We stock bull frog tadpoles and are about to make a run here pretty soon.

I've always heard that you have to restock tilapia each year as they can't survive the winter. True? I'm going to do some stocking after I get my lake fixed

That is true. They only last in warm water. Some can overwinter, but it's very rare.

How much $ for tadpoles?

$3/tadpole.plus delivery

Won't crappie over populate in a tank.....and in time all of the survivors end up being very small?? That's what I have been told anyway

That they will. And they spawn before bass, so the small crappie eat the bass fry. We very rarely ever recommend crappie, unless someone just really wants a crappie tank.

Thanks for the info!

No problem

In Katy,tx/Houston Tx area and south of.....they overwinter. I have a pond that is no deeper than 4' and they survived this past winter on their own

$3 dollars a tadpole for bullfrogs? Man i'm in the wrong business.

That's what I was thinking.

Not hard to sell ice in a desert

70lbs of fat heads and 40lbs of perch.. For last two years just now put 250 bass in the last few months

I guess my next question is what are the benefits of bullfrogs in the pond? What is the return on investment, other than something to listen to in the evenings?

tadpoles.... big bumper crop

and even the smaller frogs are a good source of bait that wont compete with your fish for food.

There is a little bit of misinformation in this thread. Anyone looking to stock ponds or private lakes should contact a lake management professional. There are plenty of good ones in the state, and you won't have to worry about whether they really know what they are talking about or not like you do on a forum. Give Bob Lusk, Lochow, Private Water Fishing, or one of the other lake management companies a call if you want to stock your pond properly to meet your goals.

A few notes in response to comments on this thread:
- You want to stock your forage fish before you stock the predators. Stock minnows and sunfish 6-12 months before you stock bass, crappie, hybrids, etc.
- Crappie or generally not recommended for anything under 5 acres.
- You can stock and support a healthy population of Largemouth (Black Bass) in a small pond, as long as you are willing to harvest.
- Hybrid Striped Bass do not reproduce at all; they are sterile.
- "Acclimating" fish is actually called tempering.
- Tilapia surviving the winter is based on water temperature. They become lethargic and unhappy at 55 degrees and under, and will die at 52 degrees. Some parts of South Texas can support Tilapia year round.

Good notes... Im wondering if he got hybrid crappie so they wouldn't either... those little suckers are like piranhas

True, Hybrid Crappie would be the choice for smaller bodies of water where over population is a concern. Hybrid Crappie will still reproduce, however, just much less so than black or white crappie. There are a couple of different studies going on which are attempting to create sterile Hybrids, which would be great. Hybrid Crappie are also very difficult to find, the vast majority of crappie sold are Black Crappie. Some of the guys at local feed stores will advertise Hybrid Crappie when they are really selling Black.

yeah there one around here that will have them but its spotty.. he will get um then poof they are gone. suckers will get some kinda big though. Id still rather stock catfish before crappie and hybrids... they both eat way to much bait to keep it stocked and you can just feed catfish. Bass are easiest though

There's no ROI on Bullfrogs. I would just like to try them again. So far, I have stocked the tadpoles 4 times in 20 years and only got a frog population once. And then, drought wiped them out.

TTU, I personally wouldn't recommend crappie in less than 25 acres; maybe more. I don't think 5 acres is anywhere enough water for those things. I know one guy in East Texas and another one in Mississippi who are making it work out in 1 to 1.5 acre ponds but, IMO, the jury is still on long term success. Lusk told me about one private lake in NE Texas that was over run with stunted crappie and skinny bass. Otolith analysis indicated some 4 inch fish were 7 years old. I believe he said that water hole was about 80 acres. He used hybrid stripers to get them under control but it took some time to get it done. I haven't found much difference in white and black crappie re spawning numbers.

I don't like bass in less than 1.5 acres and that is only with 2,000 BG per acre stocked a year before. We used to say 1,000 BG or CNBG but that isn't working out all that well. I generally tell pond owners to stock bass when they can go to sleep with their mouths open and wake up with a full belly. You're right about culling but bass, like channel cats, tend to get hook shy in smaller ponds.

For smaller ponds/tanks/pools/water holes of less than a couple of acres I generally like to stock hybrid bluegills, redear sunfish and hybrid stripers. Feed them with a good high protein feed with aeration and restock the stripers as necessary using a laddered approach. Try not to catch a striper in the summer unless you have an O2 tank nearby to keep it alive.

Dave - I understand everything you are saying, and agree with almost all of it. I would recommend 2000 BG per acre regardless of lake size if budget was not an issue. I would not recommend crappie in any lake if you are trying to grow trophy bass, but I believe 5 acres to be a reasonable minimum if you have to have crappie. I do think you can grow bass in smaller ponds. Harvest is extremely important, and you can always adjust the lbs per acre harvested based on the relative weights. I've seen plenty of ponds under an acre with healthy fish. In general, however, you are spot on. Most owners are not willing to manage a pond and harvest as necessary, which leads to ponds full of stunted bass.

Todd Overton sells some Florida bass called Camelot Bell. They are genetically disposed to hit lures and that is unusual for Floridas. I haven't tried them but they are getting some good reports.

The problem I see re bass and crappie is their spawning. The spawning isn't actually the problem. It's the work involved in managing them in smaller impoundments. At some point, to do it right, people realize that they're working instead of playing and the fun wears off. Too small to keep after the 2nd year of stocking will always result in an out of balance pond. Lusk says that a pond is like a garden. If you want it to keep producing, you have to harvest.

You generally get only one time to do it right on stocking. Screwing it up is hard to turn around and budget is always important. However, stocking is really the cheapest part of the journey and short cutting here is false economy. It's like buying a really expensive gun and mounting cheap glass. The results are generally predictable.

One trend these days is managing for big bluegills instead of bass. That's fun because it can be done in smaller ponds with too many small bass the tool to eliminate the smaller BG. A 1 lb+ BG on a fly rod or medium action spinning rod is a blast.

This stuff is expensive to get into and hard work to manage. One of my neighbors told me that he had to quit smoking just to afford to do it right on the pond.

BTW, there are going to be a lot of ponds that blow out with the rains coming to North Texas this weekend.

Great info, gents.