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rmak
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# Posted: 20 Sep 2014 13:39
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Our new pond by our cabin is filling slowly. The man who dug it for us said he will give us a quantity of minnows to dump in there. We are to let them breed for a year and then we can start stocking our pond with fish that can feed off the minnows and prosper.
I am asking if anyone did any pond stocking before. It's all new to me, but I'd like to learn and have an ecosystem there that works. Wouldn't be bad to be able to catch and eat a home grown fish now and then too.
We're in Ohio. Any suggestions as to what fish, where we'd get them and anything else I should know?
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toyota_mdt_tech
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# Posted: 20 Sep 2014 13:49
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Had a co worker who had a pond and would stock it with trout he bought from a hatchery. The large cranes would eventually eat them all, so it ended up being expensive crane food he was buying. Will the ponds have cover, deep areas, rock cliffs, areas for fish to hide in or will it be open, fairly shallow leaving the fish vulnerable?
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countryred
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# Posted: 20 Sep 2014 18:34
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How big and deep is the pond? In Missouri, the bluegill, bass, and channel catfish combo works well. Bigger ponds can handle white crappie as well. We have moved fish from other ponds,lakes, and rivers with success in the fall and spring.
Our future pond will be stocked with local minnows from the creek first, just as soon as the pond begins filling and 4-6" channel catfish after that. Supplement minnow and crayfish stockings after that.
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rmak
Member
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# Posted: 20 Sep 2014 19:50
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Our pond will be about 3/4+ acre when full. The builder made an area about 10 feet deep at a back corner that he said would be a good spawning area. The rest is around 8 foot deep with a area that slopes gradually to a four foot deep shelf. This was described as a place someone could swim to to get out if they fell in.
But I don't know if this is considered small/big, shallow/deep. There are no rocks in it, but there's only about 2 feet of water so far. I guess I could set some rocks if it would help the fish population.
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old243
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# Posted: 20 Sep 2014 20:40
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my pond is quite small. Probably 75 feet square. It is about 8 feet deep at one end slopes up to shallows. Been there about 20 years. I put a pailful of minnows in at that time, out of a creek, there are several kinds just what came in the pail. I have used them for fish bait minnows lots of times. Still seems to be a good population. I see a heron quite often , I expect he likes them too. I put 25 rainbow trout in once ,They were gone the first year. It is frozen over solid for several months , so likely some winterkill. I have some willows and cat tails , so they do have some cover. Good luck with your pond. old243
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old243
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# Posted: 21 Sep 2014 09:50
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If you want to catch your own minnows , it is quite easy. I have the round wire trap with the cone entrance on each end.You can get them at a hardware or sporting goods store, get the galvanized type wire rather than a plastic or black one. For some reason they don't work as well, Bait with a slice of bread, break it up a bit. If you are trapping in a current make sure the trap is facing with the current. Minnows usually face into the current , so will find the entrance better. It should also be sitting level. If you are trapping in a lake find a beaver house , or a brushy tree in the water , minnows tend to hang around these. There is also a market for the minnows , professional trappers will pay to trap your pond, if there is a good minnow population. Just be sure you are not stocking a species that would get out of hand . a good example would be the Asian carp. old 243
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bldginsp
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# Posted: 21 Sep 2014 10:14
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Have you contacted your local fish and game department? they probably have good advice and might even stock it for you
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hueyjazz
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# Posted: 21 Sep 2014 10:40
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Trout does better in deeper water and bass do better in shallow.
A managed pond with a balance of bait fish to game fish is more self sustaining. Say you just put bass in then you'll need to keep adding bait fish. But a pond with bass, minnows, sunfish and cat fish will maintain better.
In NY you must apply for a permit to add fish to a pond. You have to tell them exactly what you plan to put in and they mandate you obtain your fish from a State regulated hatchery. You tell them the size of the pond, how it is feed and what is the outlet waters if any. Part of this is to avoid evasive species and diseased fish. A couple of sick fish can cause havoc to a small pond. Grass carp can help with certain types of weeds in a pond but in NY these are also under special permit as a evasive fish.
When you buy fish the larger they are the more expensive. 3-4 inches is fairly common. Adding these fingerlings to an established pond can be disaster as the larger fish will eat them. They become expensive bait.
I agree that your State fish and game department is your best source of information. You also have to ask yourself do you want pets or a biosphere. The latter will cost a lot more to create.
