Ball Pond is predominantly a bass and trout lake.  It is stocked each spring by the Department of Environmental Protection's (DEP) Inland Fisheries Unit with 4,500 legal-sized trout consisting mostly of brown and rainbow.  The thermocline, a narrow band of cool, oxygenated water, persists through late summer which allows most trout to holdover and become larger with the maximum size averaging a few pounds or more.  

The bass fishing is exceptional.  The DEP's Inland Fisheries Unit has rated Ball Pond the Second Best Bass Lake in Connecticut based upon the quantity of fish and the quality of their size as determined by electro-shocking surveys which are conducted every three years.   Fishing pressure is moderate, primarily because Ball Pond is a "paddle-power" lake with a “nomotors of any kind” restriction. Fishermen also practice “catch and release” to a much greater extent on Ball Pond than other similar bodies of water due to its exceptional quality. 

Other species such as panfish can be marginal.  There is a prolific bullhead and bluegill population, but limited white and yellow perch. There are no calico bass or pickerel.   

Grass carp were established in 1997 for weed control.  This on-going project with the DEP has been quantified through annual weed surveys as an exceptional success, reducing the weed biomass to about 50% of the pre-stocking volume.  This project continues.  Grass carp are a protected species with no allowed fishery for them.