Although, you're way ahead of me on the forage issue which is another reason my LMB growth is slow. I didn't spend enough time researching and put the cart before the horse, stocking the HSB and LMB before the forage base was established. So I'm now needing to stock at least 1000 BG, and big enough that they won't just be a snack for the LMB and HSB that are in there now
That's an expense I'm not looking forward to! Lessoned learned!
It seems our goals are similar for our ponds except I passed on the CC. Good luck and keep us posted!
He won't be ahead of you for long, stocking 200 LMB in the 1 ac pond.....
But, that depends on his goals. If he wants a pond that has large BG and <16" LMB, then he's doing it correctly. Typical stocking rates for BG/LMB are 15-20/1 in ponds where you want to have large LMB and not large BG. Plus the CC, when they get over 3# will also start eating the BG.
Let me clarify. 2000 BG to 50-75 LMB per acre for a fast growing LMB pond. Usually a 1 ac pond can support a max of about 100# of LMB. In a one acre pond, if you wanted LMB to grow quickly, you can’t stock 200 LMB and 8,000 BG without eventually having water quality issues.
Being relatively “up North”, and having the BG in the pond a year ahead of the LMB, the BG may stay ahead of the LMB. It all depends on the size that the BG were when stocked, the size of the LMB that were stocked, and if the BG pulled off a spawn before the LMB were stocked.
If it was my pond, and I were shooting for a more balanced pond, I’d remove at least half of the LMB before stocking HSB. I’d also want to try and get GSH established. They’ll help diversify the forage base. The FHM won’t last another year in the pond with the LMB in there now.
