Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Fishin' 2011

Al, let us know how those years were in the French Foreign Legion (your hat!)!

I just wonder what the state of pond bossing would be without Pond Boss. The photos above are all incredible, and a testament to what we've passed on to each other with the help of people like Bob Lusk. Looking at the photos, who would have ever thought we could be raising fish like James Holt or Al Davison? If it wasn't for Pond Boss, there is no way I would be culling 9-10 inch bluegill, and catching 12 inch bluegill. Until I found Pond Boss I was extremely happy to catch a few 8-inch bluegill each season!

Just this year I've caught the largest trout, the largest female bluegill, and the largest male bluegill I've ever caught in my more than 60 years of fishing! All because of our friends on this site.

The beer is carefully biologically processed to remove the alcohol before applying it to the pond water.

Been there! Done that! Sunil's fish are very fat and happy.

Hey, I remember dumping that little trollop into your pond last October along with about 5000 of her closest friends and suitors!

You're right Todd! We stocked those in the deep end shortly before you lost that hog LMB and your Gold Spinner Blade!

That's the one! I still think about that LMB - that thing was huge! By far the biggest one I've ever almost caught. If you are out there and see a gold flash, be sure to cast for it and start using that spinner again! It was deadly that day!

Dang! I shoulda taken off my hat! I gave away the best secret to my legendary angling prowess - it's all in the fashion.

That hat is the only thing that keeps me from being a genuine Georgia redneck.

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In reality, I think I've figured out the secret to catching good LMB in my pond - the trick is to go out planning to cull the little ones! I actually caught that fish on a light-weight spinning rod. I had a bigger bass rod in the boat with me but I heard that fish splashing up against the bank and thought it was another dink so, I just flipped a little weightless blue/black Senko up there and she HAMMERED it! I had all I wanted trying to get that fish out of the heavy cover on that little rod!

A couple from this year that I snapped pics of with my phone. I always think my bass look top notch... nice and chunky. Till I log into this place and see the bass some of you guys are growing with scheduled feeding. Obscene to say the least, in fact Im surprised some of those bass can even swim, as round as they are they should float like a cork!

Nice fish, Colby!

That looks like almost all the fish we catch at our pond. I just don't usually take pictures and definitely don't bother posting pictures of fish that aren't really remarkable. The fish I posted was truly the biggest LMB that we have caught at out pond. We've caught a few - like maybe 3 others - that have hit the 5-lb mark. As you well know, that ain't a big bass here in the south. It's just a big bass for my little puddle.

I started tagging fish this year for the first time, and I like to snap a pic some of the fish ive tagged. Comparing weight and length from catch to catch is great, but I thought it might be interesting to actually see the results of my effort. Im tagging mostly 3lb (roughly 18") and up right now, so thats reason for their similar sizes. Im excited about the initial measurements, the majority of my bass are above the relative weights for their length.

Had the pleasure of fishing TJ’s pond on Sunday and we had a blast. Managed to find all but one species (blacknose crappie) stocked. A few pics from the day.

I got my boy rigged up as soon as we got there and before I could get anybody else’s rods ready, he had landed 3 fish. Two smallies and a bluegill.







He also found a couple redears. First a male, second a female?





My wife and sister-in-law got into the action as well, catching fish they’ve never caught before. Always cool to hear “what’s this?”. Even cooler to sound smart by being able to answer correctly.

Yellow Perch



Golden Shiner



And I did a little fishing too.



Thank you again TJ! Call me anytime you need some cheap (free) labor!

Some nice looking fish! I think you are right about the RES, top is male and bottom is female. How much did that HSB weigh?

I sent TJ the picture and he estimated 19" and 4-5 pounds, probably closer to 4. Wild fight we had. I didn't take the time to measure or weigh. Got the pic taken and the fish was back in the water.

Awesome report, Omaha and Pancho Villa!

Tell Pancho to stop cutting the tails off his fish.

This is barbaric!

The bite was definitely on Sunday and Monday in southeast Nebraska. Check out the Old Farmer's Almanac fishing calendar. The 12th and 13th were listed as "best" days, which it goes on to explain are days when "you will catch something almost every time you cast your line into the water".
That's certainly the way it was in our pond.

Another 5-lb fattie from my pond! This was the only fish we boated yesterday although we each had another good one on and had it either break off or shake off.


While some people will argue passionately that my secret is all in my choice of fashion, I firmly believe that the real secret to catching the bigger fish in my pond is attempting to catch smaller ones to cull.

All of you who have offered me advice on helping to grow bigger bass are the ones to thank for this season's much-improved fishing! I 'preciate it!

I took an hour off from work this afternoon and caught a dozen or so LMB. I was running light on equipment today since I had to walk through 3 feet deep water to get onto the Barge. So, sorry for the crummy photos taken with my Thunderbolt cell phone.

Obviously these four were not particularly happy about my opening the door on their new condo. These were the largest caught and now reside in the dock area (at least temporarily). The largest was a 20.5 inches.

Had they spawned, Dwight? You'd assume so, but it's been a strange year and I thought I would ask.

All but one of them appeared to have spawned. The water temperatures have certainly not been cooperative. Sometimes they just let go even if the water temps are not ideal.

This is probably the last trout of the season. It was just short of 15 inches. I think there is still one more golden, and one more rainbow left. They became extremely difficult to catch as of about mid-May. I was fishing for bluegill with bread balls when I caught this one.



Also, I'm finding that my bluegill are getting the same color as those from Richmond Mill Lake that Condello and Lusk keep showing us -- nearly black. Here is a male that is just a little over 10 inches.

Nice color on that Golden, I can see why their a come get me neon sign for predators.

Ken, what's the pH of your pond? Usually those darkly colored BG are from acidic waters.

Dwight, nice catch, but couldn't you have held one of the fish up and taken a pic w/ your cell? (Freak)

I was afraid to put my hand in the live well with 4 hyper-oxygenated LMB with NP dispositions!

When I am releasing fish, I figure one human touch at hook removal is plenty.