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missouriboy
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# Posted: 9 Dec 2014 21:48
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I built a 1 1/2 acre pond. I stocked it with minnows, Bluegill and Redear Sunfish, waited about a year so they could spawn then added Bass and Channel Cat. I did buy them from a commercial grower. The Conservation Department will stock a pond in Missouri but there are rules to follow. By me buying them I can let anyone fish without a fishing License so that is why I bought them. If you are willing to wait a while buy a few and let the reproduce instead of stocking the recommended amount for your pond size.
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turkeyhunter
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# Posted: 12 Dec 2014 15:43 - Edited by: turkeyhunter
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I just built a small wildlife pond ( 1/4+ acre pond / 5 hours with track hoe/ 3 hours with a Kubota /front end loader and box blade )at my camp. Deer/ turkey/small game and birds are using it already. I bought 100 channel catfish this week. 5" to 7" long. I sure I will feed some to wildlife ( cranes and coons)...fed the fish yesterday the sinking pellet fish food. Really excited to see if they make it till summer. I am putting a automatic fish feeder on the dam. To feed them when I am not there. It uses 6 volt rechargeable batteries.
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rmak
Member
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# Posted: 13 Dec 2014 10:37
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Hey missouriboy and turkeyhunter-I'm curious. How much did it cost for the fish to stock your ponds?
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Just
Member
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# Posted: 13 Dec 2014 11:53
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I would not stalk your pond for at least a year if not two . Your pond needs a year or two to naturalize . It will be dirty and not have a lot of oxygen in it till some plant life gets growing .A few local caught fish should OK but hold off buying any till your pond gets established a bit . Buy or source some water plants first..
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rmak
Member
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# Posted: 13 Dec 2014 12:12
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The guy who dug the pond says he will drop off minnows in a year and I can stock the year afterwards when these feeder fish multiply some. I was just wondering if fish are pricey or not.
When he dug the pond, which is his business, he said he digs deep and puts a shelf along the side so you can pull yourself out if you fall in. The deep is supposed to keep plants and algae from getting sunlight and taking over the pond. What kind of plants would benefit, and how would I keep them from overwhelming the pond? It's about between 1/2 and 3/4 acre in size.
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Just
Member
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# Posted: 13 Dec 2014 12:40
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Lilly pads, arrow leaf ,water iris cat tails is what i have , i am just north of you in southern Ontario . IF it is that deep you should not have much trouble with weeds for a few years . Our pond is 40 years old , had it cleaned out once , about 6 ft..
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rmak
Member
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# Posted: 13 Dec 2014 15:20
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Thanks, Just. Nice looking pond!
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turkeyhunter
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# Posted: 13 Dec 2014 18:29 - Edited by: turkeyhunter
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Quoting: rmak Hey missouriboy and turkeyhunter-I'm curious. How much did it cost for the fish to stock your ponds?
he had different prices on the channel catfish...
the small ones 3" to 5" .25 cents each
the ones I got 5" to 7" .50 cents each
he had crappie and bream as well.
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spoofer
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# Posted: 13 Dec 2014 20:38
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my uncle had a 1 acre pond in the catskills years ago. He said that the dec told him it should be 12-14 ft deep to naturally maintain itself. He stocked it with brown trout that grew huge. It also got pond weeds naturally. After a few years it grew cattails etc, just by visiting birds droppings. It also had turtles, salamanders and frogs. Sometimes we would feed the trout special pellets made for them. I don't believe it was necessary for them to survive. He passed about 10 years ago. I often wonder about that pond in Willow, NY.
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hueyjazz
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# Posted: 14 Dec 2014 18:06 - Edited by: hueyjazz
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Wow Turkey Hunter
In NY we pay $2-$4 per fish of those size. Trout tend not to sustain themselves in a pond and need restocking. Even with other fish you need a regular food stock to maintain the population. I have two ponds. One is stocked with large mouth bass and it is spitting distance from the cabin and its about a half acre. A couple of times a year I treat them to a 1000 minnows. Oh what fun. When released they start out in a school. About 5-10 minutes into this starts a feeding frenzy. They smarten up and for days later there's strikes in the weed beds.
Through out the year a bass will leap out of the water and grab a bug. Quite entertaining. I think a local abundant population of small frogs keep my bass fed.
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