to spawn in the pond, the eggs won't hatch. BUT not to being not fertilized, I don't think there is enough O2 in the water column to keep the eggs alive long enough to hatch. I know of only one pond that has HSB reproducing in it, and that is on a limited basis. Steve pond who owns Stubby Steves.

I think the OP will have a hard time growing enough YP to the size he wants to harvest the 150-200 pounds of YP without artificially feeding. I will bet that the YP will extirpate the Fathead Minnows from the pond by year 2.

If it was my pond and had the same goals, I'd stock the YP, FHM, RES, GSH and 15 WE. Then year 2 or 3, stock 25-50 HSB and use a Texas Hunter throwing Optimal Bluegill for the first year, then switch to a 50/50 mils of Optimal BG and Optimal Bass food. The offspring of the GSH will feed the YP and some of the RES, and the HSB will control any of the adult GSH that start to get overpopulated. You want to have a forage fish in the pond of a size that the brooders can for the most part escape predation. For instance, without a heavy dense weed growth in the pond, LMB can wipe GSH out of a pond, no matter what size they are.

I disagree on LMB being able to wipe out established Golden Shiners (that have spawning habitat). Golden Shiners are pelagic, and LMB are not. LMB won't/can't eat what they almost never see swimming by. I know the HSB from Keo are supposed to be sterile, yet will become gravid and create milt, but as far as I know, and according to Mike, the eggs are not viable. As to YP with LMB, the LMB are more likely to wipe out the YP, and that was why I stocked Smallmouth in Setterguy's pond, and YP are still thriving after about 8 years now, and as I stated, he does feed high quality pelleted feed in his one acre pond. I'd guess he pulls out 50-75 pounds of YP per year, but 150-200 pounds would simply be unrealistic



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I've heard of HSB reproducing with native white bass here, specifically LOZ. Guy that said it, says he's noticed more & more not quite white bass, not quite HSP that almost never revive after being boated, even in cooler weather. His theory/SWAG is that the back crosses are not as healthy/hardy as the native whites & is concerned about it being detrimental to the species.

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Originally Posted by Rainman
Originally Posted by esshup
Rex, I can tell you for sure that Keo HSB will grow eggs and milt. Now even if they were to spawn in the pond, the eggs won't hatch. BUT not to being not fertilized, I don't think there is enough O2 in the water column to keep the eggs alive long enough to hatch. I know of only one pond that has HSB reproducing in it, and that is on a limited basis. Steve pond who owns Stubby Steves.

I think the OP will have a hard time growing enough YP to the size he wants to harvest the 150-200 pounds of YP without artificially feeding. I will bet that the YP will extirpate the Fathead Minnows from the pond by year 2.

If it was my pond and had the same goals, I'd stock the YP, FHM, RES, GSH and 15 WE. Then year 2 or 3, stock 25-50 HSB and use a Texas Hunter throwing Optimal Bluegill for the first year, then switch to a 50/50 mils of Optimal BG and Optimal Bass food. The offspring of the GSH will feed the YP and some of the RES, and the HSB will control any of the adult GSH that start to get overpopulated. You want to have a forage fish in the pond of a size that the brooders can for the most part escape predation. For instance, without a heavy dense weed growth in the pond, LMB can wipe GSH out of a pond, no matter what size they are.

I disagree on LMB being able to wipe out established Golden Shiners (that have spawning habitat). Golden Shiners are pelagic, and LMB are not. LMB won't/can't eat what they almost never see swimming by. I know the HSB from Keo are supposed to be sterile, yet will become gravid and create milt, but as far as I know, and according to Mike, the eggs are not viable. As to YP with LMB, the LMB are more likely to wipe out the YP, and that was why I stocked Smallmouth in Setterguy's pond, and YP are still thriving after about 8 years now, and as I stated, he does feed high quality pelleted feed in his one acre pond. I'd guess he pulls out 50-75 pounds of YP per year, but 150-200 pounds would simply be unrealistic

Rex, tell that to the LMB in my pond. I stocked 200 8"-11" Golden Shiners and they didn't last a year. At the time they were stocked, I had habitat for the Shiners to spawn on, and I had no HSB in my pond.


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Originally Posted by esshup
Originally Posted by Rainman
Originally Posted by esshup
Rex, I can tell you for sure that Keo HSB will grow eggs and milt. Now even if they were to spawn in the pond, the eggs won't hatch. BUT not to being not fertilized, I don't think there is enough O2 in the water column to keep the eggs alive long enough to hatch. I know of only one pond that has HSB reproducing in it, and that is on a limited basis. Steve pond who owns Stubby Steves.

I think the OP will have a hard time growing enough YP to the size he wants to harvest the 150-200 pounds of YP without artificially feeding. I will bet that the YP will extirpate the Fathead Minnows from the pond by year 2.

If it was my pond and had the same goals, I'd stock the YP, FHM, RES, GSH and 15 WE. Then year 2 or 3, stock 25-50 HSB and use a Texas Hunter throwing Optimal Bluegill for the first year, then switch to a 50/50 mils of Optimal BG and Optimal Bass food. The offspring of the GSH will feed the YP and some of the RES, and the HSB will control any of the adult GSH that start to get overpopulated. You want to have a forage fish in the pond of a size that the brooders can for the most part escape predation. For instance, without a heavy dense weed growth in the pond, LMB can wipe GSH out of a pond, no matter what size they are.

