Inheriting unstocked massive pond. What to stock?

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Yes, but sturgeon won't eat out of my hand, will they?
 
Fine. I'm just going to ask it. Bull shark. Why not?
 
I would say find some sturgeon as well as a few stock bass and sunfish. Depending on water temps you might even be able to do tropical fish as well, I've heard some big pacus make it thru the winter


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If ti were me I would stock it with smaller fish first like various minnows/killifish/dace/shiners etc. Let them go a year and breed and then introduce some sunfish or other small/medium sized fish, let them breed too. Then last I would introduce a few big predators like a few bass and large catfish or any of the other larger natives.
 
i usually stray away from preditory fish in my pond, i'd rather stick to community fish like sunfish. I put a yellow perch in my pond and it ate every minnow that was in there
 
When eventually I build my big pond I kinda want a bass. Just a single bass. But I also like sunfish and some of the tiny fish too. So I was planning on introducing those first and let their populations grow before adding a bass. And hopefully the population can sustain without the bass eating everything. I gotta think about it more cause I get this feeling the bass would just keep eating and eating.
 
No, I wouldn't want to hurt my little buddy!

Maybe a tandanus, but how big do they really get?

Bagarius Yarrelli?
 
Personally I wouldn't stock any non-native fishes in a stream-fed pond if it is not really closed system. I know stocked catfish (regardless of species) in few states has to be testing for diseases before stocking in private/public ponds. Little & shallower waters won't stop larger fishes from migrating out of the pond.
 
These are good words, MN_Rebel. Thankfully, the flow out of the pond is very narrow and a grate could easily be installed. I am also not in a flood area. Any fish I buy goes through a formalin quarantine, and I watch the poo for any signs of pathogens.

But if my native options are channel catfish, channel catfish, or a channel catfish, then forget it. I'm getting something worth coming home to.
 
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