MDYoungBuck

I recently added a pond to our property late last summer. I would like to stock the 1/8 acre pond with some fish for this upcomming year. This will be my first pond management and stocking task, and have many questions.

With a 1/8 acre pond in MD, what should I stock and what numbers? I was thinking bass, sunfish, and a possibility of catfish and trout. The pond has 1-2 mountain springs dumping into the water, keeping it colder than most I would imagine. The pond is also in a corner field with trees surround 1/2 of it, giving it some shade. I also need to know the best time to stock.

So if this was yours, what would you do? Any helpful links or advice would be great! Thanks.

-Sam

thundermug

The best place to get info on this is your local county extension ofice. they can put you in touch with the right companies who have stocking abilities. They will also let you know when and what to stock.

AJ52

You might also talk to your F&W dept along with thundermug suggestion. Some F&W will actually come out and look at pond and advise on what to stock,pond plants etc... I would think/guess a mix of Bass,Crappie,Perch would work and be fun to watch grow as the Bass will tear up Crappie but should leave enough for some real trophys to grow.They are somewhat of a prolific breeder.Same with Gills.

I would think the Bass and Catfish would wipe out the Trout?

If Mr.Catfish gets big enough they will compete/eat everything in pond. Also watch out for invasion of local snapping turtles - they will clean out a small pond in short order.Fish,Ducks - everything that draws breath, they will eat!

Good Luck

Champlain Islander

I think I read in a Bassmaster article that they don't like to add crappies to a bass pond. Too much predation on the young bass fry by old papermouth. A mix of bass with lots of bluegills are what I think they recommended. I would keep the cats out if possible. Once when I was a 12 year oldkid a buddy and I caught a bunch of small ones and snuck them into a church pond full of goldfish and fancy fish. We just did it as a joke thinking they were so ugly and when people gathered after mass to look at the pretty fish they would gag when they saw the cats. Long story short the cats killed and ate all the fancy fish within a week. Big investigation but we got away with a stupid kid prank. It has been 45 years and I guess it is safe to admit to it.

monkeyman2269

k i got a 1 acre pond and i stocked it with 12 bullheads 20 sunfish and 12 small bass that was 2 years ago now there are prolly 100's of sunfish lots of bull heads and some fat bruiser bass i put turtles in there 2 painted go catch some frogs 2

hossofadoc

This is what KY fish and wildlife reccomends.
http://fw.ky.gov/farmpondinfo.asp?li...vPath=C101C136

I'm going to do this program for my farm ponds, I've got one about an 1/8th of an acre and one that is an acre.

MDYoungBuck

That seems like a good service they offer to you! I have contacted MD DNR in hopes they have something similar. Thanks for the help, that link seemed pretty factual.

Rebel Dog

I actually caught fish and stocked my fathers pond successfully He has had a thriving population for about 10 years. We started with Bluegills and let them get started for at least 1 year. A pond that small you shouldn't need but a couple dozen and they should reproduce in the first year. If you get dept. of game involved and they stock the pond would have to be open to the public at least in Va. it would. I think it is small enough that you could transfer fish in it and in a couple years you would be set. Deffianatly get some vegetation growing. I pulled plants from ponds and even transplanted those in my Dad's work out well.

Scott/IL

A pond I fish on occasionalywas overan with crappie and bass. They drained the pond once and restocked it with catfish, bluegill, and bass. Now there are lots of bass, but they are really small. The bluegill are pretty rare. On a good day there though you can catch about 10-12 cats and none of them weigh less than 5 lbs.

Another pond has bluegill, crappie, and bass and all 3 do very well and any givin day you can bring home a mess of all 3.

MDYoungBuck

Ok Guys,

I have been in contact with the MD state DNR via various emails, and they have been very helpful. They turned me over to a state fisheries biologist, that works under the DNR.

Looks like they will be supplying Largemouth Bass this spring (early June) and Bluegill in the fall (October)

I will recieve a call telling me when the stocking truck will be in town, and I will drive into town to meet with him. All I have to pay is $10 per visit. So for $20, once in spring and once in fall, I will have a proper pond stocking.

Next step will beplanting successful aquatic plants. What is good for the bedding of these fish? Any suggestions here will be great. Thanks guys!