Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Corrective stocking New pond Owner, fish questions

Hi, I recently bought a house and there's a pond on the property. It's located in southern Michigan. The pond is about a 1/2 acre in size, spring fed with a run off pipe located at one end. The owner had the pond re-dredged back in 1998 and says it's 10 feet deep at one end and 15-20 feet deep at the other end, the pond is oval shaped. I fished the pond a little before it froze up for winter. I caught several LMB between 10" to 14" in size and can see smaller ones swimming around. There's also blue gill, sun fish, and hybred catfish (black in color). Just guesing I would say there's about 12 catfish, maybe 25-35 LMB, and 40+ blue gill and sun fish various sizes. There's lots of frogs around the pond but I don't see any minnows. My question is where do I start as far as maintaining this pond with fish. My first thought is to go ahead and add minnows for the fish to eat and add a few more blue gills and sunfish. I've never seen any cray fish or perch, should I add some? The water in the pond is nice and clear, weeds are normal. Also should I have an aeriator in the pond. The precious owner never used one.

Welcome. I can see you have the pondmeister hook well into your mouth; since you're talking about spending money, the hookset can't be far away.

As you resume fishing this spring, keep records of what you catch: species, length, relative condition (fat, thin, sick-looking, any parasites). I would also record how long you were fishing and what fish you remove from the pond or lose to extensive hook damage. This will help you ascertain what all you have in the pond and what numbers/sizes/health they are. If you want to spend $50 or so, you can get some scales and record exact weight - this let's you be more precise than "relative plumpness."

Minnow seines, 4 feet high and about dollar a foot per length (up to 24 feet or so) can let you and a water loving assistant determine what small fish are in the pond, adding to the picture of what is in there and how it's doing.

If you have a small boat or swim, you can sound for the bottom over the area of the pond and get a more accurate picture of the depth. This can be important in many ways, especially avoiding fishkills in the extremes of Winter and Summer.

You need to consider what you want to emphasize on in your pond: big bass, big bluegill, big catfish, or a well-rounded multi-species fishing experience (we call this a "Norm Kopecky Pond"). All these options (and many others) are attainable in 1/2 acre with the proper management. Some are easier to attain than others.

Aeration? This can be very beneficial but may not be necessary depending on your pond and your goals. There are many threads here at the forum discussing the aspects, methods, and philosophies of aeration and you can learn invaluable info from studying them and then asking any questions that arise. You should have some time to study and decide about aeration, because Summer's high water temperatures (and possible heavy algae loads which would cry for aeration) are a few months away.

Two more things useful to measure are the water temperature and secchi depth (which is a measure of water clarity and hence the plankton that is the primary basis of your foodchain). The water temp (and how it varies with depth) provides info on what kinds of fish you could put in, when your bass and sunfish should spawn, and helps decide if aeration is warranted. Secchi depth helps tell you how much food your pond provides your fish (you can add fish food or possibly fertilize to increase this) and warns you if aeration may be "do or die." You can pick up a very nice water temp gauge with a 20 foot probe for about $20, or put a $4 thermometer on a string. Do a websearch for "Secchi Disk" and you can see what it is and how to use it. I made mine from a broomstick, a mudflap, a lag screw, and some electrical tape.

Mostly, I suggest you study all the great info available here (and subscribe to "PondBoss" magazine) and learn all you can before you spend serious money. I bet almost everyone here wishes we had known then what we know now - I know I do.

Mr. Gone Fishing -

You being from MI there is a good site on the subject based right of your state. I posted it here.

http://www.mlswa.org/secchi.htm

Nice article, and a great trivia question: "What Pond Management tool was developed in 1865 by the Papal Navy?"