How to stock your own private pond??

[L.T. Tackle]

Hello RT'rs

Okay, so I am what most may call a lurker , but please don't hold that against me. I am going to try and post more this year and give back what I can.

I have a few questions for ya ..

My Father-in-law has just retired up on the North Shore of MA and wants to fish more with his free time. He is a pretty good fisherman, both fly and spin.

On the center of his private property, he owns a 4 to 5 acre pond.
It is approx. 30 feet deep in the center and averages 10 to 15 feet deep.
I know for sure that the pond contains a large population of "Huge" of Golden Shiners because my Mother-in-Law feeds them pretty regularly, quite a sight. Large Pickerel, Yellow Perch, and Catfish are also present. There are no bass or trout of any kind. He has never put a fish in there for any reason. He had the water tested, and was told he could stock it and expect the fish to survive.

The Questions -

If it were your pond, what would you want to stock it with and how?

How does one go about stocking something like that, properly and legally?

Thanks

[rockfisherman]

The Questions -

If it were your pond, what would you want to stock it with and how?

How does one go about stocking something like that, properly and legally?

Thanks

Sounds like you have a good warmwater pond going. Stock it with largemouth bass and you should be good to go. Dunno about the legally thing.

[teflon_jones]

I've got some recent experience building a healthy fish community from scratch. You can read about it here:
http://www.reel-time.com/forum/showthread.php?t=45336

I have a few questions for you in order to give you advice on this:
1. What is the average size of the pickerel and perch you catch?
2. How is the pond fed with water? Stream fed? Spring? Runoff?
3. If stream fed, does the stream dry up in the summer?
4. Does the water level change during different seasons? If so, by how much?
5. Have you ever thrown a minnow trap in there to see if there are other species present?
6. How much shade is there? What kind of shade (i.e. trees, lily pads, docks, etc). and how much of the water's surface does it cover?
7. Is the pond weedy? What kinds of weeds and how prevalent are they?
8. What is the water color (brown tint, green tint, etc) and clarity (i.e. how far
9. What is the bottom made up of? Rock? Gravel? Sand? Mud/muck?
10. Is the pond natural or man made? If man made, when was it constructed?

This is a good start, but I may have more depending on your answers! :)

As for the legality of stocking fish, it requires a permit from the MA Dept of Fisheries to introduce largemouth or trout into a pond. However, if I were you, I'd forget about trout. It's very difficult to get a self-sustaining trout population unless you have just the right conditions. You can purchase largemouth from any number of private fish hatcheries and whether they require you to show them your permit or not really depends on how much the owner of the hatchery follows the rules. --123-3 The cost is directly proportional to the size of the fish. Small 3" guys will run you maybe $1.50-$2.00 each, and figure that each inch longer will cost you $0.50/inch or so.

[fleshfly]

Where on the NS :brow ? If it could support holding trout over I would work on dropping the pickeral & perch and go 100% trout.

If not go BASS.....A friend of mine manages a simillar pond in NJ, and help maintain weed growth he stocks it with Sterile Carp, fun to catch too....

[BobG]

You mentioned your father in law had the water tested, and according to the results, the pond could be stocked, and the fish would live. Why not ask the people who did the tests, what kind of fish would they suggest.
If the pond is 30' deep in the middle, with an average depth of 10-15', it sure would be cool if it could sustain trout. But, trout will not reproduce. Bass will, and often prolifically. So, he may only have to stock it once, and let the bass do the rest. :brow
Bass do very well in these types of situations. Something I'd also suggest is stocked it with crayfish as a good base food source for the bass.
I had a friend in upstate NY who made a small pond himself on his property, and stocked it with bass. The bass did 'so so' until a NY state fisheries guy told him there wasn't enough food in the pond. Even though the bass were spawning, they were likely cannibalizing themselves just to stay alive. He suggested introducing crayfish, as a base food source. So, he bought a 5 gallon bucket of small crayfish, dumped them into the pond, and with 2 years the bass and the crayfish were/are thriving. :brow

[maineguideman]

Rainbows, set up a little pump so there is some flow this will help keep them cool in the summer and fishable in the winter. You can have the pond restocked from time to time

[SteepBank]

I agree with maineguideman, I would try rainbows with the tatic he outlined. Nothing against bass but you can catch bass nearly anywheres thesedays..I have a friends dad who did this and restockes every other year...the pond fishes excellent and has some real bruisers...the guy gave me a free pass a few times and I had a ball fishing everything from emergers to big gaudy streamers.

[ShaneY]

The trout idea sounds more expensive but more fun. I might be wrong on this but can't browns deal better with warmer water than rainbows?

