West TN Farm Pond Stockin

Is there a fish supplier in West TN where I can just show up, purchase fish, and transport myself for smaller quantities of fish?

I don't want a pond survey or any service to "manage" my pond...I just want fish. Bass specifically...preferably Florida strain or F1 largemouth. Also, a little on the larger size...6 to 10 inches.

GreenWater Fish Farm in Milan online...but their website is not very informative IMO. Any feedback on them?

farmers co-op used to have a fingerling truck that came to various co-op locations and picked them up there.

WTM":3pkp0m5m said:

farmers co-op used to have a fingerling truck that came to various co-op locations and picked them up there.

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That's what everyone says but have yet to find a co op that does that now.

The fish trucks usually come around a few times over the spring and summer.

R&J in Jackson will have fish days where they have a truck there for you to buy off of. They don't have one posted online yet, but I'm sure if you call them they can probably tell you when the next one is.

https://randjfeed.com/

Greenwater delivers to farm stores just like the outfits out of AR.
I would shoot them an email see if you could work it out. They most likely need a little lead time to prepare an order. I emailed them last winter and they responded promptly, but I never did go get anything.

The fish truck we have used comes from Arkansas so it shouldn't be a problem for you on that side of the state. We just got a order about a month or so ago for 200 bass, 200 redear, 5# fathead minnows,200 black crappie, and 200 shellcracker and I believe the total was about $430ish

Hduke86":2s5wf8zx said:

The fish truck we have used comes from Arkansas so it shouldn't be a problem for you on that side of the state. We just got a order about a month or so ago for 200 bass, 200 redear, 5# fathead minnows,200 black crappie, and 200 shellcracker and I believe the total was about $430ish

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Do you have contact info?

Farleys Fish Farm is the truck from Arkansas that used to go to the Co-Ops. They are no longer in business.

CBU93":209qf8bw said:

WTM":209qf8bw said:

farmers co-op used to have a fingerling truck that came to various co-op locations and picked them up there.

Click to expand...

That's what everyone says but have yet to find a co op that does that now.

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Have you tried the CO-OP in olive branch or hernando?

There was a truck that came like once a month from Arkansas I think.

Re: West TN Farm Pond Stocking

Emailed with a guy yesterday from Southeastern Pond Management with an office in Jackson...based on the condition of my pond and desires of how to move forward, he suggested an initial order of 150, 8" largemouth priced at about $1200 or $8 per fish (which I thought was a bit high, even though they are larger fish).

This is the scenario I described...willing to listen to suggestions, but don't think fingerling stocking will be successful...I am no fish biologist though:

I have inherited a piece of property with an existing 3 acre pond in McNairy county. It is filled through run off and am told it is spring fed as well. The pond is deep. Levee is 20 feet or more if that gives you an indication.

My FIL had put catfish and what he called "hybrid" bream many years ago. The few times that I know it has been fished in the last few years has produced nothing but 3 to 4" green sunfish (bad) and one channel cat about nine pounds.

What I want is bass as a predator fish to reduce the green sunfish population and in time, try to establish fishable populations of bass, bream, Redear, and catfish.

I am not prepared or wanting to restart by poisoning existing populations as my research shows that to be extremely costly. I just want to try to throw some predatory fish in and let nature take its course over the next several years until I retire and move there full time.

I am thinking early spring first round of bass. Fall 2020 another round of bass and bluegill/Redear mix. First round of bass I would like larger bass to immediately feed on existing sunfish population.

Tell me your thoughts...

Re: West TN Farm Pond Stocking

CBU93":2its7kx2 said:

Tell me your thoughts...

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My thoughts... Don't put that much $$ into that pond unless you plan on monitoring the sizes and fishing it a LOT. If you don't put the time/effort into keeping the populations in check, it will quickly get out of control. You will probably need to fertilize/lime every so often and that gets' expensive quick as well.

We built a 13+ acre lake that we stocked with bream/redear/catfish. I relocated some large bass from another pond, which was a big mistake according to the biologist, because they quickly spawn and over populate. We enjoyed good fishing the first 5 years or so, and then the pond went downhill fast, because we couldn't keep the bass/bream in check. Now we have a lot of small bass and small bream.

Re: West TN Farm Pond Stocking

gtk":11hztzew said:

CBU93":11hztzew said:

Tell me your thoughts...

Click to expand...

My thoughts... Don't put that much $$ into that pond unless you plan on monitoring the sizes and fishing it a LOT. If you don't put the time/effort into keeping the populations in check, it will quickly get out of control. You will probably need to fertilize/lime every so often and that gets' expensive quick as well.

We built a 13+ acre lake that we stocked with bream/redear/catfish. I relocated some large bass from another pond, which was a big mistake according to the biologist, because they quickly spawn and over populate. We enjoyed good fishing the first 5 years or so, and then the pond went downhill fast, because we couldn't keep the bass/bream in check. Now we have a lot of small bass and small bream.

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This particular pond has no bass and an established green sunfish and channel catfish population. That is the reason I want the larger bass, to reduce the sunfish population, as well as provide a different sport fishing opportunity.

Since killing all the existing fish is a very expensive proposition, I was hoping to do something with the bass in a different stage approach without spending more than a couple hundred per instance.

I'll look for my paperwork when I get home, but in order for the pond to thrive you'll need a GOOD SOLID food base. Test the water cause it'll definitely probably need fertilized and then I'd definitely start doing pond improvements as simple as putting gravel beds in 3-4' water for fish beds. One of the best things to do is focus on bait fish and wooden pallets on the pond bed in shallow water are great for fathead minnows to spawn. There's a ton a general plans you can implement yourself to get it started in the right directions as in clear out as many of the smaller fish as you can and especially catfish and once you have a good food base which isn't hard to do then add your bass and if you don't want bream galore put some hybrids cause most are males and grow HUGE but they don't necessarily reproduce like crazy. Working a pond is a fun hobby and another great investment is some sort of water disturbance in the form of fountain, air bubbler and even a windmills air pump to keep the water well oxygenated.

geez a pond full of green sunnies and no bass. you may not want to, but you are going to have to manage those green sunfish, if not your just wasting money on stocking.

WTM":15ufs02q said:

geez a pond full of green sunnies and no bass. you may not want to, but you are going to have to manage those green sunfish, if not your just wasting money on stocking.

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That's my fear.

Stockdales in Covington has a fish truck running the first week of December

Couldn't believe I saw this post just now because I was about to post the same thing, except asking for where I can get some bluegills and channels for a newly built pond on my little farm too. Water level is going up, and soon I want to start putting a few fish in it. A few bass too.

I called the TWRA this morning, and their stocking program ended about 10 years ago they told me, and the Lebanon Co-Op said it would be spring before a truck comes in. Can you just catch channel cats and put them in the pond? Bluegill?

Back Home":brioh8bq said:

Couldn't believe I saw this post just now because I was about to post the same thing, except asking for where I can get some bluegills and channels for a newly built pond on my little farm too. Water level is going up, and soon I want to start putting a few fish in it. A few bass too.

I called the TWRA this morning, and their stocking program ended about 10 years ago they told me, and the Lebanon Co-Op said it would be spring before a truck comes in. Can you just channel cats and put them in the pond? Bluegill?

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you can if you supplemental feed them and harvest them regularly, if not they will overpopulate and stunt. if you dont want to fool with that then you will need some LMB and bluegill stocked along with them. you can look up stocking rates for your size pond to keep it balanced.