# bait-fish in a pond?



## claytonhaske (Apr 16, 2010)

i am helping a friend with a pond on his property, and we are in the planning stages of it right now, but we want it to be around 2 acres with a depth of 12ft in the deep parts. gravel/sandy areas to spawn with bigger rock piles and submerged pine trees/pallets for structure. we know to let the bait-fish populate the pond for a year before we stock it with predators, so what i need help in is a recomendation for how much bait fish should we stock? we want to stock it with smallmouth, perch, and locally caught saugeye. how many flathead minnows? how many golden shinners? and how many bullfrog tadpoles? thanks, clayton


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## [email protected] (Feb 29, 2008)

Your best bet would be to get the minnows and shiners into the pond in the spring 2011 as they will be done spawning for the season this year. Make sure you have plenty of structure available before introduction to provide spawning habitat. ATAC recommends stocking 15 lbs of fatheads and 20 lbs of shiners per acre when stocking in a predator free lake. Tadpoles should be stocked at 50-100 per acre. I've included a fact sheet that summarizes the production of minnows and shiners in open pond production, https://srac.tamu.edu/index.cfm/event/getFactSheet/whichfactsheet/13/. Follow some of these steps to maximize your investment of time and money. 

One thing I do not agree with is taking locally caught saugeye to your pond. First you run the risk of transfer of disease into your lake. Secondly, It is Illegal to take gamefish from public water and stock into private water; so unless you are catching out of a private pond with the pond owners permission or purchasing domestic stock from a retailer....


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## claytonhaske (Apr 16, 2010)

thanks lucas, but i am 100% sure it is legal to take fish from public waters and transport them to private ponds, what you cant do is take fish from private ponds and put them in public water. i read alot of the older post, and quite a few people already mentioned that. does a.t.a.c. sell saugeye? if so how much? it might be easier to go that route. thanks, clayton


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## Fish G3 (Jul 16, 2008)

I believe you should take another look. I don't believe you're right Clayton. It does not mention wether public or private but one would assume it doesn't matter. Whats in bold is found straight from the ODNR website (link posted below) and can also be found in the brochures they pass out when you get your license. 

*It is unlawful to transport and introduce any aquatic species (fish, invertebrate, plant) from one body of water to another.*

http://www.ohiodnr.com/wildlife/dow/regulations/fishing_general.aspx


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## timmyv (Apr 26, 2006)

Fish G3...they mean from public water...not private ponds. It is okay to put Saugeye in your private pond from public water as long as you follow that particular body of water regulations (Example size limits and number limits).


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## Salmonid (Apr 14, 2004)

Yes, there was a post about this some time ago and the DNR pamphlet is very generic but the actual law is interpreted as you may not move fish from 1 public body of water to another public body of water, now if you catch a fish using fair means from a public body of water, it is yours to keep or release, should you decide to keep it, as long as you do not Sell it, you may indeed put it into your own pond, ( not others, only your own pond) and there are some stipulations/exceptions that go along with that. ( IE Endangerd species, Nuisance Species and that body of water must be a closed system meaning no overflow into a public watershed) '

I hope that helps. 
Salmonid


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## roger23 (Mar 7, 2007)

you will find after a couple years you will have all kinds of fish in the pond you did not put in it ,,especially after the first Sea Gull lands in it ,,from my experience I would some bass in it now,,,and figure out a way to keep the Muskrats out and get some traps...duck also seem to bring in a lot of eggs in,,


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## [email protected] (Feb 29, 2008)

OK, so I asked my boss, an Ohio Wildlife Officer what the law states. His response was that the law is written that "you may not move fish from a public body of water to another body of water" which would mean public to private or public to public. However, he then went on to say that the intention of the law is to keep fish from being stocked into public water regardless of the source and that if the fish were taken by legal means then they were considered harvested and it did not matter if the fish ended up in a frying pan or in a private pond. They just cannot be stocked back in public water. So, I gather that technically it is illegal but the law will not be enforced unless they are being stocked back into public water.


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## claytonhaske (Apr 16, 2010)

Okay.......does a.t.a.c. sell saugeye?


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## [email protected] (Feb 29, 2008)

Sorry No. I can't tell you where to find them either. Alot of people ask about them; the state should consider recouping some funds by selling species like saugeye, tiger musky, etc. to the public but they do not.


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## claytonhaske (Apr 16, 2010)

you are right, that would generate some extra fundage.......have you ever suggested that to them?


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## acklac7 (May 31, 2004)

Fish G3 said:


> *It is unlawful to transport and introduce any aquatic species (fish, invertebrate, plant) from one body of water to another.*


The wording of the law has changed within the past couple years. I can swear on my S-eye holes that the law _used_ to read *It is unlawful to introduce any non-native aquatic species (fish, invertebrate, plant) from one body of water to another.*....And I SWEAR the word "public" was in there somewhere.

IMO I have every dammed right to do what ever I please with MY fish on MY property, so long as im not making any $ off them and there is 0 chance they will leave my property via a tributary etc.


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## acklac7 (May 31, 2004)

[email protected] said:


> OK, so I asked my boss, an Ohio Wildlife Officer what the law states. His response was that the law is written that "you may not move fish from a public body of water to another body of water" which would mean public to private or public to public. However, he then went on to say that the intention of the law is to keep fish from being stocked into public water regardless of the source and that if the fish were taken by legal means then they were considered harvested and it did not matter if the fish ended up in a frying pan or in a private pond. They just cannot be stocked back in public water. So, I gather that technically it is illegal but the law will not be enforced unless they are being stocked back into public water.


Can you ask him if the wording of the law has changed in the past couple years?


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## Lightman (Jul 22, 2008)

acklac7 said:


> IMO I have every dammed right to do what ever I please with MY fish on MY property, so long as im not making any $ off them and there is 0 chance they will leave my property via a tributary etc.


Hmm, kinda like those folks did with the asian carp years ago until there was a flood?


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## claytonhaske (Apr 16, 2010)

Lightman said:


> Hmm, kinda like those folks did with the asian carp years ago until there was a flood?


NO.......not like the asian carp, those carp were brought overseas (illegally) by dumbasses that dont give a hoot about what they do. i have never heard of any state stocking asian carp to imporve their fisheries......every saugeye the state stocks into ohio water, came from ohio......not asia.


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## Lightman (Jul 22, 2008)

Those dumbasses were state funded biologists that 'gave a hoot' about their ability to consume algae...however due to an unforseen flood they escaped...just commenting about your '0% chance' statement.


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## Rod Hawg (Jan 13, 2011)

I just thought you weren't allowed to transport fish from one body of water to another. Thats what I live by. We do stock our pond with Goldens via fish farm.


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