Pond Boss Forums Thread Like Summary - What to change for a more "fun" pond?

Hi All,
Long time, no post here... been busy with non-pond things for a while, so I have for the most part let the pond do its own thing for the past 3 years. In part because the fishing has been boring.

A little background:
I am in Western NY.
1/2 acre pond, ave depth 10-12ft when it isn't as dry as it has been.
Water is quite alkaline, PH near 8.4 and calcium deposits form on everything including plants.

Stocked 10 years ago now:
* Yellow Perch
* Black Crappy
* Walleye
* 4 Koi, who thankfully have not reproduced

Recently added:
12 Hybrid goldfish/Koi who are an incredibly intelligent fish. I had stocked about 30 of them originally from my garden pond, and sorted in an aquarium so I could make darned sure they were in fact hybrids for fear of reproduction. I removed a bunch with a throw net and a lot of frustration when I found out they were terrible mess-makers and grew far larger than expected. The actual intent was to feed the established fish. However, this is the basis of me thinking there are no WE of the single bass left.
1 LMB that probably didn't make it as it was a bucket stock from someone with good intentions. No sign of it. Nothing hit the small late-add fish.
p.s. Casting bait throw nets from short is HARD to get right.

Current state of things:
The original YP are all huge, and many still are spreading sage wisdom in the pond. Somewhere in the 12-13" range, which seems to be their limit. I have fed them over the years on a semi-regular basis, so they are well trained to hear footsteps on the dock and come "running" for food. However, these guys wont jump on a hook anymore. Worms, various lures, nothing seems to work on them. I think they have gotten old and lazy. Lazy enough they are not reproducing any longer either. No recruitment in the past three years. Thier offspring have not thrived to replace them as I think there is too much competition in the pond for low productivity waters.

The BCP are like credit-cards with eyeballs. When they do decide to spawn (1 in every three years or so), there are so many of the buggers they compete with everything else. According to the fisheries expert in the area, they were supposed to balance out with the walleye, but something went wrong there. They have never touched the feed pellets no matter what brand/size. If it isn't twitching, they watch it sink by their faces to let the perch gobble it up.

Walleye: What can I say? I have caught and returned 3 of them over all these years, possibly the same dummy. Nowhere large enough to take on the credit cards. They still may be in there, but I haven't seen sign of them in over three years now. Evidence says they are likely in the belly of a snapping turtle.

The Koi are a pretty fish. Nice to have when they don't take over. They are happy and lazy.

Anyhow, fishing has been quite boring, and I want to change it up. My only rule is NO BLUEGILL. I swim in there (the kiddo is now 17, not interested), and BG go beyond nipping right into a-hole territory. I put one in there a few years ago, and it grew to monstrous size. However, it chased me all over the pond and would bite me for fun. It would be waiting for me at the dock when I wanted to go for a dip. I think it was angry about the lack of any fish of the opposite sex. The BG is gone now.

What I would like to do is stock SMB and Pumpkin seeds. Neither of which is stocked at hatcheries anywhere near me. The hatchery that used to stock all sorts of variety closed during covid and never re-opened. The unwillingness of wanting to stock BG messes up the LMB formula, so I am looking for suggestions. NY restricts a lot of what many states enjoy.

I am fairly close to bucket stocking myself from a local reservoir, but the legality issue and/or introduction of disease or invasives worries me, despite the isolation of the source.

Thanks,
-Mark

Sounds like you could have a side gig offering expensive spa treatments!

Come to Drew's pond where gambusia will gently exfoliate your dry skin. $50 for a thirty minute session sounds like a bargain to me.

Lol. Your story of the bluegill cracked me up. I come from some understanding as the hybrids my dad stocks love to bite nippers! Hurts a little but the surprise is shocking. I love to take the kid's friends swimming there just to see how long it takes for someone to scream like a little girl and proceed to run on water to escape.

I don't know fish in your area so no help with species. I can offer a suggestion though. Several yrs ago we bought a mini-pontoon boat. It's a game changer and we've had a blast on the pond with it. I'd consider getting one then sinking brush piles that you can jig from the boat. So much more fun than what we were doing with little Jon boats and canoes.

I bought loads of FHM and Crayfish there this spring and was hoping for those Pumpkin Seed in June. I shot out there this past weekend on bought 30 PS, and another load of FHM to take the pressure off the new PS, so thanks for the heads up! Also picked up a spectacular koi for the garden pond. I didn't need it, but I would have been pissed at myself if I had not brought it home.

The hope was this spring, by adding some FHM, it would boost the pond a little with some live food since the only ones eating the feed are the YP. It didn't make any noticeable difference.
The one thing the hybrid koi/goldfish have done is clouded the water in their quest for food, giving these new little fish a fighting chance with the lower visibility. Usually in fall the water is so clear you can easily see 10ft down. Right now, it is maybe 10 inches. Part of the problem I have been having with recruitment is the predators can see prey a mile away in those conditions and there is not enough cover for survival.

I am going to give the stocking a rest and let the PS settle in, and then perhaps next fall put in some bass. I probably purchase a few size classes to get closer to ladder-stocking so they are not all fighting for the same food source.

Sure, it will become a mess in there for management, but my original goal was to never have a prize fishery, but a good recreation spot for swimming and casual fishing.

Too bad the koi were so hard to catch. I would have loved to have seen the pictures of the flatheads you could have caught in the Mo. River with 2 ft long koi!