Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose New pond stocking

I wish my Crawfish would get to cutting down on my underwater vegetation. Between them, my KOI and my Grass carp they aren't even putting a dent in it

Thank you I will hold off until fall on the crayfish and prob sm(Leggis didn’t say anything about only available in fall when I spoke to him last week)

I’m finally getting ready to stock some fish now. It’s a .4 acre pond, had fhm and emerald shiners added this winter. I do not see any swimming around anywhere so I’m not sure if they survived? I know when the guy dropped them off he did not temper them to the water temp. I can’t complain to much as they were free but have no idea if any made it. I do not have a minnow trap to try and catch any. I was thinking about getting some perch this weekend either from laggis or Ron chrismon- would it be good idea to get some from each or would it not matter? I have not spoken with Ron yet to see what he has available and do not personally know him- just got his name on here. I have heard good things about laggis perch. Also Stoney creek has RES to stock. I spoke to them and they are fish from the south so I don’t know how well they will over winter here in MI but I’m willing to give it a shot. So I’m thinking of getting 100perch and 50 res here soon. I’ll prob put another gallon of fatheads in as well. This fall I’ll look into adding some smb and maybe a couple wae. I do plan to hand feed this summer if I can get the perch/res to take pellets

If there was nothing in the pond prior to stocking the fathead minnows, you should be seeing them (if enough were put in and, then survived the stocking).

If, for some reason you didn't have survival of the fatheads and/or the emerald shiners, then any Yellow Perch you put in may not have anything to eat.

Also, you'd want any bait fish to spawn before stocking predator fish like Yellow Perch, and if you only stocked them this past winter, you''d only have spawning in the next few months.

To add to what Sunil said, if the forage fish didn't survive, are you sure that your YP/RES will survive 12 months +?

I'm not sure the RES will survive up near Lansing Mi.

I also noticed that Stoney Creek was carrying RES. They are north of Grand Rapids. I would assume that RES can survive at those latitudes if SC is selling them to Michigan folk?

I am thinking about getting some RES, but it is a 2:45 drive for me to Stoney Creek.

I have trouble in NW KS at 3700' elevation getting RES to survive BUT..a buddy in MI has SMB and YP spawning 2-3 weeks before me, so maybe RES would do better there than I think.

I believe the minnows didn’t survive just because he put hole in ice and just dumped them in without trying to accumulate them to the temp- at least that’s what I figured. I have tons of frogs,tadpoles and few turtles living in it now. I know there are a few lakes around me that have RES in them but I have also heard people have hard time with them this far north. Stoney creek said that he has customers up where he is that have done fine with them.

Josh, if you can find out your water temperatures, we should be able to determine if you should be seeing fathead minnows easily.

If not, then you are probably correct in that they didn't make it. Stocking while a pond is iced over probably has small chances of success.

I would explore getting a few pounds of fatheads to stock ASAP.

I just talked to my minnow guy and told him I wanted 3 gallons- which looks like it equates to roughly 24lbs. I’ll prob get those later this week or early next. I’ll have to get a thermometer for the pond- what depth would you typically take temp at?

I take the temp around 10-12" below the surface. Probably a little bit off, but still usable info.

There are a lot of micro climates in Michigan due to the large Great Lakes. I am USDA Zone 6a here in Plymouth Indiana, Lake Odessa. Mi is also 6a. I bet Ron is 6 or 6a. Holland Mi, due West of Lake Odessa is 6