So we finally moved into the new house in October. It has a 1/4 acre pond on it and I'm trying to recognize problems.

From what I was able to read, having all my bass at the same length isn't a good thing. I have yet to catch anything bigger than what's in the picture below. I do have good variety of sizes in the bluegills, but nothing spectacular yet either.

I also seem to have this muck pretty bad. I know it's probably not the best time of year to be doing anything, but I wanted to try and get my goals straight so I can try and make things happen come Spring.

I guess I forgot to write what I'm trying to gain here.

1) First thing I want to do is try and clean up the muck and grass bottom. There appears to be so many things that can be done that I'm kind of confused.

2) I want this to be a bluegill pond more than anything. I find the harvesting and feeding a little easier to follow, but I'm not sure how to determine if I have a good crop of bluegills already.

I'm open to any suggestions and I'm willing to answer any additional questions.

From the picture, it looks like you have more FA than anything. For a large BG pond, don't sweat the LMB size.

Look at the links in this thread. You should be able to identify the weeds/algae in your pond from them. If not, take a good close-up picture of a single strand of the weed on a white paper plate or sheet of computer paper, not a bunch globbed together. That should give us a good enough picture to be able to identify what you have.

No need to get in a rush, things in the pond slow down during the winter anyway. Catch some BG and take a good look at their eye size in relationship to their body size. If they don't look like they have big eyes, then they aren't stunted, and all you might need to do is get them on a feeding program to jump start their growth rates. They don't feed heavily in water temps that are below 60°F, so there isn't any rush.

I didn't see a pic of the LMB, did you put one up?

I did not esshup! Here's the only one I have so far. It's not as big as it appears in the picture, but that's just because of how far I'm holding it out.

Thanks so much for the link too, I'm going to be reading it after dinner and a trip to the store!

congratulations on the property,with a little tlc you'll get some good times from that pond.I am far from one of the resident guru's on the board but that bass is skinny imo and that bg might be a little on the stunted side too.............though I'm sure others that know more will chime in.Personally at this point I wouldn't worry about it,learn the basics,figure out what it is you want from your pond and go from there.

Can you post some more pics of your pond? I would like to get a better look at the whole body of water.

Thanks

Welsome to PB! Where in Maryland are you? I live in Rockville but found this site when researching a plan for a pond at my parent's place in VA.

I'm in Sykesville.

I will get more pictures tomorrow. I thought I had some, but I can't find any of the entire pond for some reason.

Haven't had a chance on those pictures yet. Been clearing downed tree's in the yard. Going to see if the wife will take some today.

Pictures of the pond







I wasn't able to catch any bluegills so I switched to a spinner bait and caught these two. They look a little skinny to me, but from what I've been reading that's almost to be expected from an older un-managed pond.

Cool looking place..

Those look better than the first one but there are some weight charts on here that will tell you how they are really doing.

If it was my pond I'd keep fishing and taking measurements and comparing them to here http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=160456#Post160456
Take a few notes and when the time comes you'll have the info you need to go in the direction you want.

In the meantime just enjoy it.

Nice pond, keep up on those cattails or they will get ahead on you and take over the whole shore of the pond.

At one point the cattails did take over the entire shore. I can see where they were cut back. I'm not certain how I'll manage that, but when the time comes, it'll be just another project...

Things I'm looking into right now are the lack of bluegills and possibly looking into Tilapia for the spring

I would also consider looking into a monthly application of a cold water bacteria formulated to lower your nitrogen and phosphorus levels throughout the winter.Using a product like AquaFix VitaStim Polar will give you a jump on Spring.Your pond is also a candidate for aeration.

My first suggestion would be to work WITH "Mother Nature" rather than AGAINST "Her" on managing your pond. All ecosystems have what is called a "carrying capacity"......or in more simple terms.... a specific number and size of organisms that can occupy a given space or territory at any given time. The more diverse a habitat, the greater number and diversity of organisms that can live there. This is one reason why you DO NOT want to "over manage" your pond.

Considering the apparent amount of organic debris that is entering your pond each year (surrounding oak trees...pine trees, etc.), and the relatively small size of the pond, I would most likely recommend some form of aeration. If you did end up adding bacteria, you want to make sure that you are not placing obligate aerobic bacteria into anaerobic conditions.

No one really knows the predator/prey balance in your pond so it is difficult to recommend action in regard to the addition or removal of specific species. You may want to visit http://fishstocker.com/pondinfo.aspx for additional guidance. As you read specific recommendations on your pond, remember that your particular water conditions, climate, and watershed can vary from those providing you the information......and therefore may not be entirely accurate.

Regards,