How should you go about stocking an existing pond or lake? If the pond is empty, or if you can tell us with some certainty what is currently in it, then please complete our Fish Stocking Recommendations form. But if you are not sure what the fish population is, read on to learn the options. This article lays out a 5-step plan to guide the way.
Reaching out to us for a stocking recommendation is a great first step, because let’s face it, no one is born with the knowledge of what to stock to improve a fish population. But we also have no way of knowing what is going on in a pond/lake without data/info. Also, if you ask 5 fish biologists for a stocking plan, you will likely get 5 different plans. There is not 1 right way to stock a pond, so be careful about picking bits and pieces from different plans, because they could conflict.
If reaching out to a fish biologist is step one, gathering and conveying info on your current fish population is step two. As discussed above, the simple truth is that it is virtually impossible to make any decent stocking recommendations without knowing the basic details of the current fish population. So, how do you gather details on your current fish population? There are 2 basic ways. The first is hiring a professional to do it for you. Depending on the logistics, expect to pay anywhere from $1.5 to $4K for this. The second is to get the info yourself through fishing and careful observations.
What we really need to know is what species are present, what’s their size range and how abundant are they. If you want to gather this information yourself, start fishing and give us your results. We have a Fish Creel Survey form that you can use to organize your data. Remember, one day fishing doesn't paint a complete picture, you need to do this multiple times over a span of time. If you don’t want to do this yourself, you can ask a trustworthy fisherman to do it for you. There are many people out there that would jump at the opportunity to fish a pond for free!
There is one thing worse than no info at all, and that is bad info. Many times I have had people tell me about their stunted bluegill population that will not grow, despite what they do or stock. After considering everything they tell me, the facts just don’t add up, and I finally ask for them to send a photo. Very often they turn out to be Green Sunfish, or some sort of stunted hybrid, which completely changes the recommendations. This makes step three: “verify accuracy of information”.
Another form of information accuracy is exaggerated fish lengths and weights. Most people cannot tell the length of a fish by looking at it. Many people would look at a 5 inch bluegill and say that it is 3 inches, and there are significant management differences between the two. When measuring fish, they must be laid out on a ruler of some sort and measured from tip of nose to tip of tail. Likewise, please don’t report 5 pound Largemouth Bass unless you have actually put it on an accurate fish scale and recorded the weight.
Step four is State Your Goals, in order. Let’s say you have 3 goals: to grow trophy bass within 5 years, to have them in abundance so that you can easily catch them, and to set up a self sustaining ecosystem so that you do not have to spend money on feeding. Well, if those were your 3 goals, I would ask you to list them in order of importance, because you could probably have 2, but not all 3. In other words, sometimes goals are contradictory or incompatible, so if we know which are most important, we can tailor our recommendations accordingly.
Speaking of money, setting out a budget is step five. What good is a stocking plan if it costs 5 times more than you are willing or able to spend? If we know your budget, then we can consider your goals (in order) and provide you with a plan that best allocates your available resources.
Once we have that information, the ball is in our court and we will turn around the best recommendation that we can in little time. So here in review are those 5 steps:
Step 1: Reach out to a fish biologist that you trust to make a recommendation. Once you find a plan you like, stick with that one exclusively.
Step 2: Gather and convey fish population information, or hire a professional to do it for you.
Step 3: Make sure the information is accurate. Ask for a creel survey form if you are doing this yourself. Send in photos of fish you cannot 100% ID.
Step 4: List your goals, in order.
Step 5: Give a realistic maximum budget so we can best allocate your resources.