Farm Pond Stocking Questions

nchunt101

Ten Pointer
My family has a piece of property with a roughly 2 acre pond that has been fished out. If I restock it would I need to kill what few fish are in there now. Also I know this is probaly to least effective way to restock a pond but has anyone had luck transfering bass/brim from nearby ponds? I have a large bait tank to keep the fish alive.
 

Eric Revo

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
We used to transfer fish all the time using igloo coolers with a bubbler and frequently kept bass and bream alive for hours. I don't think you are "supposed" to transfer wild caught live fish...but I can't say it hasn't been done with success.
You will probably never transfer enough fish this way to take a 2 acre pond to capacity, unless you are a far better fisherman than I am, but it's a good way to get a fishable population of large predator fish like bass into a pond without waiting on them to grow naturally.
 

oldest school

Old Mossy Horns
My family has a piece of property with a roughly 2 acre pond that has been fished out. If I restock it would I need to kill what few fish are in there now. Also I know this is probaly to least effective way to restock a pond but has anyone had luck transfering bass/brim from nearby ponds? I have a large bait tank to keep the fish alive.

My cousins had a tiny tiny pond that their dad put big bass in when he could. it was amazing how well they did and sure were fun to mess with.
had a friend that did the same thing, same results.

jordan, harris and falls lakes have stocked many farm ponds.

as a strategy for a new stocking i dont think that is the way to go but we have folks here that know.

If your pond is" fished out " not sure how you keep that from happening again?
 

nchunt101

Ten Pointer
Thanks for the reply. By the time we bought the farm the pond was fished to death. I have a good tenant living there and he does a great job keeping an eye on things.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk
 

nccatfisher

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Most experts don't recommend the stocking of ponds with fish from different bodies of water and ages etc due to the chance of introducing parasites and disease. Not to mention you usually don't get an even balance of fish that way. But many have done it, it just depends on what you plan to stock.
 

oldest school

Old Mossy Horns
Thanks for the reply. By the time we bought the farm the pond was fished to death. I have a good tenant living there and he does a great job keeping an eye on things.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

not sure how you have determined if it was fished out but if you are wrong and restock fingerlings you will have wasted your money. you might want to let it rest with no pressure and see what you get.
 
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darkthirty

Old Mossy Horns
drain it down as far as you can and rotenone the hell out of it. While it's drained down, dig out what you can (if needed) and add habitat (if needed). Stock your panfish (bluegills, redears) from a reputable fish supplier this spring/summer, then stock your bass next spring. Slow and steady wins the race.
 

nccatfisher

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
I use mine for a one acre bait tank, I restocked it myself and it worked fine. If you are looking for a more balanced pond the info given about draining and wiping it out is good info. Also if it doesn't have some natural cover that would be a good time to introduce some.
 

Cootmeurer

Six Pointer
Go and look up PondBoss Forums. Very friendly but super knowledgable people that do ponds all the time. Any question you can ask, someone has already asked and answered. Great site.
 

HuntinCop

Twelve Pointer
Years ago we transferred a bunch of 4-5 pounders from Falls Lake to a farm pond...brought back a couple every time we went. That was more than 15 years ago. It has some monsters in it now!
 

sky hawk

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
I have transferred my share of big bass, but that's not the way you want to stock a pond. If you are getting a fresh start, you don't want any adult fish in there at all.

Do what darkthirty said.

After the pond matures, I don't see a problem with transferring big fish, unless you're concerned about disease. The bottleneck for bass in a pond is at the 1-2 pound range, so if you add big bass, they don't have as much competition usually. But if you stock from scratch, I wouldn't want to mess up the first generation, which is always the best, by adding other fish in.
 
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