Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations First year electro-fishing - puzzling news

I have a new 3.5 acre lake in upper South Carolina just south of Charlotte, NC. 2 years ago in the Spring I stocked it with BG/RES along with Fatheads. One year later I stocked 250 LMB. This March, about a year later, we electro-fished it. The results were: plenty of BG/RES, Fatheads still around, BUT only two (2) LMB's were found averaging 2 lbs each AND Adult Crappie (don't know how they got there) with resulting fingerling Crappie. The pond averages about 8' deep with 18' at the deepest point. It is fed by a spring and 60 acre watershed of mostly planted pines. It took 18 months to completely fill. I also have 2 feeders feeding twice a day for 3 seconds each. I'd hate to start over since I'm 2 yrs into it. I plan on electro-fishing again in about a month to see what type of spawn occurred. My goal is to have a trophy LMB pond although I'm limited at 3.5 acres. Side Note: I fished it yesterday and only caught a Warmouth - it keeps getting worse and what happened to the LMB? I'm wondering what the next steps should be to achieve my management plan of trophy LMB and thanks in advance for any input/suggestions.

Just a quick comment...electrofishing doesn't bring up all the fish, so maybe you still have a lot of LMB left. Two pounds at two years old is pretty good, no..real good, if you stocked them as fingerlings.

Also, do others have access to your pond? Maybe someone thought you'd enjoy some crappie?

Good forage and understocking LMB is a good way to start a trophy LMB pond. But that means you will get fewer bites and catch less LMB.

Electro fishing is a tool and has its limits. It does not generally sample deeper than 6-8 ft deep. If the LMB were holding in deep water they may not have been adequately sampled. What about a fishfinder? Seine the shallows and look for LMB yoy. What have you caught?

If there are not enough LMB then you can get adult LMB to stock.

G-8: what was the water temperature when the shocking sample was collected? That might help us interpret for you.

I'm a conservative kind of guy. Given the number of panfish species present in your pond, I would be adding adult, or at least close to adult, largemouth bass to your pond now. Maybe we can get Greg Grimes to chime in on stocking rate. I'm sure fish such as that are expensive (talking about 8-12 inch bass). I'd want to stock at least 20/acre and as many as 40/acre if they were toward the smaller end. Now, the previous guys have indicated that your LMB may be present -- if so, my suggested stocking would not be necessary. That's why they have you looking for LMB reproduction, which is a good idea. However, as I said, I'm try to err on the conservative side. With multiple panfish species present, you need a good LMB population to keep them in check.

Shoot us back the water temp, and we can discuss further.

G-8 when the pond was electro-shocked did the operator make any comments on what he thought? Did you get a report and if so what did it say ? Often the eyes on info from a fisheries scientist (even if we draw different conclusions) is critical in the "what happened" process.

Thank you all for the great replies. I would guess the water temp was in the low 60's. The pond is greater than 6' deep in most parts and extends to 18' so maybe the best thing to do is what my fisheries scientist suggested (i.e. see how this Spring's spawn goes by electro-shocking in June). I was with him when we shocked so no written report was given. I've fished the pond twice during the winter and once yesterday with a plastic worm. I haven't had a bite yet except for the Warmouth I caught yesterday, and yes - the only thing I can "suspect" is that an unknown friend thought I'd enjoy Crappie which I'm not happy about. For planning sake, do you all think I should stock adult LMB if it is determined the first and only fingerling stocking didn't survive? What are some more stocking rates if this is the case? Thanks again - I REALLY appreciate the input.

when did first shocking take place , if early March after a cold front bass might have been deep as menetioned. We get varied electoshock results depending on many variables. This is why we look at many things besides just a count of the fish.

A second shock might reveal some good information, also I suggest seine survey if trying to get handle on repro, we do not shock as much in June b/c in ATL area they start moving deep and numbers go down. If in June might consider night shocking. If goal is quality bass stock fewer bass, maybe only 15/acre if you indeed have few. Make major efforts to get out the crappie via fishing and electrofsihing.

What was the relative weight of the bass? This would help us somewhat determine bass numbers? What was size class distributoin of bluegill? Do you consider yourself a good fisherman, if so the young bass are usually very agressive you should be abel to catch them readily. If not this might reveal more info than shocking. Good luck!

Greg and Dave; I also recall a discussion that you guys had regarding water conditions relating to conductivity. What was that about?

Dave - When conductivity is too high or too low, it's hard to get the boats to work properly. The biologist should have known, however, if he had an effective electrical field and was getting a resaonable sample.

Would poor conductivity have hampered electroshocking all species, not just LMB? Or would it simply have limited the "range", and the LMB were out of reach while the rest got snagged?

We checked the conductivity and it was average. Hopefully the LMB were deep and not picked up. I'm an average fisherman and have fished for 30+ years so I would think I could at least get one bite which is what really concerns me. At least I caught a Warmouth and didn't get skunked...

I've made a phone call and am all set to shock again next week based on Greg's experience. Thanks again for the assistance and will report back on the results.

Yes, please do report back. We'll be interested to see what you find. I think you were smart to do it again so quickly. I'll repeat what I said earlier -- if you have multiple panfish species, I'd sure want to get the LMB population established.