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Steve Bonine · 25-03-2007, 03:44 PM posted to rec.ponds.moderated

wrote:

It depends on what kind of a pond you want it to be. If you want
a typical "natural" pond for good fishing, I would buy or catch some
bass and put them in. They would reduce the sunfish population very
quickly.

I would like to have a bit more diversity in the pond than I have now.
I have considered that acquiring some kind of fish might be the way to
achieve that. But I still have questions. How many bass, what size?
Any suggestions on where to obtain them? Will they kill off all the
sunfish, so that instead of having no diversity because it's 100%
sunfish will I have no diversity because of 100% bass? Will they
survive the winter, or will I need to re-stock each spring?

What about fish other than bass?

On the other hand, if you have small children around that like to
fish, then keeping a large sunfish population is the answer. I think
a sunfish is probably the most common "first fish" ever caught by
most people. (I know it was mine -bamboo pole with a worm and
bobber. Boy was I a proud 7 or 8-year old.!)

Yeah, it's a hoot to watch the kids fish in the pond. I have a niece
that's high school age, and she and her friends enjoy the pond, too.

What I would like to end up with is some compromise between what I have
now, with tiny fish but a lot of them, and instead have "the best of
both worlds". I am not sure that's possible in a pond this size.

I have a large "natural" pond, dug by an excavator. No liner, up
to 12-15 feet deep in some spots. It has a mix of sunfish, bass,
perch, goldfish, a few koi, and a couple I have never identified..

This sounds like what I'm looking for. Do these fish live together with
minimal problems? Are there particular varieties that I should stay
away from?

I'm putting in a gazebo, connected by a 20' bridge to the mainland.
3 big pumps, a waterfall, and an artificial creek about 70' long.
And always planning new ideas that may or may not ever come to pass.

I doubt I will ever get anywhere near that industrious.

In other words my pond is split-personality. Little bit farm,
little bit show, but mostly just a quiet place to relax and enjoy.

Right. And I have another goal, which is not to spend huge amounts of
time building and maintaining.

Thanks for the advice.

PS to Galen, related to the next article in the thread: Dark brown.