Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Silted pond

I recently purchased land with about a 1 ac. pond. It apears to have only bass and sun perch. The bass are in the 12 to 14" range and rather skinny. I presume the fish are stunted and don't think it's been fished in quite some time. It's surrounded by lots of trees close to the banks (even on the dam) and can only be fished by a small boat. Also, the pond is silted and average depth is about 5' with one small area about 9'. I'm wanting to expand the pond by about another 1.5 acres. The pond sits on a creek and I'm looking at putting a new dam furthur down the creek/drain off. This expansion area is more pasture without trees. I have been told that once the fish are stunted, I should just drain everything and start over. This would be ok since I would like to re-work the old pond too. However, I could leave the old pond and just open a new area and then drain into it with the old pond leaving the fish habitat that I already have. I have checked the drainage and I have about 37 acres of runnoff to supply my pond. It should fill pretty quick. Also, I have a lot of overflow and was wondering about fish loss with overflow. My goal is to create a bass habitat for fishing and I want to creat a swimming/sandy beach area for the kids too. Will stunted fish reproduce or grow to large fish over time? If so how much time? How long could I expect to see good fishing if I start over from scratch? About how much would you expect to spent to restock a pond that is 2.5 acres? I know I've put a lot of things out there. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

Hey Steve where did you buy? (bixby, sand springs, etc)
I am in Tulsa also.

Steve, I'm not one of the experts...so the ole grain of salt thing.

How big are your bluegill. If you are bass heavy you should have some big bluegill. Would be a good idea to establish relative weights of both bass and bluegill population. You can search the forum to determine how to do so, or hopefully someone will post the link.

With work, you can increase wts on bass, will require taking out bass and improving forage base, either with additional bluegill or something more exotic like tilapia.. I think I would build new dam and try and improve my situation, rather than drain and start again. 5' avg depth on the old pond doesn't sound bad, considering that you will create deeper areas with your new dam. Depending on height of new dam, old dam would be great structure or jetty for fishing.

I'd probably take out a few trees, they can use a lot of water when thirsty, also if you build new dam and raise water levels, flooded trees on old dam will be a good perch for Meadowlark's favorite avian predator.

Just a few rambles. Good luck.

Steve,

Welcome to Pond Boss.

I'm no expert but I'll toss out some of my thoughts. If you drain your existing pond to start over, then you are going to be doing just that.....starting over. No fishing, no boating, no relaxing by the pond after those trying days at work, etc. Building a new dam, while working your old pond offers alot more opportunities, in my opinion.

Like Gumboot mentioned, the new dam could be built to make those 5' silted areas a bit deeper. Its been stated here a number of times that its cheaper to big up a dam than it is to haul out silted material. You might even be able to use those 5' areas for future spawning beds. By keeping the existing pond, you could experiment and answer your question about the stunted bass. Start to cull some of the bass and see if they respond by showing any increase in size and weight. If not, you can always start over when the new pond is finished.

These are just a few of my thoughts. Take advantage of all the good advice you'll find here and don't be afraid to ask questions.

Russ