[Trout77]

Im still getting over the envy of having your own private 5 acre pond!!
You can create your own little warmwater ecosystem! Up here, for a good trout pond you will need a nice thermocline to form in the summer, where not only temp, but oxygen would be at a premium. And then, with trout there is always the good possibility of a fish kill when the water is not in thermocline as the oxygen diffuses through-out the water column. Your pond is likely eutophic (decayed, stained etc...) Not a "bad" thing, just an "older" pond compared to oligotrophic cold-water ponds...
(If not paying attention to legal issues)----here is what I would do....

you already have a good shiner population, so insects are there... Try to introduce one "higher" predator (ie largemouth bass or pickerel) that consumes the shiners. These two fish will spawn like crazy, and yet keep each other under control.
Key thing to remember----everything eats and craps, so a good read in biology and chemistry is helpful, but way out of the scope of this board... Try to talk with aquaculture folks... and make sure your pond is isolated NOT in any way linked to a watershed,,, look what the European carp did!! :mad:

[Bob Parsons]

, so a good read in biology and chemistry is helpful, but way out of the scope of this board...

I know we have some biologist that access this board, not sure about chemists so don't rule out content from the board.

Thirty feet is close to being able to sustain trout over the summer, depending on the about of water at that depth, an aireator pump might be required.

Personally I like the bass as it is easy to maintain and they can be flyfished as well as the trout can.

[houdini]

I went the trout route. It sucks to see them swimming around with major mold because the water is to warm! Which is what happened the first summer I had when my springs shut down and the water temperature rose.
I now have black crappie and bass. I stocked fatheads until I got natural reproduction and have been trying to get crayfish going well.

[L.T. Tackle]

Some great advice. Thanks to all.

Fleshfly, I think the pond is just a town away! Perhaps I can get you a pass.

A few answers for Teflon Jones.

Average size pickerel-14 to 16 inches and perch 8 to 10 inches.

I am not sure of water source but I was told it is what is called a "kettle pond?" It is a natural pond.

Water level changes very little even in dry summers. Shoreline may move 4 or 5 feet max in the shallows.

There is a dock, there are lilly pads around the edges where the water is shallow. No damaging weeds to speak of. Trees run right to the edge all the way around and there are a number of trees that have fallen in over the years.

Water color is brown, maybe 2 feet visibility, and bottom is solid on edges but then pretty muddy elsewhere. Lots of leaves end up in pond and sink to bottom.

I can try and post a photo of the pond when I get a chance.

I think I would probably lean towards stocking it with largemouth myself.
Introducing crayfish too is a great suggestion.
Brings me to my next question. Does anyone know where I can get my hands on some Bass or should I just contact MA Dept. of fisheries.
I am assuming that catching bass from one pond and transferring them to this pond is probably not a good idea, and may not even be legal?

Once the pond is stocked and thriving, perhaps we need to have a RT fishing derby to see who can land the first 10 lb'r on a fly! :)

[teflon_jones]

Average size pickerel-14 to 16 inches and perch 8 to 10 inches.It sounds like the population is pretty healthy, but a little overpopulated. I'd suggest keeping the smaller fish you catch and eating them, or just culling some for the benefit of the others. An average size of 16-18" for the pickerel and 10-12" for the perch would show a healthier pond.

I am not sure of water source but I was told it is what is called a "kettle pond?" It is a natural pond.Kettle ponds are usually fed by a few different sources such as springs, streams, and runoff. This makes for healthy water.

Water level changes very little even in dry summers. Shoreline may move 4 or 5 feet max in the shallows. This is good news for sustaining fish during the hot summer.

There is a dock, there are lilly pads around the edges where the water is shallow. No damaging weeds to speak of. Trees run right to the edge all the way around and there are a number of trees that have fallen in over the years.This is also good news for sustaining fish in the hot summer. Depth, shade, or cool springs are an absolute must in order to keep fish from overheating.

Water color is brown, maybe 2 feet visibility, and bottom is solid on edges but then pretty muddy elsewhere. Lots of leaves end up in pond and sink to bottom. This is too dirty to sustain a healthy trout population. You should definitely stick with bass.

Introducing crayfish too is a great suggestion. If the bottom isn't rocky at all, then forget about it. The bass will eat all of the crayfish within a month or two since they'll have nowhere to hide. Crayfish needs rocks to build their homes!

Brings me to my next question. Does anyone know where I can get my hands on some Bass or should I just contact MA Dept. of fisheries. You should contact them to find hatcheries. You'll also need to get a permit to stock any species of predator fish like bass.
I am assuming that catching bass from one pond and transferring them to this pond is probably not a good idea, and may not even be legal?That is highly illegal!

[houdini]

Some crayfish, I've heard them called mud bugs, don't need rocks and do well in mud bottoms.

A Kettle Pond refers to one created by glacial action.

[Cuttbow]

We've got 5 ponds, and the previous owner stocked 'em with big bugs for use in his restaurants (we bought a buffalo ranch, and the bison were for meat too!). The Crayfish burrow into the banks, and you'll get bank slumping. Then the muskrats come in and make it worse. We trap the bugs and shoot the rats, but still we had to re-cut the ponds a few years ago. All's good now, as the banks are armored against the rats, and we keep up a trapping program for the bugs, but we still shoot a few rats a year! Nuisance!