Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations NE Texas Pond.......

I bought a farm in May last year that has a 5 acre pond with some good bass, crappie, brim in it. (I am a complete novice at this so my description of good is subject to interpretation)

I don't know the history of how the pond was built or what it was stocked with but do know it was an extremely popular fishing hole in the community and people are unhappy that I closed off access to it.

Given such sketchy information can y'all tell me if these fish look healthy or if I need to make a concentrated effort to harvest some? (Currently all are being released)

I have included numerous pictures of the fish caught so you can get an idea of what is in the pond.

Welcome to PB Tbar:

Go to the link below and print the weight charts of the fish you have in the pond. Then when you do fish, weigh and measure them, not just the "big" ones, but all varieties. It will then give you a base point of which size and species are doing well(or not), and then folks here will be able to guide you as to how to improve and maintain your goals.

http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=160456#Post160456

Another link that you will find handy fro abreviations:
http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=92442#Post92442
Print it and have handy, you'll refer to it often!!!

There is a tool for measuring your pond's perimeter with a google map, which gives you a true size of the pond in acres. I think it is called something like "acme planimeter"?
This might be a usefull link to it?
http://acme.com/planimeter/

HAVE FUN!!!!!!!!!

Tbar
Welcome to the family

What part of N East Texas are you located in? Nice looking lake and fish. Lots of good reading and nice helpful folks on here. Hope to see lots of your posts on here.


Pat W

Welcome TBar. I had the same thing. People said "I've been fishing those ponds for years". Well things change. Great looking pond and fish you are catching.

T-Bar,
Welcome to Pond Boss....tons of good info here. Nice place you have there.
Charlie

With no other information,

I would remove every Crappie, every LMB under 14 inches, and every skinny bass. I would leave every Bluegill. I would test the water for PH and alk. I would map the bottom with a weighted line and a map. I would also learn as much as possible about the bottom structure.

But that is just me.....

Oh yea, welcome

Not knowing your goals.....

One comment I would have is I have read enough here to know a small BOW such as a pond, will probably not sustain overtime as a strictly catch and release. You probably need to develop a harvest plan. My 2 cents

I did a rough survey this past summer. Its crude but will give you a general idea.

Welcome to the forum!

I know it's relatively short notice, but this has been happening every 2 years, and this year it's in Dallas.

http://www.pondboss.com/events.asp?id=7

You'll get so much info that your head will be spinning.

Besides, you'll probably have a heck of a lot of fun too!

I second downloading and printing out the WR charts, and then thinking about what your goals are for the pond.

Different goals have different management strategies. Wanting to grow large BG has a different management plan than wanting to grow large LMB.

Tbar, welcome to the forum. It's always good to get another NE TX guy on board.

So, in the first pic, are those 2 smaller attached ponds at the north end of the big pond? If so, those could be game changers for you.

Tbar - where you located in N.E. Texas?
You most likely have some near neighbors with lots of pond experience.
Al (FireIsHot) nailed it with brood pond "game changer" thoughts.

Several experienced PB members in proximity of Hopkins, Wood, and Delta counties....
WELCOME!

Tbar, me and Al are just N.E. Texas Rednecks..
Our WR documentation is FAT, SKINNY and AVERAGE...

Fire, the pond in the top right is on the neighbors property and is connected by a small channel that can be navigated by kayak. The small pond in the top right is on my proprty and is separated by a dam.



George, the farm is 60 miles east of Dallas in Van Zandt County.

The large crappie is a beauty! Nice fish!

None of the largemouth bass are toads with big fat round bellies. Bass 1, 5, and 7 look underweight to me - there is no bulge or roundness to their bellies. They are just flat.

In the Spring you could electroshock to learn what species and sizes you have. Aside from this and using netting it will be most difficult to get any handle on the sizes and numbers (unless you start tagging every fish you land).

With respect to folks who are used to fishing and now their honeyhole is closed to them, as they say "that's life". Most folks will understand even with their disappointment.

Tbar asks: "Given such sketchy information can y'all tell me if these fish look healthy or if I need to make a concentrated effort to harvest some? (Currently all are being released)"


Ok.... so what are they to Texas Redneck standards?


I tend to agree with basslovers analysis. Although the crappie aren't that big if you consider whats in my area, and the one pic of the BG looks nice, the rest looks average, even to a northern boy.

Tbar,

You haven't mentioned forage. Do you see a lot of minnows and other small fish in the pond? You might want to throw a minnow trap or two to get an idea of where you are with respect to forage.

Bill D.

I will have to do that Bill. Never made a point of looking for minnows but don't recall seeing any.

I have been thinking of setting up a fish feeder and adding some shiners.

"so what are they to Texas Redneck standards?

In order to determine Redneck WRs, "it all depends" when they are caught....prespawn - postspawn - early summer - late summer...etc...experience with visual inspection is all I need but I have been looking at LMB for more than 75 years...

Van Zandt county - Zep, that your home county?
Tbar, you got some good neighbors with lots of experience with record breaking drought and varying water conditions and fish with interesting genetics.

Tyler Fish Farm is near Van and Bob Waldrop is an outstanding Fisheries Biologist - he is not active on the PB forum.
When I dealt with him, he did not have the facilities to grow out predator species - fingerlings will just be expensive fish food with as many adult bass that you have.
Where did your BG come from? They look to me like Arkansas intergrade CNBG.

I know you are going to have a bunch of fun with your pond - let us know how we can help.
Good luck,
George Glazener

Yes Sir.

I sure could use some pointers if your interested in stopping by someday.

"Fire, the pond in the top right is on the neighbors property and is connected by a small channel that can be navigated by kayak. The small pond in the top right is on my proprty and is separated by a dam."

Tbar, it is my understanding that Texas law permits access to your pond if can be navigated by channel or connected to neighbor's pond.
You may be aware of this so just a heads up.
G/

That's kool......it goes both ways. I have been wanting to fish his pool as we see fish hitting the surface over there.

I don't get the impression that he is much of a fisherman. Just runs cattle, cuts hay, harvests sweet potatoes, etc.

This looks very interesting and is close to my home in the city.

It is a very busy time of the year for me and I'm not certain I can make it. What is the latest that I can sign up and be able to go?

Hmm ... a body of water owned by another connected to your body of water. Consider giving that some thought. If you decide to fine tune your pond a lot of your efforts (time, money, etc.) may actually be your neighbors reward, or alternatively, something done or not done by your neighbor may have a negative effect on your pond and your work.

So many what ifs in this scenario...

Your fish are landed by the folks who formerly fished your pond until you closed off their access to your pond but your neighbor granted them access to his pond ...

Your money in forage fish, fertilizing, whatever "goes down the drain" as your neighbor stocks bullhead catfish or or or ...

Or your neighbor sells his land and your new neighbor ...

Tbar...I'd love to see your ponds sometime,
but to tell you the truth I need to bring HighFlyer or FireIsHot too.
Those guys are pros and I am still in the PeeWee league.

What part of VZ County are you?
Wills Point?
Grand Saline?
Canton?
Ben Wheeler?
Purtis Creek?