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Stocking Rates

Published stocking rates aim to establish appropriate prey to predator ratios without exceeding the carrying capacity of the pond. Arkansas Extension, and many others, recommend a 10:1 prey to predator ratio when stocking fingerlings into newly built or renovated ponds. In situations where you are adding fish to a pond that has already been stocked, or restocking after a fish kill for example, it is best to speak with a fishery professional for guidance on how many and what size to stock because the numbers presented here will no longer be appropriate. 
General stocking rates of fingerlings per surface acre for new or renovated fishing ponds. 


Largemouth bass and bluegill are the most common combination of predator and prey fish stocked into Arkansas ponds. With proper management, bluegill will reproduce several times during the summer and produce enough forage to support healthy populations of largemouth bass without any other forage fish species. Many enjoyable fishing ponds have been established using only these species and Arkansas Extension recommends stocking 50 largemouth bass fingerlings to 500 bluegill fingerlings per surface acre. Still, there are merits to stocking other species of fish. Redear sunfish, for example, are often stocked along with bluegill at 100 redear sunfish fingerlings, 400 bluegill fingerlings and 50 largemouth bass fingerlings per surface acre. Redear sunfish are beneficial to fishing ponds because they break the life-cycle of parasitic grubs that can infest the muscle(fillets) of sportfish. They do this by eating snails which are intermediate hosts of the parasitic grubs. Without snails, the grubs cannot complete their life-cycle and they are eventually eradicated. Channel catfish are often stocked along with the previously mentioned fish at 100 channel catfish fingerlings per surface acre to provide an alternative sportfish option to the pond fishery. While channel catfish will attempt to spawn in ponds, their efforts rarely result in enough offspring to maintain a persistent population. Therefore, channel catfish must be restocked periodically to replace natural and fishing-related mortalities. Grass carp are effective tools for preventing certain nuisance aquatic plant species from becoming problems. While they will not stop all aquatic plants from growing, grass carp are often recommended at low rates of 3 to 5 per surface acre as a general aquatic plant prevention tool. Fathead minnows and golden shiners can be stocked as a supplemental forage option for newly built or renovated ponds at a rate of 3 to 10 pounds of fish per surface acre. These forage fish are easily eaten by largemouth bass; so much so that neither species usually persists for long when the largemouth bass get large enough to eat them. The benefit gained from stocking either fathead minnows or golden shiners is faster growth from small to intermediate-sized largemouth bass and a temporary reduction of predation on bluegills. 

Stock bluegills, redear sunfish, grass carp and fathead minnows or golden shiners in the fall year 1 of a newly built or renovated pond. Stock largemouth bass in the spring of year 2. Channel catfish can be added at any point except the heat of summer. This schedule is designed to give the forage fish time to become established in the pond and hopefully spawn once before the largemouth bass begin feeding on them heavily. 

Stocking with fingerling fish is the most proven and economical method, but one of the drawbacks is fishing these ponds may not be satisfying for up to two years after all the fish are stocked. One way to shorten that time is by stocking adult fish from the start. 

Adult stocking rates are much lower than that of fingerlings because a single adult is far more likely to survive long-term and an adult requires far more resources in the form of habitat and food than a single fingerling. On the other hand, it is also more expensive to raise, hold and transport adults so their price per fish will be far higher than that of a fingerling. By stocking adults, satisfying fishing can be achieved almost immediately. Adults can be stocked in the spring or fall. 

General stocking rates of adults per surface acre for new or renovated fishing ponds. 


The stocking numbers presented here for both fingerlings and adults are deliberately conservative because there is a great deal of variability in carrying capacity between ponds. These stocking numbers should be appropriate for the typical Arkansas pond to produce good all-around fishing for largemouth bass, bluegill and catfish. If the stocking numbers are lower than what the pond can naturally hold, then the fish will grow more quickly than normal and they will eventually reach carrying capacity through reproduction. If the stocking numbers are higher than what the pond can naturally hold, then the fish will grow slowly and the population will likely need to be thinned by aggressive harvest. It is safer and easier to manage in the long-run to stock fewer fish if the production potential of the pond is unknown. In general, if a pond is going to be regularly fertilized or if fish feed is going to be provided regularly, the stocking rates provided here can be doubled. 

Depending on your goals, such as trophy bluegill or trophy largemouth bass, the initial stocking rates can be manipulated to establish appropriate ratios for achieving those goals more easily. If this is desired, it's best to speak with a fisheries specialist to develop a stocking and management strategy because many variables need to be considered. 

After a few years of growth and reproduction, habitat characteristics and your own management strategies, especially harvest strategies, begin to have more impact on the success or failure of the pond than the initial stocking rates. Since every pond is different, the fisheries within them don't always respond the same to generic stocking rates and management strategies. Therefore, it is important for continued success to regularly assess your fish populations and make adjustments to how you manage them. This is adaptive management, where you change your strategies based on how the fishery is performing right now, not just sticking to what has been done in the past. While this does require more effort, it is fairly simple to accomplish when you understand the basics of pond fishery assessment and management. 

What to read next:
- Fishery Assessment and Management

Additional resources:
- Arkansas Sportfish Supplier List
- Fish Habitat
- Fertilization
- Fish Feeding