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| How to stock a fishing pond (March 2005) |
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How to stock a fishing pond
For any sportsman, few joys can surpass catching your own fish out of your own pond. While stocking a fish pond is not rocket science, it’s still pond science, and the most important goal is to keep fish populations in balance.
In a balanced community, there are healthy populations of at least one predator or game fish, and one or more kinds of prey, or pan fish.
For warm water ponds, James Satterfield, Jr., a retired member of the Colorado State University Department of Fishery and Wildlife Biology, says the most suitable predator is the largemouth bass, with bluegill representing an excellent pan fish. Other recommended fish include black crappie, fathead minnows, and channel catfish. Fathead minnows are ideal because they spawn several times each year and are easy prey. Channel catfish are considered a bonus: good fighters and good for the plate.
“To stock a new or renovated pond,” Satterfield says, “bass fingerlings (2 to 3 inches) should be stocked at a rate of 70 fish per surface acre. Fingerling blue gills (1.5 to 2.5 inches) should go in at the rate of 500 fish per acre, and fathead minnows should be stocked at the rate of 3 pounds or 1,000 fish per acre.”
If fishing for pan fish is the main goal, black crappie can be stocked at a rate of 200 fingerlings per acre. However, if the goal is to catch large bass, Satterfield recommends waiting three or four years to ensure that the bass population thrives. For channel catfish, the rate is 50 fingerlings per acre, and they can be stocked at the same time as the bass, fathead minnows, and bluegill. If you wait until there is an adult bass population to stock channel cats, though, you need 8- to 10-inch catfish at a rate of 25 to 50 per acre.
In cold-water trout ponds, Jeremy Liley, aquatic biologist with Queen of the River Consultants in Longmont, Colo., says a general rule of thumb is 60 catchable trout (9 inches) per acre. If stocking fingerlings, put in 75 per acre for a catch-and-release situation.
“If you are setting up a catch-and-keep fishery, you can stock catchables at a much higher rate,” Liley says. “Figure that lifespan for a rainbow trout will be about four to five years. If you know how many fish are removed, you can balance that with fresh additions and keep the fishery at peak production.”
Food sources
In trout ponds, Liley says fathead minnows work very well, at a recommended stocking rate of 1,000 to 2,000 per acre. To stimulate insect production, a favorite trout food, aquatic vegetation is the answer. But Liley says not to let vegetation grow over more than 15% of the surface.
“If needed,” he says, “pond aeration adds oxygen and reduces the nutrients that promote vegetation.”
What fish need
A balanced fish community needs four things to prosper according to James Satterfield, Jr.: good water quality; adequate food; suitable shelter; and proper spawning habitat.
Water quality
“Because largemouth bass and other predators are sight feeders,” he says, “they need fairly clear water to capture their prey. Clear water means you can see a white dish in at least 18 to 30 inches of water. Depth is another water-quality issue. The chances of a fish kill occurring can be decreased by constructing a pond that is deep enough to provide a reserve of well-oxygenated water. As a rule of thumb, at least one-third of the pond should be a minimum of eight feet deep during the lowest water depth, usually late summer.”
The food chain, Satterfield says, begins with fertilizer elements in the water and pond bottom. Microscopic plankton and large aquatic plants feed on the nutrients. The resulting plant materials feed small animals, which feed small fish and other animals, which in turn feed large fish.
Cover
Too much cover and predators can’t find prey and go hungry. Too little, and the predators eat all the prey, then go hungry. For balance, limit cover to three areas in a pond rather than scattered all over.
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