Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Corrective stocking To Many Bullhead Not Enough Bass. Where to get LMB

Ok I've lived in this home for about 5 months and it has a 1.2 acre pond with average depth of 6'2". The water has always been muddy. I've used hundreds of pounds of Alum with results that last a week or so tops. So I finaly dedicated a few days to catfishing instead of bass fishing and I have to say I'm not impressed. There are to many catfish and to many bullhead. Some of the cats are extremly skinny. The bullhead are all about 4 inches or so. Now bass fishing is'nt that great either. I've only had 2 days in which I've multiple fish(I fish about everyday). Panfish are ok there doesnt seem to be to many or to little, and they look decent as well. All the fish are pale but I'm guessing because of how muddy the water is and not enough sunlight getting through the water. So I'm going to try to stock some large LMB and hope and pray that they start eating some Bullhead. The catfish I'm going to start setting trotlines to try to take care of that. Does anybody know where to get big LMB's in Louisiana? Or somewhere that will deliever here. I'm in Covington LA which is about 30 minutes north of New Orleans. Also I was going to start creating more structure's in the pond but should I hold off until I have some big bass in there awhile so the bullhead dont have more hiding places?

Before spending a lot more money I think I would at least explore the cost of renovating the pond if its watershed does not contain a stream to recontaminate the pond. Try to draw it down to a lower pool and then have it killed off which will be a lot cheaper than applying rotenone to the entire 1.2 ac. Start over with a good mix of fresh forage fish and then later bass. YOu could even include some hybrid striped bass. You should be able to produce some 2.5-3 lb bass by sometime in 2010.

I second Bill Cody's comments. Unfortunately, if you have a stream in your watershed, or if it ever floods, you will always have a bullhead problem. Large bass won't even put a dent in the bullheads with muddy water since they have to see the prey.

If you are just a touch evil (like me) you could lower the pond to about 2-3 feet and put in a few 10 pound flathead cats and watch everything else vanish in a hurry!

How many 10+ lb catfish should I get? Money isnt a huge concern

Rainman was not kidding about "everything else".

cimdma - remember they are suggesting flathead catfish not regular channel catfish. Flathead catfish have large mouths and are noted for eating lots of fish. If cost is not a big issue then seriously consider renovating the pond instead of using the flatheads as predators of the problem fish that you have now. If you draw the pond down for rotenone treatment then would be a good time to add structure that you mentioned and or deepening or reshaping the sides to minimize shallow submerged weed growth. Once the flatheds eat most everything, if that happens, then you have to be concerned about removing all of them, since the now larger flatheads will eat all restocked fish. Flatheads are not a real practical solution to your trash fish problem.

Cindma, I was trying to be somewhat humorous about the flatheads! It would be baaaaaad if those things spawned in your pond, a total draining of the pond would be required to erradicate them. I still think the carnage would be kinda cool though!

Bill Cody's suggestions are dead accurate for your situation!

Draining and starting over probably would not be overly expensive, But you need to make sure the problem does not happen again. Since you have a muddy water problem, three of the best suited fish in those conditions are carp, bullheads, and fathead minnows. If you can restart a healthy bass poulation with clearer water, you could probably avoid a reinfestation of trash fish, or at the very least, minimize the problem.

Personally, I was very happy after I did a renovation. I had lots of other work done at the same time, but the money spent on the pond was reasonable (about $1500).

Bumpity bump bump

Cindma, How is your pond doing? Did you ever get it to clear some? Any Flatheads yet???? JK!!!