Digging out an old pond. It is full of bullheads, crawdads and some sunfish. When finished it will be about a half acer and 20 feet deep. What should I stock? Thinking sunfish and catfish. Feeding them is no problem, it will be next to the house. Any recommendations for fish farms? Thanks!

Copper nose blue gill and channel cats with plenty of hard head minnows has worked well for me.

Sorry wrong minnow. It was the fat head minnow not the hard head.

Thanks popr

How big is it?

1/2 acre

Bluegill and channel catfish work great in small ponds, especially if you feed them regularly. It's not a huge difference, but you'll get faster growth with a 40% protein floating sportfish feed over the cheapest 28-30% catfish feed; up to you if the difference in growth is worth the added cost.

Ballpark starting points for stocking rates:
40 advanced fingerling/adult largemouth bass (northern strain would be better for your situation)
150 advanced fingerling/adult bluegill (coppernose or standard bluegill is fine)
50 advanced fingerling/adult redear sunfish
200 advanced fingerling/adult channel catfish

**these rates are based on the assumption that you'll be feeding the fish a couple-few times a week and that you're stocking advanced fingerlings/adults. Rates are different for smaller fingerlings. Cut these stocking rates in half if you don't intend to feed that regularly**

Stocking rates will vary depending on who you ask. Keep in mind that fish farms are in the business of selling fish; some may try to sell you more than appropriate. I suggest using advanced fingerlings or adults because there are already adult fish in the pond; even bullheads will eat small fingerlings.

You didn't mention largemouth bass, but I encourage you to stock them to help keep bluegills under control. The channel and bullhead catfish will eat some of the bluegill but probably won't keep their numbers manageable on their own. Letting the bluegills spawn uncontrolled will result in a population made up of fish too small to catch or provide much satisfaction. The bass in this situation aren't intended to get large, so don't bother stocking Florida strain, they're only in there to keep bluegill numbers down so that the bluegills grow well and reach satisfying sizes. I'd harvest any bass that get larger than about 14 inches, and always release smaller bass.

You can harvest bluegills but keep it under about 25 pounds total per year. The more you harvest, the faster the remaining fish will grow, but you can overfish the bluegill out of a small pond. Always release bluegill over 7 inches in length. Large male bluegill suppress maturation of small male bluegills, resulting in faster growth and larger average size.

Redear sunfish are optional, but they will help prevent grub infestations of your fish's filets and fins. If you have any vegetation in your pond, you really want to get some redear in there. They eat snails that are one of the hosts the grub needs to complete their life-cycle. You won't catch redear as frequently as you will bluegill, and they don't get as large as a well-fed bluegill, but they're just as fun to catch.

I personally would kill the pond and start fresh. Rotenone is what I would use. Then follow something similar to what Outdoordude suggest. Also if you have the equipment and space make it larger.

I agree completely. Always better to start fresh with no fish in the pond.

Thank y’all very much. The ponds dam will be removed and the pond will be expanded doubling in size and more than tripped in depth. I don’t expect anything to survive. I am very interested to see what has been living in it all these years. Ps I was hoping to have a few bass glad to learn they are an option. Regulating the population should be easier being that it is right behind the house so poaching should not be an issue

Yes, they are an option and more than that.
Only bass can control bluegill spawns. And only bluegills can spawn enough to feed bass.

What about green sunfish ? I have read a lot of threads like this and green sunfish almost never get mentioned,
While in college , I did ton of fishing ponds and lake in Western Oklahoma, green sunfish were a prized catch, and
were readily caught on artificial lures , while bluegill seemed to prefer live bait.
They also were consistently larger than bluegill , in the lakes we fished.


MO

While the water is low, be sure to put in plenty of fish habitats in locations of your preference.