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Arizona Lake and Pond ManagementArizona's Best Lakes

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Fish stocking

The right mix of fish helps keep a lake in balance. Grass carp eat soft underwater weeds. Bluegill feed bass. Bass keep bluegill from crowding the water.

We stock fish to start a new population or to strengthen one that is struggling. First we look at the whole lake: its plants, water quality, runoff, sunlight and the fish already living there. Then we choose species that work together.

We stock as Arizona Game and Fish rules allow. That means a stocking license for each lake, fish from a licensed fish farm, and a fish health certificate with every shipment. If fish have died, we find and fix the cause before we restock.

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New fish pouring from a stocking pipe into a lake

Fish we may recommend

  • Sterile (triploid) grass carp — to help control soft underwater weeds
  • Largemouth bass — a predator that keeps smaller fish in check
  • Bluegill — the main food for bass, stocked in balance with them
  • Channel catfish — a popular choice for community lakes and smaller ponds
  • Mosquitofish — small fish that eat mosquitoes, where the rules allow them
  • Only species Arizona allows in your water

How it works

  1. Look at the whole lakeWe check plants, water quality, runoff, sunlight and the fish already there.
  2. Fix the cause firstAfter a fish kill, we find and correct the cause, such as low oxygen or golden algae, before restocking.
  3. Stock under licenseWe get the Arizona Game and Fish license and bring fish from a licensed farm with a health certificate.
  4. You get the recordThe species, number and date stocked, by email and in your client portal.

The science behind it

A lake's fish work as a food chain. Bluegill eat insects and small food; bass eat bluegill and keep them from crowding the lake with small, stunted fish. Grass carp graze soft underwater weeds, but not cattails or lilies, and in Arizona they must be certified sterile so they cannot breed.

Most fish kills come from low oxygen, and in Arizona golden algae has killed fish in several lakes. Restocking without fixing the cause just loses the new fish. Arizona Game and Fish rules decide what may be stocked and where.

This is why we hold the Arizona Lake Symposium every year, with PMD CEU training credits. We use the science and apply it to what we see and measure on your water. No canned plans from a desk at a distant head office.

About the symposium →

Want to dig deeper? These are the studies and guides behind this page:

Other services: Water analysis · Chemical treatment · Biological augmentation · Periphyton habitats

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