You Can Grow Fish for Fun or for Profit

By Robert Waters, H. Dave Kelly, and W. Mason Dollar.

You can grow fish for either fun or profit on a few acres in fact, on fewer acres than you can grow many other crops.

But growing fish is not easy. It requires clean water, a site suitable for a pond, raceway, or other facility, a good bit of planning, and frequently a great deal of knowhow. Some fish-growing operations require lots of managerial ability, a fairly large investment, and a great deal of time, especially operations for commercial purposes.

Yet growing fish on a few acres can be fun. Some operations can furnish high-quality fishing for you and your family and friends at little cost. Other operations can supplement your income without taking a great deal of your time.

Fish farming as a major or source of income, however, can be a time-consuming, high-risk business in which you can lose a large investment in a short time. And you can lose it through no real fault of your own. So, before you go into commercial production, give plenty of thought to the venture.

Growing fish can be classified into two broad types raising fish for your own recreational use, and to sell for profit.

The goal of most noncommercial fish raising is to provide high-quality sport for a few people at minimum effort and cost. Fish for these purposes are raised mainly in farm ponds, Of which there are more than 2 million. These ponds generally provide many hours of good fishing.

Resource Appraisal

The first step in establishing a pond for recreational use is to assess your resources. Soil, water, topography, and other resources will influence your success in raising fish and sometimes may limit the possibility of growing fish at all. Get help in determining the adequacy of your resources from the Soil Conservation Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Your land must contain a site suitable for impounding water. On most farms and ranches, topography is such that water can be impounded at reasonable cost if a dam is properly located.

The soils of your property must be capable of holding water. This is true not only for soils used in building the dam but also for soils on the pond bottom.

In some sandy or limestone areas, seepage through the soil or material under which water is impounded may result in water loss at a rate faster than it is received. Many dry ponds have been constructed because this important factor was not considered.

A good fishpond must have enough spring flow, well water, or runoff to fill the pond in a year or less and to replenish water lost from seepage and evaporation. Also, water quality must be adequate for the species you intend to grow. Most species are adapted to either warm or cold water.

Fish can be grown in ponds of any size; however, desirable fish populations are not easily maintained in extremely small ponds. Warm-water ponds managed for bass and bluegill for recreational purposes should be an acre in size or greater. Trout ponds should be at least one-third acre.

Generally, the time and costs involved prohibit adequate management by individuals on ponds greater than 15 acres.

Where the pond is covered with ice for a month or more and winter fish kills are frequent, water depth may need to be as much as 20 water your pond depends on seasonal rains for its water supply, water should be at least 10 ore feet deep over a fourth or more of the pond area. Throughout most of the South an average depth of 3 to 4 feet is adequate for fish growth; no more fish can be grown by providing additional depth.

The emergency spillway to prevent floodwater from going over the dam should be designed to keep the flow shallow. This prevents big fish from swimming out and unwanted fish from swimming in.

To prevent unwanted fish from entering the pond from downstream, a 24- to 36-inch vertical overfall in the emergency spillway should also be used.

A drainpipe is useful, and required by law in many states. It should be large enough to drain the pond in 5 to 10 days.

An overflow pipe or trickle tube connected to the drainpipe keeps the normal water level a few inches below the spillway. This reduces erosion of the spillway and prevents drowning of its grass cover. A trickle tube also helps prevent excessive loss of fingerlings soon after the pond is first stocked.

A device to take outflow from the bottom rather than the top helps warm the pond early in the spring, may save fertilizer, and may permit fertilizing in spring when the flow is heaviest.

Most trees and brush should be removed from the area to be covered with water. If possible, remove stumps and snags from the pond bottom. This leaves the bottom smooth for seining, which may be required for good management.

Clearing trees and brush from a strip 20 to 30 feet around the pond reduces the amount of leaves that falls into the pond. Leaves discolor water and encourage growth of algae. And decaying leaves may cause oxygen depletion in the water. A cleared strip also provides a grassy bank for fishing.

Shallow water is troublesome because weeds grow in it. In ponds stocked with bass and bluegill, weeds protect small fish from the bass. Shallow water may also cause mosquito problems. A pond is easier to manage if it has no shallow water.

Either deepening or filling eliminates shallow edges, but usually a combination of the two is best. A minimum depth of 2 feet is good, but 3 feet is better,

Stocking Fish

After considering fish species best adapted to your water, select the species to stock. Either a single species (for example, trout) or a species association (for example, bass-bluegill) may be appropriate depending on your resources and objectives.

A number of trout species may be considered for stocking if your water is suitable. Generally, rainbow trout and brook trout are stocked in ponds because of their availability and because they are relatively easy to manage and to catch. For variety, rainbow and brook trout may be stocked in the same pond.

When stocking trout, exclude all other species of fish. If your pond contains 50 pounds of other kinds of fish, it will likely have 50 pounds less trout.