Hello. I am new to this forum and have a few questions about establishing a healthy fish population in my very small pond. I bought a large property in the mountains of North Georgia surrounded by the Chattahoochee Nat'l forest. Previous owner appeared to have dug out this 1/8 acre pond right beside the mountain fed creek that flows all year. There is a 2" PVC pipe that runs up the creek and continuously feeds the pond with very cool and very clean water and a 2" PVC pipe outlet at the other end of the pond that lets the overflow water run back into the creek. The water is relatively clear and the pond has no vegetation growing on the bottom. There is some that grows around the banks and a portion of pond surface is shaded with large trees that grow out over the water.

The pond is maybe 6 feet deep and currently has a mating pair of either large mouth of spotted bass about 12" long although I only ever see one swimming around. There are about 5 fingerlings we can see from last year. Not sure about any from this year yet. There are no forage fish we can see in the pond so I guess they are eating only insects, tadpoles and what ever other small things are in there. We also have 3 pretty good sized turtles that live on a far side back under some trees.

I would like to establish either a bass or trout population to use as a food source. I don't know if the summer temperature of the pond will stay low enough for trout so I will monitor temps this year to see. In the mean time I am looking for any suggestions on what I should be doing now and during the summer to prepare for stocking in the fall. Since there are no forage fish, should I try to get some bluegill or other species in there now to try and establish a food source for the predators in the fall and winter?

What about any fertilization? Since there is a constant flow of aerated creek water and there is no surface growth of any vegetation or algae, is there anything I can or should do to help the bass that there now.

Thanks for any help you can provide,
Bruce.