Pond Temperature Help!

[Sa777]

First of all thank you for taking your time to help, i appreciate it.

Now then, I have been working on building a pond for the past month now. I have a small stream that runs through my property, and I simply found a good area to dam it up; fast forward to today, I now have a small pond. It is probably about 500-750 gallons of water (fairly small), but when it is complete I plan on it being 1000 plus gallons. It has a large population of salamanders and worms (plus some crayfish) that were already in the creek before I dammed it up. The pond is not stagnant; it constantly loses and receives cool creek water from the natural stream, which creates my problem. Yesterday I added a wild caught largemouth bass about 3/4 of a pound to one pound. It was fine at first, but soon after I released it, it began slowing down. It will not even move unless I try to pick it up. I went down today, and the bass was still alive. I caught another bass and a large bluegill and put them both in, and the same thing happened to them. I literally touch their mouth with a minnow and they don't eat it or swim away. I live in mid-Georgia where the water temp. stays fairly warm all year. I know for a fact that bass live in cold rivers up north, so will they adjust to the cooler water? I also planned on adding channel catfish, which I know for a fact live in cold water. I am hoping they are just in shock from being hooked and from the sudden decrease in water temp. I need an outside opinion to provide some extra insight, what do you guys think?

PS
I plan to release the fish if I cant get them to eat in two days

 

[coralbandit]

IMO if you caught them local they should be fine with your local stream/pond temp?
Am I missing something besides why you will only keep them for two days if they eat?
Thy may not eat for over a week and be fine,the eating is not a true indicator of fish health in this case IMO.

 

[Sa777]

IMO if you caught them local they should be fine with your local stream/pond temp?
Am I missing something besides why you will only keep them for two days if they eat?
Thy may not eat for over a week and be fine,the eating is not a true indicator of fish health in this case IMO.

I did catch them in a local pond, but the pond water is much warmer than what i currently have them in. I expected them to be cautious of eating the first couple days, but from their lack of movement they already appear half dead.

 

[coralbandit]

If your water is much warmer it could also be lower in dissolved oxygen.
This would cause a fish to conserve energy and effort .
This may just be acclimating period or time fish does not do well?
The temp difference is??

 

[Alspond]

Check the pond temperature with a thermometer.
68 - 75 bass will be active. Hotter and colder they get less active.
In a lake they can usually find a comfortable temperature by changing depths In your pond with the flowing water they are stuck.

At 55 they are going to be dormant.

A bass and a channel cat are going to have a tough time finding food in a small pond.
The cat will eat pellets. And can be fun to watch.
A panfish or 2 will do fine on insects and a few minnows the love catfish pellets too!

You might get the bass to eat pellets but it is unlikely.

All fish need water somewhat warm to metablolize their food.
They will eat but the food rots in their gut.

 

[FWFishTanks]

Smallmouth bass would probably work out better in there as they like more flow and cooler water. Do you plant to have a population of game fish? Or are they more like "pet" fish? I would add more bluegills and maybe some mosquito fish as a forage base.

 

[Alspond]

Smallmouth bass would probably work out better in there as they like more flow and cooler water. Do you plant to have a population of game fish? Or are they more like "pet" fish? I would add more bluegills and maybe some mosquito fish as a forage base.

That is how we stocked our half acre pond and it is on the small side but the bass are spawning.

The OP's pond is 1000 gallons.
Too small to have a population of forage fish which is definitely what is needed for a gamefish.

A couple of small panfish should do fine with insects
My one lily pond is 3500 gallons picturing 1/3 of that is a small area for anything that grows big.

 

[FWFishTanks]

That is how we stocked our half acre pond and it is on the small side but the bass are spawning.

The OP's pond is 1000 gallons.
Too small to have a population of forage fish which is definitely what is needed for a gamefish.

A couple of small panfish should do fine with insects
My one lily pond is 3500 gallons picturing 1/3 of that is a small area for anything that grows big.

there wouldn't be much of a breeding population of forage, but introducing a few bluegills at a time for a source of food along with whatever else they eat ( crayfish, frogs, etc) may benefit a bit just for some variety.