Man Made Pond

[AJC]

I have a new man made pond by my house. There are no fish in it. How long does it take to increase fish levels? I plan to start dumping what I catch when I can. Can this be done or do u have to have a large amount stocked at one time?

[13Echo70271]

Hi AJC, How big is the surface area of the pond? how deep? some fisheries people like to limit stocking to species that grow well, LM Bass, bluegill, and Chanel Cat. Some fathead minnows and golden shiners will help feed the bass until the bluegills start reproducing well. but are expensive and not necessary. Bullheads crappie and perch grow slow and don't put on flesh like the first three. A pond is like a feed lot, put in the ones that will grow best. maybe an amur(grass carp) or 2 to help keep the weeds in check if necessary. If you put in nice size LM bass, chanel cats, just a 10-12 of each will get you started and may be enough. 2-3 dozen bluegills of all sizes for a start. In no time at all you will have a nice place to fish. If you can, let the weeds grow up around the pond edges, insects will live in the weeds and fall into the pond for fish food. Feed some small size cheap dog kibble from time to time.(protein) Some Christmas trees anchored to the bottom will provide a refuge for small fish. A pallet on the bottom in shallow 3-6 ft water will give minnows a place to breed(underside of boards) Your state fish and game dept and county agricultural extension office will have free printed material available that should be helpful. Good luck, TJ

[bradford]

Good advice Echo.

[smokeonthewater]

The LAST thing you should do to a new pond is put any apex predator like bass or catfish in before it is WELL developed w a food source.... Plenty of bluegill and such and plenty of cover for them.... A single good size bass will destroy the pond and keep the bluegill from reaching breeding size.

IIRC for the best results you want to wait a few years before adding the big fish and then only in limited numbers and small enough that they can't eat the biggest of the bluegill.

The best thing you can do is google pond management and read everything you can find.

Also maybe contact your local fish and game dept.. They may have resources that can help you.

[DiverDux]

This is how we do it here in NE Ohio...

First thing in the spring, right after ice out. Load the pond with fathead minnows. Fifty pounds per surface acre. Then force an algae bloom to provide food for the minnows. (Sprinkle soybean meal all around the edges of your pond. Then add a small amount of nitrogen over the soybean meal.) Your minnows will do well in this environment and should spawn twice before July. In mid July, stock fingerling bass at a rate of 150 per surface acre. In October stock matched pairs of mature bluegills at a rate of 100 pairs per surface acre.

You now have your lake set-up to grow large bass and bluegills.

This is how it works. You can expect maximum growth and production because competition between the different fish species is managed. The fathead minnows have the pond to themselves for 3-4 months. They can feed and reproduce with no competition from any other fish, this equates to large minnows and maximum reproduction.

When the fingerling bass are introduced in mid July, they have all of those fathead minnows to feed on and with no competition from other fish they will grow extremely fast. It is not uncommon to have 8-10 inch LMB by spring.

The bluegills that are stocked in matched pairs in October are initially stocked for the sole purpose of providing forage for the growing LMB. The bluegills are too large for the 8-10 inch LMB to eat, but by fall of the second year, the young of the year bluegills will provide the LMB with food to match the forage needs of the growing bass.

By following this process, one can expect 13-15 inch LMB and hand sized bluegills by the second spring (third year.)

Evryone I deal with here in NE Ohio who follows this formula is amazed at the quality of the fish their ponds produce. This will work if you follow these directions.

The keys here are the even age class of bass and plenty of forage. Do not put any adult bass, crappie, catfish etc. into your pond. They will eat your fingerling LMB. This process will not work if adult size predators are introduced before the third spring (fourth year.)

Good luck!

[steplift20]

What I would do is catch a baby bull shark and put it in your pool. That would be nice . Just don’t go swimming in it.