Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations shocked my pond last week; first time

well, i finally did it...the game and fish guys came over and shocked my approx. 3 yr old 4 acre pond. we met last friday at 10 am. took about 15 minutes to hook up the shocking boat...then we got things going and shocked for about an hour. one guy ran the motor and the generator switches/control unit. me and the other guy stood up front and scooped up fish as they popped up. he had his foot on a kill switch that deactivated the shocking unit should he fall off the boat/safety measure. we cruised around slowly, and bass and bluegill and catfish slowly came up. many swam away. however, they commented on the "beauty" of my water color (made me proud...as if they were talking about my child!!!) we would scoop up the fish and put them in a beg metal container that we put pondwater in. i contribute my good pond color results to those really easy floating fertilizer buckets offered by SOUTHERN EXCELLENCE i think. the pond is about 4 acres, and my thoughts before we started were that the bass were too many and too small. the cats were 3 to 8 pounds, and the bluegill ranged from little wee ones to nice slabs.

results: too many small bass about 12 inches. we didn't get any really big ones (although a 4-5 pound largemouth was caught a few weeks before, confirmed by pics).

decisions: since my goal is to have a lake with big bass, we will start keeping all of the small bass less than a 1.5 pounds or so. leave the bluegills alone. will continue to remove cats because they are getting so big they are no longer fun for the kids to catch because they bust the lines etc.

we kept 2 coolers full of bluegill and small bass.

we plan to return some night when we can look for more big bass etc. however the shocking we did gave us the info we needed to know, and suspsected.

what could i have done differently....fished more, and told friends if they are going to fish on the pond, the rules are to keep all of the small bass.

i have some pics and video clips, but don't have time to upload them right now. will try to do that soon. if you are interested in seeing them, email me at ilovefishingmark@yahoo.com

Bruce Condello, you would have been proud of some of these bluegills....slabs baby...slllaaabbss!!

oh, one last thing. the scum on top was negligible which i contribute to a one time treatment this year with cutrine plus (about 4 big buckets worth). but the grass...could be better. we didn't shock up any of the 20 grass carp i put in their last year....maybe they were eaten or whatever...so i'm going to put more in.

i hope this helps.

last thing....leave the generator/shocking to the pros....veerrryyyy dangerous... and most game and fish departments and dept. nat. resource folks do it for free (actually...for lunch!!). one good benefit of our tax dollars!!!

in summary, i have a pond buffet, with too many skinny people who are all sharing the buffett. i want some of those folks really fat. so, i'm getting rid of many of them, politely, to leave more of the buffet for those folks that are capable of munching away and getting really fat!!!

questions: say my biggest bass in there is 4-5 pounds. what do ya'll think if i put in some big florida's or f1's to start eating up those skinny small bass. should i order them? and from where. or should i get the word out to local anglers that i need 10-20 bass over 6 pounds to put into my pond;;;or other numbers. just some thoughts to creat discussion, which is what makes this site so much fun.


mark

Hey Mark. I love hitching rides in shock boats. I'm sure you had a ball.

I wouldn't sweat what I could have done. Without diagnosis, you wouldn't treat a patient. I think you are on the right track regarding small bass elimination and leaving the BG alone. There are other considerations like adding some different forage like shad or tilapia. At this time, I think I would follow the Doctors recommendation and fish it hard.

I recently asked Lusk about adding large bass to a pond. His comment was "That's a good way to mess up a nice pond".

That is SO classic. Not many bluegill YOY survive each year, so the remainders grow like crazy, and the largemouth run out of groceries. I know I'm in the minority, but that makes for some awesome bluegill fishing.

How big were the slabs, Mark????

Mark, I will be doing the same thing next Tuesday morning with some of our G & P guys. They are planning on taking 200 LMB under 16" over to a nearby public lake that had big fish kill last summer. It will be interesting to see how many of the SMB we stocked recently get shocked up. Being able to see what's in your pond is blast and it really helps solidify some management decisions about culling.

Bruce:

In the minority, but not alone.

Mark:

Thanks for the good description of the shocking process from the owner's view. The standard, sound advice for eliminating a large number of problem fish and adding desirable fish seems to be eliminate the problem (GSF, stunted bass) first, then add the desirable fish (BG, fresh genes in F1/FLA LMB). I think you want to improve the pond from the perspective of the fish you will add before they go in. Transplanting large LMB is risky for the fish because they're going into a completely different environment from what they are used to - in the best circumstances a large fraction (1/4? 1/3?) will not thrive. If you put them into a pond that's already overcrowded with bass and short on forage, it would be even harder for them.

Mark,

Your experience mirrored mine in several ways. We didn't shock up any LMB over about 3.5 pounds but had caught one well over 5 about a month before the shocking. Also, didn't see any HSB although many are present.

In addition, we didn't shock up any grass carp either. Apparently they are able to stay away from the boat noise.

My thought is to not worry in the slightest about what could have been done differently but look forward to the steps needed to achieve your pond objectives. Good post.

Mark I agree with Dave/Bob on adding a bunch of large LMB. They are very hard to find and can cost a lot. Plus they will change the balance in the pond for sure and maybe for the worse. While they will eat some of those 10in. LMB ( and many 4-6 in. BG) next spring they will spawn and you may well get a big year class which may make matters worse 2 to 3 years later. In addition the impact they will make on the mid range BG is not what you want. I would also not put in Fla. LMB with your location - to far north. F-1's should be ok but not while you are LMB crowded. Look for a good source for some 8 in. F-1's 2 years off and after the pond is in balance. If you still want that, then add a few ( 5 per acre , wait a couple years and add the same again ). Add them in the fall after you have over the summer removed an offsetting amount of 10 in. LMB in addition to what you are already taking out. Be sure of your goals as it is not easy to have a "trophy" LMB pond in 4 acres. Usually that means not catching many fish which is not good unless you are willing to fish a lot for that trophy. Trophies are not easy to grow or catch. A balanced fishery with the chance of catching a large LMB is IMO better for most folks. Your goals are what matters - go for what you want. If it is LMB trophies then we will help as best we can. What you have now is a trophy BG pond. Those can be a lot of fun so be sure you want to change first as the avg. BG size will decrease as you move to a balanced or trophy LMB pond.

well, you know, i got to work this morning, pulled up the shocking thread...and it reminded of my pond in more ways than one!! do you know how you throw out some fish food, and fish just swarm it....makes you feel..."happy"...well, that's the way i felt when i saw all you little bluegill just tackle that thread!! it's amazing how we all just thrive of this pond stuff huh!! some people just can't understand it.

ok, i've got some pics of the shopping process up and ready to send some folks or post on this site somehow if anyone can tell me how. the guys in the pics are the game and fish fellers.

and yes...it was a blast.

again, do not try it (shocking) on your own; leave it to the pros and tag along.

You can send me the photos and I'll post them.

That's a lovely accent you have......New Jersey?
Joisey City, tuirty tuid and tuid.

Mark :

Did the biologists say what types of fish they saw? What types of fish are in the pond other than CC , BG and LMB? BTW nice water - I see why they made the comment.

I see other kinds of fish.

Quit being coy... Are they HBG or GS.

I think I see 'chinky pin'.(RES)

I see what appears to be a stardard green sunfish, but I've learned that their hybrids can be so similar that they're difficult to differentiate.

Edit: I think I see a torpedo shaped chinkypin with a large mouth. You do have some nice looking water.

bass too many, too small

coppernose and hybrid slabs

redear parasite eaters

a few green sunfish whicn i did not stock.

it's culling time.