I disagree on LMB being able to wipe out established Golden Shiners (that have spawning habitat). Golden Shiners are pelagic, and LMB are not. LMB won't/can't eat what they almost never see swimming by. I know the HSB from Keo are supposed to be sterile, yet will become gravid and create milt, but as far as I know, and according to Mike, the eggs are not viable. As to YP with LMB, the LMB are more likely to wipe out the YP, and that was why I stocked Smallmouth in Setterguy's pond, and YP are still thriving after about 8 years now, and as I stated, he does feed high quality pelleted feed in his one acre pond. I'd guess he pulls out 50-75 pounds of YP per year, but 150-200 pounds would simply be unrealistic

Rex, tell that to the LMB in my pond. I stocked 200 8"-11" Golden Shiners and they didn't last a year. At the time they were stocked, I had habitat for the Shiners to spawn on, and I had no HSB in my pond.


I am not surprised they did not last...That was why I said an established Shiner population. It is next to impossible to get Shiners to last in a pond with established bass. You won't find bass wiping out Shiners when shiners were established and reproducing before bass are added...A huge difference between adding a couple hundred shiners that do not know their habitat, and already having 1000's of reproducing adults of all sizes that know their habitat



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Refocusing on BCR's goals, is there any way to have a smaller side forage pond for fatheads, or possibly some kind of caged-off area in the main pond to house breeding fatheads?

I'm just exploring any possible paths to get to BCR's goals of a YP-harvest pond.

Using a forage pond is somewhat akin to the sim-world nature of using fish feed. It's not natural, but it can get you where you want to go.


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Originally Posted by BCR Pond
Greetings Pond Boss members! I am a new member, and new to the pond world. I have been scouring this site for the last few months learning and gathering information. I would love some suggestions on how I should stock my pond right, the first time. I am located in NW North Carolina. The pond was completed and filled this December. It is about 1.5 acres, and an oval shape. The west side of the pond is roughly 5' deep, and the east side is 10' deep, gradually graded across it. I have three deep holes roughly 8' wide by 15' long arranged in a triangle shape in the center, that are 18'-20' deep. The bottom is mostly river rock and loamy sand. I purposely left the bottom roughly graded with deep dozer tracks throughout to add some terrain, along with some 3'-4' boulders throughout. It is fed by a mountain creek, getting about 170,000 gallons of fresh water per day, and the same exiting through drain pipes. I am originally from Michigan, and YP has always been my favorite pan fish. So my goal with this pond, is to harvest 100-150 lbs of YP per year for eating. Everything else in the pond will be to support that. My thought for stocking was this spring to stock 20lbs GS and 20 lbs FHM. Once they have spawned and have been established, release 400 YP, ranging in size from 3"-8". The following year, I would release a predator fish. I am still on the fence, but I would prefer WE, even though I know they can't reproduce. I am not a fan of eating bass, so SMB and LMB are my least favorite options. I have learned about HSB from here, so if that fish does better in my region it may be an option. Once the forage base and YP are established, I think I would introduce RES and crawfish. I am not opposed to BG, I just don't want them competing with my YP. I have been looking for different fishery options, and I have found these three near me. If there are better sources you know of, I would love a recommendation. I don't mind paying more for a better source that is farther away.
Onely The Best Fingerlings- Hertford, NC
Aurora Fisheries- Aurora NC
Trophy Pond, Hohenwald, TN

Thank you kindly in advance for your time!

Is the mountain stream water near gin "clear"? If so, low fertility water may not support enough planktonic algae and plankton, the base of your food chain required to grow more pounds of fish. I would double the Golden shiner stocking to 40 pounds of 4"+ brooders, with 10-20 pounds of Fatheads, plus 250 Redear per acre all stocked at the same time early in spring, Then next fall, if available, stock 800 Yellow Perch ~4" plus 20 pounds of adult YP over 7" (for a spawn in spring 2024). You could add 10-15 Walleye and 10 Smallmouth Bass 6-8" IF you notice YP are stunting, or if you add Bluegill. Also, if you add bluegill, I'd suggest 10-15 Hybrid Striped Bass and an additional 10 smallmouth as well. If the water is clear, you will almost certainly need to use a quality fish feeder like Texas Hunter, and a very high quality feed like Optimal or Aquamax Grower if you hope to harvest the weights yuo'd like. If the pond water turns a deep, fertile green, you may not "need" the feed, but it would still help! I think your YP will self-limit, cannibalizing the weaker, slower growing YP, and thriving on the Golden Shiner as the primary forage



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Originally Posted by Sunil
Refocusing on BCR's goals, is there any way to have a smaller side forage pond for fatheads, or possibly some kind of caged-off area in the main pond to house breeding fatheads?

I'm just exploring any possible paths to get to BCR's goals of a YP-harvest pond.

