Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations trout stocking

Was just wondering if I would stock trout in my lake, what would they eat. Have way too many bullheads in the 6 to 12 inch size. Would trout eat them or would they eat the panfish type of fish? Some 6 and 7 lb bass have been caught, also when you can find them 10 to 12 inch bluegill. Cappie have had some caught at 2 lbs but 95% are 6 to 8 inches. But they don't seem to be keeping up with the bullhead pop. If the trout would clean up all the little bullheads maybe the bass would work on the larger ones.
Also have common carp, would they eat the fry in the spring before they would die? The lake is too big to start over. The goal for the lake is to just catch fish that bend the rod good and eating size crappie. Grandkids don't like taking bullheads off their lines, so I spend all my time taking fish off and not being able to watch them fish.
I know carp are bad but was thinking of putting up a few feeders with corn to attract them to one area to make them easier to catch. A ten year old catching 5 to 15 lb carp on a 4 foot spiderman pole, would make great memories. Would feeding the carp actually be bad, do to them getting bigger and producing more eggs?
If anyone has an idea that worked for them, I sure would like to here about it. Was always told the bass would clean the bullhead up, but just not happening right now. Also I put wipers in but I think they all went out the spillway, have not caught one for several years.

Awesome to have a 61-acre lake! Tough to intensively manage a lake that size. (A lot of the discussion about complex management on Pond Boss is for ponds ranging in size from a 1/2 acre to just a few acres.)

With your big LMB, I think it would be very difficult to get trout up to fun catching size. The trout would most likely be a very expensive snack for the bass.

I used to catch big carp for fun as a youth. However, that was always in public waters of rivers or big reservoirs. If you put in lots of carp and feed them, then I think they will reproduce and muddy the pond so badly that your fishery will be degraded for all of your OTHER fish. You could put in a few triploid (sterile) carp. They would eventually get huge over time, but will be difficult to catch with only a few in the lake.

I think getting rid of the bullheads would be almost all upside to your fishery. Perhaps start a new thread on just that topic and see if you get any helpful advice? Also, make sure you note that you are talking about a 61-acre lake in your post, so the advice will match your acres of water.

Good luck creating more fun fishing memories for the young people!

Cory needs some Saugeye..

Not putting carp in, they got in on their own. They are already 15 lbs and bigger. I put walleye in already but they may have been food for bass, they were 5 to 6 inches long. Nobody has caught one. Was thinking of making a floating pen and trying wipers again. Buy some small fry raise them to 6 or 7 inches then turn them loose. The first ones I bought, I would catch 2 or 3 a year, then none after that. I would catch some below the dam in spillway and try to put them back in the lake but didn't think to condition them to temp of water thinking it was all the same. Boy do they die fast.

Do you live at your lake?

If so, you might be able to chum a spot with bread balls for a week in advance of having some kids come and fish for carp. A 15# carp would be a lifetime memory for a kid! (Video of that would also be a big hit with the kid AND on Pond Boss!)

There are several threads on Pond Boss about separating scaled fish in floating cages. Some of the people have pulled it off, but there are also lots of stories of the fish just beating the crap out of themselves and failing to thrive.

There are one or two people on the forum that have used blocking nets across a cove, and used that as their isolation "tank". Do you have a cove that might work for that? If you are at a very low water level right now, maybe you could do a little dirt work to make the cove plan easier to manage?

Finally, do you have a spot where you could create a little forage/grow out pond? There are lots of people on Pond Boss that have done great things with a 0.1 acre pond of that nature. Drain and seine when you want to move the fish. Re-fill and start your next project as needed. That could be a very valuable option to aid your management of your large lake. I expect you could use it for years!

I don't live on lake, but only 5 miles away. That's what I wanted to do with the corn feeder. With the kids.
I did have an area that was dug out 4 to 6 feet deep with only a 15 to 20 opening to the lake ( 60 by 150 feet maybe). Problem is, it is a flood control lake. It can raise 5 to 7 feet with the right rain couple times a year. That would flood area so the fish would swim out. I guess I could put a 6 foot net on dry ground around this area. I could dig a new hole 15 feet above lake connected buy a 12 inch pipe, with plug. Then O 2 would be the next problem. Gets to be high $ and then buying larger fish would be easier. Maybe below dam would work the best with water siphoned out of the lake. Got me thinking again.

If money is not too much of an issue, maybe 4 tiger muskie/acre or so?

61 acres of water is a lot of fishery to manage to try and maintain minimal numbers of bullheads and common carp. Walleye, even stocking larger ones, IMO are a waste of money for your goals. Saugeye might(?) help but you would need to stock 9"-11" ones to get decent survival. Focus your predator stocking on fish that are bottom oriented predators. I think the idea of adding several tiger musky is a sound idea if you stock 13"- 18" ones. For noticeable predatory results and over the next few years, you may need to add muskie at the final or end stocking density of 1 for every 2-3 acres (20-30 in 60ac). As they grow they will do the best job of eating the 8"-13" carp. Note muskie also love to eat LMB. I think a strong population of LMB 8"-18" will be your best controller of the bullheads. Another predator to consider for eating carp is blue catfish(BC); although bass would also be foods for BC. BC tend to be more of an off the bottom predator especially at night compared to channel catfish.

Baiting an area using a feeder or had tossing with corn I think is a good way to attract the common carp for anglers. Carp will gradually learn the best feeding area. Be careful to not bait the area too heavily as to not encourage enhanced carp reproduction. Having monthly group fishing sessions for the carp is a good idea. Require anglers to use only canned sweet corn as bait. Have prizes for those who catch the smallest, largest and most carp each day. Word will spread gathering more carp anglers.

I have put Blue cats in, they are 2 to 3.5 lbs now, So I hope they start eating the bullheads. The catfish right now are catch and release only to build their numbers.
I will get my corn feeders going in the spring and will set them for only a short run in the morning and noon. So they come to eat and not get fat.

Two past articles in Pond Boss magazine have discussed use of musky, what they eat and in controlling overabundant fish.

Mar-Apr 2011. ESOX DID WHAT? MIXING PIKE FAMILY MEMBERS AND PONDS. Willis & Lusk. Combine forces to provide basic information of using pike, musky and chain pickeral in pond management. Suggest using musky at 3 per acre to start. Some suggest to stock more early and harvest some as you see improvements in reason for stocking them. Evaluate after they become established at 30+". They note that 30" pike/musky are able to eat 9-12 inch bass. Sometimes the need is to stock more or harvest some based on results. Musky at 20 lbs will eat the largest bass.

Nov-Dec 2012. MUSKY IN SMALL WATERS? West summarizes results and impacts upon other fish from musky stocking in 41 fairly large MN lakes none smaller than 100ac. High density of musky was 2.2 mature fish/acre. Author notes that soft rayed over spiny rayed prey fish are sometimes preferred. White sucker declined after musky were stocked in one study. Another study found walleye and musky did not directly compete a lot for the same foods.

In Indiana it's recommended to stock 1/acre. Those 13"-18" Tigers (or regular Musky) are <1 year old - they grow that fast. If there is a good bass population in there, I'd start with 75-100 to make up for predation and mortality. Herman Brothers has Musky now.