I am looking for a few opinions and thoughts. To recap, I have an 11 acre pond, 40 feet deep in central Minnesota. Been fishing it this summer finally, and had an absolute blast doing so. The pond has a very healthy BG population, everything from YOY to a few 10" caught. It seems to have a solid NP population. Caught numerous NP as they attacked sunfish on the line. All fish caught appear to be healthy with good RW. I have added approximately 25 WE in the last couple of years, most around 13 inches, just a few at 15 inches and one at 19". I have not caught a LMB or BCP, but was told by previous owner they were in there "back in the day" 10+ years ago, but have seen no evidence.

The pond has heavy weed growth all the way around it, with the weed line at approximately 8 foot depth. On average, I'd say the weeds from shore extend about 20 yards out. So there is a lot of cover.

I have a good lead to add 200 WE that are approximately 7" at a good price. Should I add the 200 WE now, or should I hit the pond hard this fall/winter to remove as many pike as possible first?

Long term, I'm wondering if I should remove as many NP as possible going forward and try to build up WE as the top predator? To date, I have removed no fish. I figure I'll never be able to remove the NP entirely, and don't think I should. Can a WE dominant lake work to control BG populations?

Been adding Lake Shiners the last couple of years for diversity, and YOY YP as I come across them, and plan to continue on doing so.

I continue to think about adding a few BCP (in the future), but most posts I've read make me leery to add them. So I am planning to not add them in the next few years, and revisit the idea later.

What do I want as an end result? I would like to have a pond to take the grandkids fishing. (they aren't here yet, but it won't be too long either) I have it today I think with BG, but would like to add some diversity. Although I live on a lake, I want the pond to be that special place each one thinks is just for them. Ice fishing is very important for me to get people outside in the winter, and there is nothing better than icing nice panfish, and a WE every now and then.

I'm thrilled to see such a project, North40! In a lake that size, I wonder how many WE you would have to have in order to consider them the top predator. I think it would take an awful lot, but I'm interested to hear other thoughts on that.

I would definitely consider removing some NP, through selective harvest. If all seem to be in great condition, you probably don't need to remove any at this time, but keep tabs on it and remove any you do find that are inferior.

With the kind of cover you have, I wonder if getting more YP would be a good addition to a pond like this.

If you seem to have a solid population of BG, there's a good possibility you have at least a small population of LMB that are helping you manage them. Good chance they're few if you haven't caught any, but those few are probably doing really well.

Do you have habit at foe WE to spawn? Can you cut down on the np spawning habbitat?

FWIW IMHO if NP are in the water, WE will never be top predator. With that kind of habitat, the NP could breed like the proverbial rabbit and always be king of the puddle. I would think those 7 inch WE might be the preferred food for the NP and get wiped out pretty quick. I am not a pro, just my 2 cents.

Thanks, I was wondering about the ability for 7" WE to survive, versus becoming snacks, but hope the weed line will help.

I believe I am going to go ahead and add them.

In reference to the previous question, what environment does a NP need to spawn well? What is their spawning process?

I will have issues with a walleye spawning ground, but looking into options to rectify that this winter or next.

Thanks.

If money is not a real issue, you have nothing to lose by adding the walleye at 7"

Starting a culling program for the NP is a good idea, but you may want to back it up with some catch data establishing the 'condition' of the NP, like Omaha suggests.

With the NP population, I would personally not be as concerned about the overpopulating potential of Black Crappie.

If you are looking to reduce some of that weed growth, pond dye might be an option.

From the sound of it you have a lot of fish that LMB would consider forage fish. I bet there are some lunker LMB in there that will be difficult to catch because they are full, fat and happy.

We also have (40" inch class female) NP in our pond but only 4+- of them. NP will always be the top predator unless you could somehow eliminate them.

We planted a 100 8-9" WE a few years ago and though they are a rare catch (we don't target them) the females have grown rapidly.

What city are you near, we are near Luverne, MN

I'm going to target LMB this weekend, will let you know if I succeed.

The pond is located near Alexandria, although during the week I am in the twin cities.