Using a forage pond is somewhat akin to the sim-world nature of using fish feed. It's not natural, but it can get you where you want to go.

Sunil, that's a possibility, but he'd have to check alkalinity of the water and bring it up over 40, fertilize, have habitat for them to reproduce and have a seine to seine the pond to transfer minnows. Moving enough with minnow traps is like whizzing on a bonfire to put it out.


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Understood.

Just trying to spitball potential options towards his goals.


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."

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Guys you need to go read the link. HSB can and have reproduced in ponds somewhat like that described. Rock with flowing water and relatively cool water. They are not sterile. See Dave Willis description of functional sterility and the HSB spawning in Stubby's pond. The HSB can also back cross with parentals.

https://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Main=26336&Number=336804#Post336804

GS in a LMB pond is IMO a 50-50 proposition. I have seen in go wrong in both directions - LMB reproduction completely negated and down through no GS left out of a sustaining population in the other extreme.

Depending on stocking #s and size I would try to use near adult WE (6-10 inches) in year 2. Numbers depending on what else is stocked.

Last edited by ewest; 01/10/23 03:13 PM.















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Thank you for all the info so far! This is great. To answer a few of the previous posts. Yes, the water is very clear and clean, but i estimate the holding capacity of the pond about 3.8MM gallons. So i am refreshing less than 5% of the water per day. I had the water tested, and i am sure this will change over time but currently the ph is 7.68 Alkalintiy 87.I can easily slow down the flow if i need more algae growth. As far as the pellet and supplemental feed and treatments, those are a no go. I operate a sustainable organic homestead, so we are very sensitive to anything and everything that goes into our land and subsequently our food. If there are suggestions for supplemental food that i can provide/grow, i am all ears for that. We have plenty of organic material and animal byproduct i could use. I have not heard anything on the crawfish. Would this help our hurt my cause? I can also introduce log/tree habitat for minnows to hide and spawn, but i have read mixed reviews on adding the extra vegetation. Are there any other minnow varieties i should look into besides the GS and the FHM? Based on what everyone has recommended, i think my stocking plan will look as follows

50lbs GS and 50lbs FHM March 2023.
250 RES 4"+ Fall 2023.
500 YP 4'-6" Fall 2023
20 YP (as big as i can buy) Fall 2023
15 "6-8" WE Summer/Fall 2024

Crawfish??
Anyone have better suggestions for sourcing the fish outside of the fisheries i have identified?

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From a post by Dave Willis:

Masterbasser posted on 7/10/2006 I have heard that HSB do not spawn. Then I called my state fisheries biologist and asked why they stocked Pure Striped Bass in a 162 acre lake as opposed to HSB. He told me that in NJ they do not stock HSB in any water that they can escape because even though theya re generaly sterile they have a 1:200,000 chance of spawning with Pure Striped Bass. I thought this was very interesting.

Dave Willis Replied on the same day: Actually masterbasser, it's even worse than the state biologist told you. Hybrid striped bass are "functionally" sterile. The 1:200,000 probably applies to hybrids spawning with hybrids. However, the males of both species commonly run with either striped bass or white bass, and they certainly can produce a back-crossed generation with either. For example, hybrid males running with striped bass females will produce offspring that are 3/4 striper and 1/4 white bass genes.

The "functional" sterility comes from the difference in egg types for the two parentals. Striped bass have eggs that are nearly neutral buoyancy, and along the east coast they spawn in rivers that carry the eggs while they develop and hatch. If the eggs settle to the bottom, they typically smother and die in the organic/silt layer on the river bottom. Eggs need some oxygen, which crosses the membrane. White bass have heavy, sticky eggs. In rivers, they spawn on gravel riffles. The sticky, heavy eggs attach to the bottom and the current keeps them clean and oxygenated. Hybrid striped bass eggs are halfway in-between. They are too heavy to float with the striped bass eggs, settle to the bottom, and generally die. They are too light and not sticky enough to stay on the gravel if spawned in a riffle. They wash off, into a pool below, settle on the organic mud that usually has low or no dissolved oxygen, and die.


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But under the right conditions ... Proof that it can happen in a pond as described - sorta like OPs. I know of 2 other similar pods where HSB have reproduced. If it happened in your pond and you were told it was not possible you would not be pleased.

HSB Spawning
:)I forgot to say that this is from Steve:
"Guys,
I videoed a little better HSB spawning activity. I do have several generations of viable progeny from previous spawning activity. This year the spawning was intense for 7-10 days (still on going as of yesterday). I can't explain it, I guess I'm lucky.

Omaha asked us to post the conditions of my pond when I posted the photo of one the HSB offspring from last year's spawn: My elevation is 3,000 feet. The pond is 1 acre with pond liner in about 1/3 due to caves. I have fresh water running in most of the time. I drain my pond down as much as I dare in later winter, and mechanically clean out debris. Most of my trout live most years. So, I'm assuming my water temperature stays well below 80 degrees most of the time. I run two aerators starting about now through fall. I feed Aquamax 600 by hand every day they will eat.'

http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Main=23258&Number=292348#Post292348

Last edited by ewest; 01/11/23 12:47 PM.















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