Restocking Pond

[Mausermeister]

I built my pond about 25 years ago, right after we bought the farm. Stocked it initially with bass, hybrid bluegill, fathead minnows, catfish, and a few triploid grass carp. Over the last few years the fishing has declined, and some of the carp died and those that remain are not able to keep the vegetation in check like they used to.
Now that my daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter just moved back from fAlabama, I figure I should mow around it more often and see about restocking.
I just found out the fish truck is supposed to be in town today, so I'm going to get some channel cats, shell crackers, and a few more grass carp.

 

[Hduke86]

I'd definitely go on the lesser side with the cats as they will outcompete other fish for food. If you want a clean pond I highly suggest going to tractor supply and buying some pond dye. It keeps the sunlight from reaching the bottom and it does great for keeping vegetation down. It also helps smaller fish and minnows survive because the water is darker. I would look into hybrid bluegill for the simple reason they get BIG and a ton of fun to catch but they don't really reproduce because most are sterile and males and overload the pond.

 

[Hduke86]

You can go down the rabbit hole when looking into making a fishing pond good. You can never have enough fathead minnows in it.

 

[Popcorn]

A juvenile grass carp will eat many time the amount of food that an older larger carp does. It's the difference between growing and sustaining. I replace grass carp every 2 to 3 years.

 

[WTM]

whatever you do dont stock any green sunfish.

 

[Mausermeister]

Pond is a little less than 3 acres and spring fed. Dye would be very expensive. Already have hybrid bluegill. I added 200 catfish, 100 shell crackers, 6 more grass carp, and a few hundred fathead minnows.

 

[Mausermeister]

whatever you do dont stock any green sunfish.

You don't have to stock them. They will somehow find their way into a pond built on top of a tall hill.

 

[bowtechgump]

A pond that size I would put some hybrid bass (Wipers) and crappie. But that is just me.

 

[HenryCohunter]

If you don't harvest the crappie on the regular they will totally take over a pond that size and it will be full of 8 inch skinny fish.

 

[CATCHDAWG]

If you don't harvest the crappie on the regular they will totally take over a pond that size and it will be full of 8 inch skinny fish.

Agreed. I wouldn't stock crappie in a pond.

 

[clwg97]

If you don't harvest the crappie on the regular they will totally take over a pond that size and it will be full of 8 inch skinny fish.

I have this problem in my pond. Lots of 10-12" crappie and bass and others are hard to come by. I need to catch a few messes of crappie

 

[Mausermeister]

There was a small pond, less than 1/2 acre, there before I built it. The ground was swampy around it because of the springs coming out of the hillside. I dug down to hard clay below it and built the new levee around, and the water level is now a few feet above the level of the old pond.
The old pond had a few crappie in it. Whenever I would fish, I kept out every crappie I caught. Apparently, I actually managed to eliminate all the crappie, since it has ben over 10 years since one was caught there to my knowledge.

 

[WTM]

if i just had to have crappie in a 3 acre pond, id stock hybrids. no worries of overpopulation.

 

[Cattle Baron]

I have stocked wipers in my pond with good success. They grow fast, readily eat floating fish food, taste good, fun to catch and don't reproduce. If I had the ability I would try to find out what caused the decline in fishing and correct the issue before I restocked.

 

[nate17]

I would have tried to check the vegetation before investing more money. Hard to say for sure what is going on without more information and stocking may not have been the answer you were seeking. Ecologically, catfish can be considered a bonus species. If you feed them they aren't interfering much with the predator, prey relationship of the other species in your pond. Stocking crappie in a pond that size isn't a great decision unless you have a plan to control the population. Bass and blue gill are stocked together. Bluegill spawn several times a year and bass need them for a food source. If you already have bass, anything you stocked will probably be preyed upon if it's less than 10 inches, including the catfish. Any minnows stocked would likely be considered nothing more than a snack for the bass. It takes 10lbs of minnows to equal 1 pound of growth for a bass. Lots more to this than can be explained in a short message. Good luck getting to the bottom of it.

 

[bowtechgump]

if i just had to have crappie in a 3 acre pond, id stock hybrids. no worries of overpopulation.

That is why I mentioned to put the Hybrid Bass into the pond. They will eat the crappie and keep them in check. You could manage the larger crappie through natural harvest and their spawn would feed the hybrids. I would not harvest my Hybrids until they reached maturity and then purchase a replacement every year to restock them prior to taking a set amount out.