STOCKING OF FISH AND TYPE OF FISH TO BE STOCKED

Your choice of fish to stock
depends on the goals and
resources available to the pond
owner. Except for supplemental
stocking of channel catfish, a
pond that already contains fish generally does not need to be
stocked. Moving fish from your
neighbor's pond, or a local lake
to your pond, is not
recommended. This can cause
fish diseases and stocking a wrong fish species in an
environment. Stocking your
pond with the right species and
number of fish is very
important!
2. Fish to Stock: If your pond is less than 1 acre,
catfish will be the best decision
to stock with. A pond less than 1
acre, is very difficult to manage
bass and blue gill. Combining
large mouth bass and blue gill is the the most common stocking
strategy. This combination
generally works best in ponds
that are larger than 1 acre and
also provides excellent fishing
for both species. Blue gill will reproduce and grow rapidly
with an abundance of food from
a well-fertilized pond, and will
provide good food for the bass.
If bass are not over-harvested,
they will keep the blug ill population from
overpopulating. Channel catfish
may also be added to a bass and
bluegill pond. The down fall is
that the catfish will consume a
portion of the food supply, slightly reducing the total
pounds of bass and blue gill the
pond can maintain. In Texas,
recommended stocking rates of
lakes and ponds vary with size,
location, and condition of the pond or lake and the desires of
the pond owner. A pond larger
than 1 acre that will be
fertilized, should be stocked
with 1,000 blue gill fingerlings,
100 large mouth bass, and 100 channel catfish per acre.
Stocking of 3 to 5 inch bluegill is
most commonly done in the fall
or early winter. Bluegill will
grow and spawn by the
following spring. In late May or June, bass are stocked and grow
rapidly, feeding on the new
bluegill fry. Bluegill will spawn
2 or 3 more times before fall,
providing adequate food for the
bass. Bass growth should average around 1/4 to 1/2
pound in the first year and can
approach 2 pounds if food is
plentiful. Catfish can be stocked
in the fall or srping. Always
stock catfish as large or larger than the bass if stocked
together. Catfish usually cannot
successfully reproduce in ponds
with bass and bluegill
populations and will have to be
restocked as they are fished out. Large mouth Bass, Bluegill,
Redear Sunfish, Channel Catfish,
and Trout are all excellent fish
to stock in your pond.
3. Fish to Avoid: Crappie, Flathead Catfish,
Common Crap, Bullheads,
Yellow Perch, Pumpkinseed, and
Green Sunfish are species that
should NOT be stocked into farm
ponds. Crappie may cause management problems in small
ponds by over populating, and
compete with both bass and
bluegill for food. In larger farm
ponds, specifically more than 25
acres, Crappie can be stocked, but only after the large mouth
bass have spawned several
times. Largemouth bass harvest
must be carfully controlled to
ensure enough bass in the pond
to control crappie numbers. Falthead catfish are voracious
eaters, cannibalistic, and grow
large enough to prey on even
large bass. Bullhead catfish and
common carp over populated
rapidly, compete for food and resources, and can affect the
survival of fish. Also, these
types of fish are not
recommended because they stir
up the bottom, keeping the
pond water muddy. Call 08032861326 for help and consultant.

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