Your goal of """recommend for the best self sustaining variety of fish""" has problems for the type of pond you have.
1. Small pond that inherently has a low natural productivity due to sunlight shading, low submerged macrophyte (aquatic plant) growth, clear water, and cold spring water water source 35-50gpm. This type of habitat naturally grows very few pounds of fish per acre. Maybe a 1 to 2 pound harvest per year from 1/10 ac meaning you might eat one or two fish per year when they are warm water fish.
2. Assuming the water remains cool below 70F in summer this slows and significantly reduces productivity, causes slow fish growth and warm water fish grow poorly in this year-round cool water. Warmwater fish grow well at 65-80F.
3. To grow any measurable amount of fish for annual harvest the pond is best suited to growing trout or a cool water species. LM bass area warm water fish. And if fish are not fed in this type of habitat, poundage and growth rate will be disappointing for any type of gainful harvest each year. To grow enough for a few meals per year, IMO you should feed good quality fish food (40%protein) and chose a species that thrives or is well adapted for life in cool water mainly trout. Otherwise you are trying to grow 'cotton in the north' - wrong type of crop in the wrong climate (water temp).
4. Fertilization and or pond dye are not options due to a flow through, short water retention system. You should treat this pond as a form of fish hatchery race-way system.
5. If you do not live at the property your stated goal will be very difficult to fully achieve.
6. If the pond water in mid summer remains lower than 70F, at least in some portion of the pond, trout are your best harvestable crop of choice. If you choose trout, get rid of those bass. They will complicate achieving your goal. They will strongly compete with trout interfering in several ways with your goal of fish management and harvest..
Last edited by Bill Cody; 06/14/20 08:00 PM.
