I have reclaimed in December, a small woodland pond fed by springs. It is mostly shaded and thus the water is cold. I’m in northwest R.I.
It is about 100’ X 100’ in size and 10-12’ deep.
Essentially it was mucked out by an excavator after pumping out all the water possible, and dug down until we hit a gravel base.
I stocked it with about 50 Golden Shiners, 30 brown bullhead and 6 yellow perch.
My goal is to catch shiners for bait, and catch yellow perch and bullhead for the table.
Since it is a new pond there is virtually nothing for these fish to eat at this time.
Around here bullhead usually bury in the mud and hibernate in winter.
I caught the perch ice fishing and believe 4 are females and two are males, so I’m hoping they will spawn in the spring.
The perch were adults 8”-10” with the females full of roe.
I know largemouth are advised to balance the populations, but that’s not what I want.
Yellow perch can only eat a shiner up to bait size, so I’m hoping they will somewhat control the shiner population, while I’ll be able to catch the larger shiners for bait.

I realize the bullhead which I caught last October and kept in a tank until stocked, may eat the other fish’s eggs but I’d like to catch some of the bullhead to eat. The bullhead are 6”-8”

I’m also considering putting a few rainbow trout in as it is spring fed and the water should be cold enough in summer.
Currently the water hasn’t completely settled, still small amounts of organic matter suspended in the water column.

Any advice would be appreciated!

What can I feed these fish to get them through the winter alive?

Denny R.