Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose new 1/2 acre pond, SMB and HSB are the goal...how?

For those in Kansas or other mid-western areas interested in creating this type of interesting, creative fishery in a new small pond, I think the results would be over all more rewarding if yellow perch (YP) were used instead of BG and HBG.

For starters the record angler fish in KS is SMB 6.8lbs 21.5" and HSB 25lb 33.5"; true trophies. The record YP is 1.46lb 13.5" which is a pretty easy YP to grow in a pond especially if the stocker YP are pellet trained and fed pellets. Plus IMO YP are a much better forage fish to grow in a pond with SMB and HSB compared to sunfishes. Interestingly for food fish use a 13" LMB has a Std Wt of 1.16lbs, 13" SMB is 1.18lbs and YP Std Wt of 1.26lbs that yields slightly more body weight.
Although if the fish are for table use then consider some redear sunfish for eating snails as a good addition to minimize occurrence of pond fish parasites.

Secondarily - YP are or can be as nearly prolific as BG as far as numbers of eggs produced. YP with good numbers management can easily grow to 12" and weigh 1 pound. YP are a slender bodied fish so they are vulnerable to being eaten by SMB & HSB for longer periods in their early life than sunfishes which makes them a good forage fish. Ample medium dense types of habitat in ponds can help improve survival of small perch and BG. Less habitat allows more successful predation of YP, small fishes, and forage minnows by SMB and HSB.

Thirdly YP are naturally evolved and adapted for life as a forage fish with smallmouth bass. Many lakes, with SMB as one of the main predators, have YP and weed beds as habitat. SMB are often considered not as an aggressive fish eater compared to LMB. HSB for my stocking experiences have proven to ready prey on small YP and control their density. A proper predator - prey balance is important in all fisheries. One option for creating this type of fishery would be to omit the RES and use ONLY male bluegill with YP -SMB-HSB. Be aware that experiences have shown that male BG with RES will produce hybrids BGXRES. Hybridization studies in the lab by W. Childers revealed female BG X male RES produced 99% male offspring. He reported the ponds stocked Male BG and female RES produced no hybrids, although my use of this cross did produce hybrid offspring that to my knowledge were not fertile. Krumholz also saw offspring from the male BG and female RES combination