Fish sales will be held once in the Spring and again in the Fall, always falling on a Tuesday. Be forewarned the the Grass Carp do require a special permit (which the SWCD will obtain).
Grass carp are used to control vegetation in lakes. They need to be stocked at a rate of 5 per acre. In ponds less than an acre 5 is still the rate due to the amount of shallow water. If the lake still has vegetation problems after two summers, stock another 5 per acre. Grass carp will either eat all vegetation or the lake will show no signs of control. There is not an 80% control rate, which would be an ideal situation. Triploid grass carp are sterile and will not reproduce. If you do not have a begetation problem, do not stock grass carp.
FATHEAD MINNOWS
This is a forage fish mainly for your bass. It takes 6-8 lbs of fish (minnows, small bluegill, etc.) to make a pound of bass. Consequently it is not economically feasible to stock fathead minnows in a pond with bass present. If bass are present, fatheads will not be able to spawn before they are eaten. The only time to stock fathead minnows is in a new lake at a rate of 3-5 lbs per acre. When stocking a new lake, you need to stock all of your fish except bass in the spring or fall, and wait until the next fall to stock bass. This gives the fatheads an opportunity to spawn and you will have thousands of minnows for bass forage. Your bass will eliminate the fatheads in a few months, but growth will be excellent. There are approximately 200-300 fatheads per pound.
CHANNELL CATFISH
This is a fish that should be in every lake. It is basically a scavenger fish which means it will eat about everything. It will not compete with bass or sunfish (bluegill, hybrids, etc.) for food if stocked at 100-150 per acre. If stocked above these rates, it will not grow well unless it is fed a supplementary diet - fish food. Channel catfish will not make a pond muddy if stocked under 500 per acre. Channel catfish will reproduce in a lake, but if bass are present there will be no survival of the yound. Channel catfish uner 6" will be eaten by adult largemouth or smallmouth bass. If you have just channel catfish in a lake, they will reproduce and you will have an overpopulation of small catfish. This will lead to a stunted pond that will offer no fishing.
LARGEMOUTH BASS
This fish is usually the number 1 predator in lakes and ponds. It is probably the most sought after fish. It takes 6-8 pounds of fish to make one pound of bass. To control bluegill overpopulation, do not take bass under 2 pounds from the pond. In a newly stocked pond, do not remove any bass till the third summer. If stocking bluegill, stock 75-100 bass per acre. If stocking hybrid sunfish, stock 50 bass per acre. When bass are present you need to stock larger fish - 3-5" bluegill or hybrids and 6-8 or 8-10" catfish.
BLUEGILL
Bleugill tend to overpopulate. In small lakes and ponds they are the number one forage fish for largemouth bass. If the bass population is very good, bluegill tend not to overpopulate. Growth to 1/2-3/4 lb can be expected. If they become overpopulated, size will decrease. Your lake can support around 200 lbs of bluegill per acre. Once over 4", they are of a non-edible size for bass. If an acre pond has 1000 bluegill 4" in length, they will only average 1/5 of a pound - not a catchable size. To have good fishing, an acre of water should only have 400-500 bluegill 4" and over. The key to achieving this is not to harvest bass under 2 pounds in size. Any bass over 2 pounds could be considered keepers. Good management is essential.
HYBRID SUNFISH
The number one advantage of hybrids is that you can control numbers. Reproduction is very limited if bass are present - usually no survival is found. Growth is excellent - some 1 pound fish in three summers is not uncommon. With hybrids you will not have a stunted bluegill problem. They are very easy to catch which makes them a great choice for young children. Hybrids are very aggressive and can be caught on anything from live bait to small spinners. The biggest disadvantage is that bass do not grow well in ponds with hybrids due to their lack of reproduction. You also have to restock with larger hybrids if there are bass in your lake. When you take 100 out, you need to replace them with 100 more. They are so easy to catch your "friends" can catch 30 or 40 and say how good the fishing was. You need to have limited fishing with hybrids in a pond. Maximum size for bass in a pond with hybrids is 1-2 pounds.
REDEAR
Redear are bottom feeders whose primary food source is snails. They can also help to control grubs. Redear do not tend to overpopulate as readily as bluegill, and they tend to grow larger than bluegill. However, redear should be stocked in lakes in central and northern Illinois. The biggest drawback to redear is that they are difficult to catch since they are bottom feeders. Most people can only catch them in the spring when they are spawning beds. Total bluegill and redear capacity will be 200 pounds per acre.
CRAPPIE
This is a difficult fish for recommendations. It is generally not recommended for lakes uner 20 acres. If a small lake owner wants crappie, he needs a strong bass population and luck! For some reason (nobody seems to know why) crappie do not spawn in many ponds. If they do not spawn, crappie stocked at 100-200 per acre can grow well and offer excellent fishing. However, if they do spawn, small crappie will rapidly grow to about 4", become non-vulnerable for bass, and become stunted. If this happens, it will effect the growth of all the fish in your pond and you may end up with a non-fishable lake.