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I have a new pond I don't know the exact measurements of it but in the middle it is 16 ft. As far as the surface size I know it's not large but it could be smaller.
Anyways I would like to stock it with Largemouth Bass, Bluegill, Perch, and a proper amount of Fathead minnows. I am looking for some insight on the mix of fish I would like to stock my pond with. I am hoping with the right amounts of each I can pull it off. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
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Heres how I did it...Granted, this probably isn't the ideal way but it worked well for me.
About 12 years ago (I was 16 at the time) I had a friend and his grandmother was in a nursing home. There was a private pond about 20 acres on the homes property. Family and residents were allowed to fish there but about 2 years before the pond dried up and there was nothing in it.
My friend and i put in about 20 Bass in the 14 inch range. We put just about 100 perch and another 50 or so Bluegills.
We made sure that we became close with the owners/workers/residents of the place so we could fish there. No one else really ever went over there to fish.
We let it sit for 3 full seasons. By that time my friends grandmother was...well...gone but we still had permission to fish it from the owners. From what we could tell, the fish flourished in the little community we created for them. We never kept anything but caught plenty. We also never added anything else to the pond.
To this day, 12 full seasons later, it is one of my favorite places to go. I consistently pull a 5 pounder out of there every year. Well worth the $100 christmas basket I send to the owners every year.
I hope that helps.
-Kenny
well first you need to make sure there is enough structure. put small brush piles, tree limbs, etc. in it.
then i think the most important thing is just getting fish in it. just keep putting fish in it from other ponds. just be careful you don't over load it. I would put 20 to 25 bass in it to start. plus if you want to put bluegill in it, you must have plenty of fathead minnows to be sure the bass won't eat the smaller bluegill before they can get established. Don't worry about numbers too much except that you don't do overboard.
Plus i'm sure if you get too many of one thing, another species will clean up the extras or you can always fish out the extras.
We have a pond that 2 years ago seemed to have no fish left. We let it sit all last year and now it is full of bass. I caught a 16 1/2 incher just the other day. I've caught many bass in there this year. So when you stock it, don't fish it for atleast a year. Let them establish themselves.
Ponds are one of the most fun things to fish. Keep yours up and you will have many nice evenings of fishing.
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also you can call up your DNR office and talk to them about stocking it. I know around here you have to have a permit first. But they ought to be able to help you with the exact numbers if that is what you are interested in.
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