Management Of Recreational Fish Ponds In Alabama

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Species Selection And Stocking

The choice of fish to stock depends on the pond owner's goals and on the resources available. It is very difficult to manage a pond of less than 1/2 acre for bass and bluegill, although Alabama Game and Fish will stock a pond as small as 1/4 acre. If your pond is less than 1/2 acre, catfish is probably your best choice. Other combinations like hybrid bluegill and bass, or hybrid bluegill and bass and catfish are possible stocking options (see Alternative Stocking).

The largemouth bass and bluegill sunfish (or largemouth bass, bluegill, and shellcracker) combination is the most common stocking strategy used in the Southeast. The combination generally works well in ponds larger than l/2 acre and provides excellent fishing for both species indefinitely.

The beauty of the bass and bluegill system is its simplicity. In a well-fertilized pond, zooplankton and insect larvae will be plentiful enough to supply food for bass fry and all sizes of bluegill. The bluegill will reproduce and grow rapidly with the abundant food and provide excellent forage (food) for the bass. If bass are not over-harvested, they will keep the bluegill from overpopulating. Some large bluegill will survive bass predation to provide good bluegill angling. Channel catfish may also be added to a bass and bluegill pond, but the catfish will consume a portion of the food supply, slightly reducing the total pounds of bass and bluegill the pond can maintain. Table 1 gives recommended stocking rates for bass, bream (bluegill and shellcracker), and catfish in new or renovated ponds.

Table 1. Recommended Bass - Bream - Catfish Stocking Rates For New Or Renovated Ponds Of More Than 1/2 Acre.

Species	Fertilized Yes/No	Number to Stock/Acre
Bluegill(bg)/  shellcracker(sc)	yes  or no	1000 bg
		800 bg & 200 sc
		500
Bass	yes	100
	no	50
Catfish	yes	50 to 100
	no	25

Bass and bream (not catfish) for stocking new or renovated ponds may be obtained from the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources--Game and Fish Division. Contact a district fisheries office for information. Applications to Game and Fish and a pre-stocking check must be done by February 1 to qualify for spring stocking. Also, many private hatcheries in Alabama produce fish for stocking. Private hatcheries will deliver directly to ponds, can provide fish at almost any time of the year (after February 1), and many offer varieties or hybrids that have been selected for rapid growth. Contact your county Extension office for lists of private hatcheries that sell fish in Alabama.

Stocking of 3- to 5-inch bream is most often done in the fall or early winter. The bluegill will grow and spawn by the following spring. Bass are stocked in late May or June and grow rapidly, feeding on the new bluegill fry. Bluegill will spawn two or three more times before fall providing adequate forage for the bass. Bass growth should average 1/4 to 1/2 pound in the first year and can approach 2 pounds if forage is plentiful. Catfish can be stocked in fall or spring. If stocked together always stock catfish as large or larger than the bass. Catfish usually cannot successfully reproduce in ponds with bass and bluegill populations and will have to be restocked as they are fished out.

Species that should not be stocked into farm ponds or should be stocked only under certain conditions include crappie, shad, flathead catfish, common carp, and shiners. Pond owners should work with a qualified fisheries biologist if they stock these species.

Crappie (both black and white) may pose management problems in small ponds in that they overpopulate and stunt at sizes too small to be harvested. Under these conditions they compete with both bass and bream for food. Crappie can be stocked in larger farm ponds (greater than 25 acres), but only after the largemouth bass initially stocked have spawned several times. Also, largemouth bass harvest must be carefully controlled to ensure enough bass in the pond to control crappie numbers.

Stocking gizzard and threadfin shad into established largemouth bass and bream populations reduces the number of fish that are available for harvest. Bluegill number and average size decline while fewer but larger bass are usually present. Individuals wishing to catch, but not necessarily harvest, larger bass from their ponds have stocked both gizzard and threadfin shad. This practice is not generally recommended because of the necessity for restructuring or reducing the populations with the fish toxicant rotenone every 2 to 3 years. Extremely cold winters may kill threadfin shad, in which case the fish populations will have to be restructured by some other means.

Flathead catfish are voracious eaters and cannibalistic, and they grow large enough to prey on even large bass. Other species that should not be stocked into farm ponds are common carp and bullhead catfish. Common carp can overpopulate rapidly, eat eggs of other fish, compete for food, and muddy the pond through their bottom feeding activity. These species also compete for the available food resources, and that can affect the survival of desirable fish.

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