Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Creating the food chain Fish stocking in an northern pond

So an update. I think the pond is doing very well (but what do I know lol). The pellet trained YP were stocked this April as well as 2lbs of fathead minnows. They are doing great! I even saw a perch ribbon in the pond a week after stocking. The pond is now swarming with minnows and it is very fun to watch them when the feeder goes off. Now I am looking at stocking pellet trained SMB. I was thinking of stocking only like 10 to 15. I figure I could introduce them this fall to the pond. Even if I stocked them at a lower rate they will spawn and increase there numbers. Do you guys think I am on track?

Also I want to say thank you to the people on this forum who help everyone with their questions. I plan on making a post about my pond journey this winter when I hopefully have more time.

It is okay to stock 10-15 SMB in your 0.4 ac pond that now has reproducing FHM and pellet trained YP with maybe some fingerling YP. A fewer number SMB allows them to grow faster and not put as much predation pressure on the minnows to maintain some broodstock. Habitat and ample cover is important to have good refuge for minnows. When you are not seeing numerous minnows feeding the pond does not have enough cover and has too many bass.

Make arrangements NOW for getting the SMB this fall. The place where you got your pellet trained YP has made arrangements to have some excellent quality pellet trained SMB this fall. SMB are a premium hard to find pond fish so expect to pay higher dollar for them compared to the very common LMB.. Pellet trained SMB are even harder to dependably find at fish farms so place your order now for a fall order. After the SMB spawn it is important to keep their numbers managed toward low density to maintain some minnow forage for the fish when pellets are not being fed as in late fall / winter.

Great update, Blest!

Have you caught (or observed while feeding) any of your YP to get some length reports compared to their size when you stocked them in April?

Any very small YP at the feeder to confirm if their spawn was successful?

Good luck going forward. Following Bill's advice and having a small, yet productive, YP/SMB pond sounds like a good plan to me!