Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose New 3 acre pond

I wouldn't recommend stocking any predators until the pond is full. That is just me.

I would probably stock this cocktail for forage:
fathead minnows
blunt nose minnows
golden shiners
lake chub suckers
Mississippi grass shrimp
papershell crayfish
fingernail clams
thin shelled snails
mud puppies

I would probably let this combo cook for a year, making sure to get some corkscrew eelgrass started with the forage fish.

The following fall I would stock the redear sunfish.

Then in the spring I would stock the bluegill and the largemouth.

At this point the pond is going to be absolutely full of tiny fatheads, bluntnose, shiners, chubsuckers, shrimp, crawdads, and perhaps even some redear sunfish fry. It is at this point that your largemouth are ready to gain entry to the pond. If you've done your job they should almost be able to swim around with their mouths open and get full.

It is important to remember the stages of "opening" a pond.

You have the construction, where you build the rockpiles, holes, ledges, add rip rap, construction spawning nests and build cover.

Next you have the filling/vegetating. This doesn't mean that you watch your pond fill with water and go into a coma. This means that as your pond fills you start planting the plants you want in the pond. Corkscrew eelgrass is a great choice for spawning several species and as cover for forage and fry.

The third step should be adding forage. I personally believe in letting the forage brew sit predatorless for a year to build up a suitable population.

I usually recommend adding grass shrimp when you add your vegetation to the pond. I have never seen a pond with too many grass shrimp. It may also be wise to add mud puppies to the pond while you are adding the vegetation and the shrimp. Mud puppies can take a few years to grow and reproduce and establish themselves so it is never a bad idea to get them into the water as soon as there is something for them to eat and someplace for them to live.

The very last thing that you want to do is add predators. It can be hard to wait but your pond will thank you if you wait until there is more than enough food cooking for those new LMB fingerlings to eat!