ETD66SS said:
What kind of fish could I have in the small pond?
Would it be possible to have BG or sunfish in there along with baitfish? Or will the BG just demolish everything?
What will the LMB eat initially in the big pond?
Working toward an objective of raising healthy fat LMB in your environment...
First, stock your baitfish (fathead minnows and shiners or whatever is recommended for your area) in both ponds at your recommended per acre stocking rates. Stock BG and red ears (RES) in the main pond at recommended per acre stocking rates for a LMB pond in your area.
Then after a full growing season (spring to following spring) bring in the young LMB in the main pond. There will be plenty of forage for them to eat. Toward the end of that second growing season and thereafter, treat your LMB to forage moved from the small pond.
Now, this is the hard part for me because of regional differences...how many, if any, BG and RES to stock in the small pond. The fear is BG overpopulating the small pond and stunting...remember there will be no predators there in the forage pond to help you keep the BG numbers in check. Talk with your local area DNR if you have them or pro pond managers in your local area for the question on stocking BG and/or RES in the forage pond.
I would not stock any BG and/or RES in the forage pond the first growing season. The second season, at best, only stock small numbers of them in the forage pond ...you could move a few from the larger pond but... Again, the problem I worry about is BG overpopulating the small pond.
If you don't like the way things are going in the future, you have several management options....including addition or subtraction of LMB in the large pond and of course, you always have the option of just opening up the small pond to the LMB predators from the big pond if you don't like the way things are going.
Carefully consider the question of stocking BG in the forage pond.
Sounds like fun to me...and some experimentation/learning along the way.