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Farm Pond Management-Stocking and Harvesting

Pre-stocking Procedures

New ponds should have a minimum of five feet of water present prior to stocking. This is necessary to keep the pond from freezing completely during the winter. Older ponds, with fish present, need to be assessed prior to supplemental stocking or renovated prior to stocking fingerling fish from a commercial source.

Selecting the Proper Fish

Fish species suited for small ponds are generally limited to largemouth bass, bluegill, redear sunfish, and channel catfish. Any fish species other than the aforementioned are not well suited to provide a good recreational fishery in a small pond. Crappie, common carp, blue and flathead catfish, and green sunfish compete with recommended species for food, space, and oxygen. These fish affect the balance of the pond and allow for fewer harvestable fish. Basic life histories for recommended and undesirable pond species can be found here.

Undesirable Fish Species

Almost any fish, even those normally considered sportfish, can be considered an undesirable fish in farm ponds. Most fish other than largemouth bass, bluegill, redear sunfish, channel catfish, and triploid grass carp are not recommended in a farm pond. Great care should be taken to prevent the accidental or deliberate stocking of undesirable fishes. Bait fishes as well as larger species can be introduced from sources such as discarded minnows or from well-meaning friends and neighbors. Ponds located close to streams may receive undesirable fish species during times of flooding. Species which should be controlled and are considered undesirable in a farm pond are:

Common Carp:

The common carp is sometimes stocked because pond owners believe that they will control aquatic vegetation or stop pond leaks. Carp will keep a pond muddy when abundant, but they will not keep the pond free from all aquatic vegetation. This muddy condition will also inhibit bass growth and reproduction. The quality of your pond for use as a fishing pond, livestock water source, or domestic water source will be affected by the action of the common carp.

Crappie:

Do not stock crappie in a pond or lake of less than 100 acres. These fish, although considered a sport fish, does not do well in small lakes or farm ponds. Largemouth bass and/or channel catfish must be large and abundant to keep crappie numbers under control.

Green Sunfish and other Sunfishes:

Green sunfish, hybrid sunfish, warmouth, longear sunfish, pumpkinseed, rockbass, etc., should not be stocked in farm ponds where balanced bass and bluegill fishing is desired. They all affect the bluegill and redear sunfish population by competing with them for food, space and nesting areas. Most of these fishes remain too small for harvest and tend to hybridize with the bluegill. Maintaining a hybrid sunfish fishery requires special care and harvest regulations. Hybrid sunfish tend to produce inferior offspring of the parent species. Large numbers of bass and catfish must be maintained to keep the young sunfish under control.

Bullhead, Flathead Catfish, and other Catfish:

Although bullhead catfish are excellent food fish they tend to overpopulate and stunt in farm ponds when bass are not present in enough numbers to keep them under control. Like the carp, they tend to muddy the pond with their bottom feeding habits. You should only stock channel catfish. Channel catfish have a forked tail and silvery sides with numerous black spots in the young fish. Bullheads have a square tail with rounded edges and dark olive sides. Flathead catfish, as well as the white catfish are not recommended in a farm pond. Flathead catfish feed mainly on fish and may have a place in the management of small lakes that have an overpopulation of bluegill. Research continues on the use of this fish as a management tool.

Miscellaneous Fishes: Pond owners are, at times, tempted to stock fish from local streams, other farm ponds, or lakes. Fish found in these sources include fishes that will not do well or will compete with desirable fishes. Minnows, shiners, and other fish provide food for bass, but bass should be feeding on bluegill. Other fish that may be introduced that are not considered desirable include gars, white bass, buffalo, walleye, sauger, suckers, madtoms, chubs, darters and carpsuckers. Each of these fishes may affect the balance of the pond and provide you with less harvestable fish. You also risk introduction of disease and parasites.

Stocking Your Pond

Before stocking a pond the owner should have an idea of what type of fishing is desired in order to choose the appropriate stocking combination. The most common stocking combination includes largemouth bass, bluegill, and channel catfish. Pond owners who wish to add an additional species to that combination can do so by replacing 25% to 30% of the bluegill with redear sunfish. Ponds smaller than ½ acre are difficult to manage for multiple species. More time and effort is often expended keeping a small (≤ ½ acre) pond in balance than ponds greater than one acre in size. Often the simplest and best fishing that can be obtained in ponds less than ½ acre is achieved by stocking only hybrid sunfish or channel catfish. These fish can be fed commercially available fish food to increase growth and will need to be restocked every couple years.

New or Renovated Ponds

For pond owners with newly constructed or recently renovated (no fish present) ponds, purchasing fish from a commercially licensed fish supplier is the best option. Be sure to stock your pond with fish only from a reliable source! Stocking fish from unregulated sources can lead to the introduction of undesirable fish species, parasites, or disease. View our fish supplier list here.

Many new pond owners will want to stock their ponds with fish caught when fishing other ponds or rivers to save money. This type of action is highly unadvisable and will usually result in an unbalanced or undesirable fish population in a new pond. If a pond owner is determined to personally stock his pond, the district fishery biologist should first be contacted for advice.

Older Ponds

Ponds already containing fish should be assessed prior to any supplemental stocking. Unnecessary stockings can slow growth rates and harm existing fish populations. Reference the Managing Fish Populations and Improving Habitat page for more information on how to assess your pond and interpret the results. Harvest, and or length limits, complete eradication and restocking, or the remedial stocking of largemouth bass or other species may be necessary to improve the fishery.

Stocking Rates

Tables 1 and 2 provide KDFWR recommended stocking rates for different stocking combinations of fingerling and sub-adult fish. If a pond owner wishes to manage for trophy bluegill or bass a strict harvest regime will need to be followed. Information on how to manage for trophy fish can be found on the Managing Fish Populations and Improving Habitat page .

