Hello folks,

I've been consuming this forum for three days and think I have an idea how to get the answers I need. But not necessarily how to achieve my goals.

Background Info: I have two one acre ponds separated by a dam in Southeast Texas. They are filled via a well and rain water with no creeks or streams feeding into them. The eastern pond is empty and the western pond is full now, but has been completely empty in the past. Cast netting and bait fishing has led me to believe it is devoid of larger fish life, though it has lots of mosquito fish and crawdads.




Here's my goal: Create a trophy blue gill pond for children.

Here's what I understand to be correct: Predators are needed to avoid blue gill stunting. RES are good for parasites. Hybrid stripers will eat some blue gill, but possibly not enough to control them on their own, where as Large Mouth bass can. I would like to stock blue gill now, and in a year stock the LMB. I would also like to "ladder stock" some hybrid stripers.

Question 1. How many of the CPNB should I stock? I plan on feeding but don't plan on aerating at this time. Next year, how many HSB and LMB should I stock?

Question 2. How difficult would turning my two one acre ponds into one two acre pond be? How would you go about doing it?




Thank you in advance for answering my questions, and have immensely enjoyed reading the forum.

Welcome to PB !

A couple questions. Will you be able to keep the pond relatively full of water?

On the dam I would cut the dam in the middle so that you had 2 peninsulas to fish from. It might be best if the gap in the dam was the deepest part of both ponds to aid in water flow through. You could consider having the cut made so that you could put a bridge across it for access. Lots of options depending on the site.

Stocking is the easy part once you get to that point.

Have your dirt and water tested.

Welcome to PBF!

You say the eastern pond is empty. Why? If it leaks, connecting the two ponds might drain both?

Again, welcome!

Bill D.

+1 on Bill D's and ewest's comments. Make sure you have a grasp on the empty pond problem first.

I believe waiting a year to stock your predators (Bass) is usually the way to manage a bass fishery, but there are thoughts out there that say you should stock the bass at the same time as the panfish if your goals are Big Blue Gills. Here are a couple of great reads about managing BG ponds that should help with your stocking plans...

http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=189988

http://bigbluegill.com/forum/topics/why-everything-you-know-about-bluegill-management-is-wrong

So glad to see this post, I am doing the exact same thing this summer. Here is my play. Both my ponds are the same size and about 50 ft apart. 1 pond is 8 years old and fully stocked the other is 2 years old and I have put nothing in it. The plan is to pump out the older pond and move all the fish to the newer pond. Then renovate the older pond, basically deepen it and start new. Then pump water back to the now newly renovated pond until the two ponds are at about the same level. Then let the excavator start moving the earth that separates them. Right now both ponds have 6 inch rock on 10 ft fabric all the way around them. this will be done in the connecting area also.

I'm hoping that by pumping half the water back to the first pond that it will help keep soil from washing into the pond.

I am as far from an expert as you can get, so if anyone sees a problem with this please let me and Andy know.

Ok, thanks a bunch folks.


The eastern pond is dry because of drought and i plugged the pipe feeding into it from the west pond, its held water will in the past, we are just dry right now. If I turn the well on I can fill it up and plan on keeping it full.

Where should I send the dirt and water to be tested?

1/4acre, seems like i must have had it backwards. Stockem at the same time for trophy bluegill, thanks for the clarification. The links seem to have it all.

Good luck Willie. We are along ways away from each other, but have the same plans. Small world this pond managment hobby.