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New Pond Questions?

SWBUCKHNTR

SWBUCKHNTR

Member
I just wanted to get some input from you guys on a new pond that I will be stocking this spring. It is a 5 acre pond that is gonna be 45 feet deep in the middle. It is a damned up ravine and pretty much keeps that depth throughout the whole middle. It is a U shape and at the middle of the U we dug 4 holes that will drop from 15 foot to 65 foot. Each hole does that and they are spaced out like a 4 on a dice. I will be putting Crappie, Blue gill, Hybrid blue gill, Bass, Catfish, and Walleye. I know I have to stock everything at different times as far as blue gill, crappie, catfish one year and then bass and walleye the next. I think the whole reasoning for that is to get some baitfish for the bass and walleye so they dont starve when you first put them in. My question on that is if I put 20-30 pounds of bait fish in this spring can I turn around and stock all breeds later this spring?
I was also wondering about any other varieties of fish you guys might put in?
Also with a prime walleye pond like this how long before they are reaching the 24" size?
 
Muskies, i chalk it full of muskies.....
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ok, kidding....

Ii dont know much about this stuff, but sounds like a heck of a pond! Hope it works for you!!!
Good luck
 
Not sure about the stalking, but if it's gonna be that deep I'd for sure dump a ton of structure in there and consider making some more shallow areas for spawning grounds. If you know anyone who'll let you cut some Osage Orange (Hedge-Apple) they don't rot in water and will last pretty much forever.
 
Do you have any pictures before the damn and after?? With my experience, we have a 3-4 acre pond which was damned up 18 years ago. It started off 25 feet deep and has a natural spring running into it. We started with sunnies the first year, then put in largies. In 3-4 years the sunnies were the size of your hand and chunks. The bass were around 14-17 inches. We thought we were doing everything right cause the fishing was awesome, however we released every fish thinking someday we'd grow a state record bass...as the years went on the fishing got worse. The sunnie population was out of control, and we'd catch 30-40 tiny ones before we'd catch one hand-sized one. We couldn't figure out what we'd done wrong. Well, then after reading into it we started to do our own slot limit, keeping alot of smaller fish and letting go the "big fish"...15 years later the fishing is finally getting close to what it use to be. However I'm not totally sure it'll ever get as good as it was the first 5 years. The other thing I'd like to add is our pond was surround by fields and over the years the pond has really filled in. Now the deepest part is about 8-9 feet. We've turned some of the fields into CRP to help reduce runoff and we dumped alot of large rocks/boulders were the spring runs in up about 30-35 yards which will also hopefully help out.

Lastly, I'm not sure where you are going to get your fish from, but when we put ours in(18 years ago keep in mind) we got them from Lake Winona. Well for those of you that know Lake Winona has a lot of milfoil in it... needless to say when we were transporting the fish into the pond, we found out my dad was dumping the whole bucket of fish and water into the pond...next thing we know more and more milfoil is growing in the pond. Not sure if we could have prevented it or not, but I can't image dumping the whole bucket of water in was a great idea...
 
Im taking up a collection for Tha4, and sending him north of the boarder to catch Muskies so he gets it out of his system. Boy Walleye fishing is where its at!
 
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> I know I have to stock everything at different times as far as blue gill, crappie, catfish one year and then bass and walleye the next.</div></div>
I think I would stock the crappie when you stock the bass and walleye.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">My question on that is if I put 20-30 pounds of bait fish in this spring can I turn around and stock all breeds later this spring?</div></div>
I would stock 50-100 pounds of fathead minnows this spring and then stock hybrid blugill, redear and catfish this fall with another 50 pounds of fathead minnows. Then next spring add the crappie, bass and walleyes with another 50 pounds of fathead minnows.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Also with a prime walleye pond like this how long before they are reaching the 24" size? </div></div>
Depends how many fathead minnows you stock each year. The more you stock the faster they will grow. I would stock 25-50 pounds every year.

There is a ton of info on this site reguarding stocking options/recommendations. I'm sure they would be happy to help answer your questions.
http://www.dunnsfishfarm.com
 
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">That looks expensive. I guess you get what you pay for.
</div></div>
Black Crappie
100 per surface acre = $85.00
Largemouth Bass
100 per surface acre = $75.00
Hybrid Bluegill
500 per surface acre = $225.00
Redear Bream - Optional
200 per surface acre - deterrent to worms = $100.00
Channel Catfish
400 per surface acre = $180.00
Fathead Minnows
10 lbs. per surface acre minimum. = $100.00 I'd at least double to 20lbs per acre = $200.00
10 Grass Carp (white amur) $60.00
I've seen walleye listed on other fish farm web sites for around $75.00 per 100

I came up with $925.00 per acre without walleye and $1000.00 per acre with walleye. I'm sure you wouldn't have to stock as many fish as listed above per acre as the populations will grow rapidly. I would be more concerned with stocking large concentrations of fathead minnows for forage and having good structure in the pond.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> At Dunn's Fish Farm we understand the value of a dollar. If you find the same product or service advertised for a lesser price, we will match it! Discounts available on larger orders.</div></div>
SWBUCKHNTR here is link with some more fish farms listed in Missouri. You will have to call most of them to get a list of their prices.
http://www.moaa.pond.org/fingerlings/fingerling_species_list.htm
 
Thanks for all the info. Where is dunns fish farm out of? I have 27 ponds that I do a little work to every year and would love to get some different prices. All the ponds are around the Leon area and I have been using Beemer Fisheries out of Bedford for the last 2 years. They do a good job and are resonably priced and they deliver. Thanks again for the help.
 
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Where is dunns fish farm out of? </div></div>
Contact info says Fittstown, OK.

I have heard good things about Beemer Fisheries. I haven't checked into their prices yet. I just like the Dunn's website because of all the info available and because they list their prices. I wouldn't hesitate to check around because I have seen prices vary from $.30 to $1.50+ per fish for the same size and species at different fish farms. I wouldn't have a problem paying a little extra for my fish if the customer service and technical support is there to get the project done right.
 
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