May 2007 - Volume 68, Issue 5
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Private Pond Stocking continued...
Bluegills provide food for largemouth bass as well as great sport and excellent table fare for anglers. Bluegills eat everything from microscopic plants and animals to insects, snails, crayfish and small fish. They can reach 6 inches long and start reproducing after just one year. Once introduced into a pond, they usually sustain their numbers through natural reproduction. Bluegills in Missouri may live five to 10 years.
Channel catfish are primarily bottom feeders, eating insects, crayfish and fish. They canbe trained to feed on commercial food pellets. Populations of channel catfish rarely increase in ponds as the bass eat all the young ones. A supplemental stocking of channel catfish longer than 8 inches every two to three years is needed to sustain a fishery.
How Many Do I Need?
The number of bluegill, bass and channel catfish that a pond can support depends on the amount of available living space and resources, referred to as carrying capacity. Condition of habitat, the amount of available food and space, and even the soil type in the watershed affect a pond’s carrying capacity. The typical stocking combination for most farm ponds in fertile soil is 100 bass, 500 bluegill and 100 catfish per surface acre of water. Most of the time, stocking more fish than recommended is detrimental to the fishery.
Stocking rates are for 1- to 2-inch bluegill and 2- to 4-inch catfish in September. The following June, 1- to 2-inch bass are stocked. Stocking fingerlings is not only more economical (smaller fish are cheaper to produce than larger ones), but it ensures uniform growth and produces better sport fishing in less time than stocking a smaller number of adult fish.
The Missouri Department of Conservation provides fish for stocking private ponds that meet certain guidelines. A landowner who wants fish must fill out a pond stocking application and agree to have the pond inspected by the Department. (See “Want Fish?” on page 16 for more information.)
What about Crappie?
“What about crappie?” many pond owners ask after I advise them to stock the usual combination of bass-bluegill-channel catfish.
It’s true that the state records for both Missouri crappie species came from private ponds. However, not all ponds produce quality crappie fisheries.
Successful crappie ponds typically have somewhat clear water and a lot of aquatic vegetation.
More important, pond owners must manage the pond intensively. You can’t just stock the pond and walk away. Landowners have to be willing to manage the pond for numbers of largemouth bass and make sure that the pond is fished often enough to remove adult crappie.
About This Article
Author
TORY MASON is a fisheries management biologist
for Holt, Atchison and Nodaway counties.
He began working for the Department of
Conservation in August 2003. Tory grew up in
northern Illinois. He enjoys fishing for walleye
and panfish, bow hunting and waterfowl hunting
with his two 2 labs and his layout boat.
Photographer
CLIFF WHITE is a life-long Missouri resident. After nearly 10 years as a staff photographer for the Missouri Department of Conservation, Cliff recently took on management duties as Art Director. Now he supervises on an unruly gang of super-creative folks. In his spare time Cliff likes to play old-time folk and bluegrass music, float fish and chase the occasional turkey.
