Stocking a lake

[Tom7227]

A friend has a 50 acre land locked lake that he is interested in stocking. It has bullheads, perch and green sunfish. We've spent time talking to various dealers in fish but we can't seem to get a handle on what to stock, when to stock them, how many of a species we should stock, and then what needs to be done to manage it.

Does anyone know of any good resource material that can help get a handle on this? The Iowa DNR has a a lot of good information and we've looked at that, but we need to round out our knowledge and make sure things are done right.

Thanks

Tom

[Lunker]

I would contact the DNR and ask them if they could direct you towards a fisheries biologist or someone who runs one of the hatcheries or stocking programs. That may work for some useful information.

[mrklean]

i would always contact the dnr when your looking to do those things

[Nick Kuhn]

What kind of lake is it (depth, bottom composition, etc)?

[Chode2235]

My old man has a similar situation, he worked with the DNR to stock hybrid sunfish and largemouth bass.

[FEARNOFISH87]

Originally being from Iowa I know our DNR has great stocking methods because our lakes don't have the natural reproduction that the lakes up here do. Also I know the Minnesota DNR has spent a lot of time at our hatcheries and stidying our stocking program to better improve theirs, so I would seriously consider contacting the Iowa DNR.

[Scott M]

I would contact Minnesota DNR as far as permitting, but your best options would be to contact private fish vendors. They are happy to dispense advice, stocking rates, provide literature on the subject, and sell you products and fish. Plus they will have a good idea of what sort of permits you need. MN or IA DNR won't be of much help as far as getting you going because they don't raise fish for those purposes. Except in the case of re-establishing a lake, they often aren't rebuilding a lake from the bottom up like it sounds like you are doing.

[NEANGLER]

Nebraska Game and Parks has a great pond/lake book that you can get as well. I have one and it has been a great resource for us. Also look at www.arkansaspondstockers.com. It gives you advice on stocking options and what your goals are. How infested are the bullheads and green sunfish? Those are 2 fish you do not want to get out of control. you'll want a healthy Bass population and a few notherns to keep them in check. Trust me, we had a fishery biologist just here last fall and I have a major problem with both of those. Northerns don't do too well down here so we put in a few flatheads. Also look at the HSOforum www.pondboss.com and WWW.[YouNeedAuthorization].org (under forum section) they have a pond section that is helpful and can ask questions.

Good luck!