Table 1. Recommended stocking rates of fingerling fish for new and renovated ponds.

	Number of fish to stock per acre
Stocking Combination	Bass	Bluegill	Catfish	Redear
Bass-Bluegill	120	400
Bass-Bluegill-Redear Sunfish	120	280		120
Bass-Bluegill-Catfish	120	400	50
Bass-Bluegill-Catfish-Redear Sunfish	120	280	50	120

Table 2. Recommended stocking rates of sub-adult fish for new and renovated ponds.

	Number of fish to stock per acre
Stocking Combination	Bass	Bluegill	Catfish	Redear	Hybrid Sunfish
Bass-Bluegill	30	100
Bass-Bluegill-Redear Sunfish	30	70		30
Bass-Bluegill-Catfish	30	100	50
Bass-Bluegill-Catfish-Redear Sunfish	30	70	50	30
Channel Catfish only			100
Bass-Hybrid Sunfish	30				500

Acclimating Fish

When stocking fish in your pond, it is very important to temper, or adjust, the fish to the new environment. The sudden shock of changing water temperature can stress or kill fish. If your fish are in bags, simply float the bags in the pond for at least 30 minutes, and then check to make sure that the temperatures are similar before releasing them. Float the bags out of direct sun-light if possible. If your fish were hauled in containers, slowly add pond water to the containers using a bucket or pump. Change about 25 percent of the water volume every 5 to 10 minutes until the temperatures in the tank and receiving waters are similar. It should then be safe to release the fish into the pond.

Harvesting

There are a few important rules-of-thumb pertaining to the harvest of fish that will help keep your pond in balance (the desirable ratio of predators - largemouth bass, and prey - bluegill) for a longer period of time. No fishing should take place the first year the pond is stocked. Several years after stocking, the pond will reach its carrying capacity (total pounds of fish it can support). In fertile ponds, largemouth bass generally will reach 12 inches 1 to 2 years following stocking. These bass usually spawn their second year. After the pond reaches carrying capacity, the largemouth bass will typically reach 12 inches in their third or fourth year.

Bluegill may be harvested during the second summer after stocking if they have spawned successfully. Fishing success is often good for the first few years after stocking. It is very important not to over-fish the bass during this time. Most people like to fish for bass, but confining the harvest to one fish species can harm the overall fish population in a pond. Harvesting only bass usually results in an over-population of bluegill. Underharvest is the single most common farm pond problem encountered by the Fisheries Division. It is best not to over-harvest or under-harvest either largemouth bass or bluegill.

It is recommended that the pond owner impose a larger minimum harvest size for bass, perhaps 15 inches long or longer. This should allow a greater period of time for the bass to feed on bluegill and make more adult bass available to spawn in the pond. The catch-and-release of bass, and not harvest (removal), should be an important aspect of the pond fishing experience. On the other hand, a pond where no fish are allowed to be kept can become out of balance as well.

The number of fish that can safely be removed from a pond depends upon the pond's fertility and size. A pond found in a forested watershed is not going to be as fertile as a pond located in fertile farmlands. If the land surrounding the pond is fertile, then the pond will also be productive. The pounds of fish a one acre pond can support may range from 50 pounds in an infertile pond to as much as 400 or more pounds per acre in a fertile pond.

Fertility affects how fast the fish will grow in your pond. One way a pond owner can determine the fertility of the pond is by chemical testing for alkalinity. Important elements related to production increase with increased alkalinity. Usually a pond can be considered very fertile if the alkalinity is 100 parts per million (ppm) or more; average if it is 50-100 ppm; and fair if the alkalinity is less than 50 ppm. See the Fertilization and Liming sections of the Water Quality page of this site to find out how you can make your pond more productive.

In general, forty to fifty percent of the pond’s annual production can be harvested each year. This means pounds of fish, not numbers. For instance, a fertile one-acre farm pond will generally support about 100 pounds of largemouth bass. Only 25 to 35 pounds of bass should be harvested per acre every year from this pond. Largemouth bass between 12 to 13 inches long, from a fertile pond, should weigh one pound. This same fertile one-acre pond will support 200-300 pounds of bluegill, allowing for a harvest of approximately 100-150 pounds of bluegill annually or approximately 300 bluegill if they weigh 1/3 of a pound each (7 to 8 inches long). The above rates are suggested for a fertile one-acre pond. Many ponds in Kentucky are less than 1/2 acre in size.

In an infertile 1/4 acre pond, probably no more than 4 or 5 pounds of bass should be harvested annually. It is easy to see that with very little effort too many bass can be removed from a pond. In most instances, it is very difficult to manage a pond less than ½ acre in size for long term fishing. If possible, the pond owner should know what fish are in the pond, their relative abundance, and what fish are being removed. This is a difficult task if the pond is located in an area where access cannot be controlled. In summary, a good rule of thumb is for every one pound of bass taken out of the pond, remove 4 to 5 pounds of bluegill. Emphasis should be placed on harvesting bluegill.

If catfish have been stocked into the pond, they can be harvested anytime they are determined to be of edible size. Be aware that catfish will probably have to be restocked to replace those that are removed or die of natural causes.

In summary, remember:

- maintain fertility

- keep aquatic vegetation under control

- Limit harvest of all fish for the first few years

- harvest both bass and bluegill as needed

- fish on a regular basis

- know what kinds and sizes of fish are being removed from the pond

- do not allow fish from streams, unknown sources, or bait buckets to be stocked

Follow these rules and with careful management you will have a pond to fish and enjoy for years to come.

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