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CONSERVATION CORNER
(For the week of February 25, 2008)
Take Stock Of Your Pond
by James L. Cummins

As we begin entering into the warmer months, fishing becomes more of our focus.

To have success in stocking your pond, you must decide which species you would like to raise and which would do best in your pond. Unfortunately, many people get poor advice or no advice at all. This usually results in wasted efforts and money.

A common mistake is to stock "forage fish," such as fathead minnows, into a pond with existing fish populations. These forage fish are quickly eaten by the adult bass or other predator fish and only serve as expensive fish food.

One would do better to spend their money more wisely by stocking adult forage fish, such as coppernose bluegill. The fish must be large enough so existing predator fish can't eat them. The forage fish can then spawn and produce large numbers of forage fish that bass or other predators need to grow and thrive.

In ponds of 1 acre or less, a single species tends to work best. Either channel catfish only or hybrid sunfish (bream) only, work well in this environment. A pond that is to be stocked with bream, such as bluegill and redear, and bass should preferably be larger than 1 acre.

Once channel catfish reach a length of about 18 inches, they are in direct competition with bream for food in a mixed pond. Stocking more than 50 channel catfish per acre may hinder growth of bream.

Largemouth bass are predatory and eat a variety of foods. Their diet includes small fish, frogs, crawfish and insects. They adapt well to ponds and reproduce successful, usually spawning only once a year.

Bluegill and redear sunfish also adapt well to ponds and eat a variety of foods. When small, they eat microscopic plants and animals. As they increase in size, their diets begin to include crawfish, insects, small fish and snails.

A correctly stocked pond generally results in a well-balanced fish population and insures good fishing. You should always stock ponds with fish from reliable fish hatcheries to eliminate the introduction of undesirable diseases, fish species or parasites.

A list of the licensed commercial fish hatcheries is available from the Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce, the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks, the Mississippi State University Extension Service and the Natural Resources Conservation Service.

And remember, when going fishing; take a young person with you. He or she needs to learn the joys of this great Mississippi pastime.