New pond stocking plan calculator

These counts are for a new or renovated pond with no fish in it. They do not apply if you are adding to fish that are already there. Buy from a hatchery that can certify the species, because wild-caught fish bring in green sunfish, bullheads and crappie that upset the balance.

Rates follow the extension stocking tables in Mississippi State Extension publication 1428, Managing Mississippi Farm Ponds and Small Lakes, and Texas A&M AgriLife stocking guidance. Redear replace part of the bluegill count rather than adding to it. A catfish-only pond takes 100 fingerlings per acre unfertilized or 300 fertilized, with no forage or bass, and you will have to feed them.

Forage goes in first, in fall or early spring, so it spawns before the bass arrive. Bass follow the next late spring or summer, 6 to 12 months later, and grow on the young of that first spawn. Catfish can go in any time with the forage. In the South the pond reaches carrying capacity in about 18 months, and in the North allow about 24.

For trophy bluegill the bass rate goes up to 100 or 150 per acre and the bass are never harvested. With that many bass, bluegill numbers stay low and the survivors grow large.

Practitioner discussion: Pond Boss forum threads LM Bass Stocking, Growth, Management and Growing Some Big Bluegill.