i have 2 ponds that i am interested in refurbing...
pond 1: about 3/4 acre. probably 40+ years old. was killed with rotenone and then stocked approximately 20 years ago with bass, catfish, and bluegill. a few bass were caught in the beginning but none in the last 10 or so years. it has only been fished a few times over the years. the only thing that can be caught now are small bluegill that are around 5" long. it is possible that there are some larger bass in there but, we have seen no signs of them. my thought is that it may be bluegill crowded and to stock larger 6"-8" or so bass so that they would survive if there are any other predator fish in the pond. would prefer to not do a fish kill in this one. just because i think there are at least some bluegill in there...
would like this pond to produce decent bass and some bluegills for the kids...
pond 2: this one is about 1/3 acre and about 20 years old never stocked never fished. i know it is small but would like to do something with it... any ideas???
That appears to be a hybrid bluegill of some sort. Do you catch any Bluegill that look different from this one? Have you tried to fish it heavy and hard for Bass, to see how many are still in there? Any chance that neighbors, or "unwanteds" could have been fishing out the Bass through the years?
If HBG were the original, and only, BG that were stocked, you may be seeing the results of hybrid degredation over the past 20 years.
Typical F1 HBG don't produce many offspring due to their severe male bias. Probably not enough to feed many LMB. However, if the Bass have been fished out, then the BG that remain might not be your first choice if you're after big BG.
It is certainly possible that each succeeding generation of HBG will produce more females, which, in the absence of a predator species may well result in smaller fish.
Have you caught any BG that are larger?
"Forget pounds and ounces, I'm figuring displacement!"
If we accept that: MBG(+)FGSF(=)HBG(F1) And we surmise that: BG(>)HBG(F1) while GSF(<)HBG(F1) Would it hold true that: HBG(F1)(+)AM500(x)q.d.(=)1.5lbGRWT? PB answer: It depends.
That appears to be a hybrid bluegill of some sort. Do you catch any Bluegill that look different from this one? Have you tried to fish it heavy and hard for Bass, to see how many are still in there? Any chance that neighbors, or "unwanteds" could have been fishing out the Bass through the years?
If HBG were the original, and only, BG that were stocked, you may be seeing the results of hybrid degredation over the past 20 years.
Typical F1 HBG don't produce many offspring due to their severe male bias. Probably not enough to feed many LMB. However, if the Bass have been fished out, then the BG that remain might not be your first choice if you're after big BG.
It is certainly possible that each succeeding generation of HBG will produce more females, which, in the absence of a predator species may well result in smaller fish.
Have you caught any BG that are larger?
i thought they looked like HBG too, but couldn't imagine them making it this far. all of the ones we catch look just like that. some are a little smaller, haven't found any much bigger...
i have fished some for bass and had no luck. i am going to fish it some more over the next couple of weeks and see if i can get any bass or bigger BG. there were some neighbors that fished it a couple of times years ago and said they caught some nice bass, but i don't know what their definition of nice is.
if i am unable to locate any bass in the pond would it be safe to add say 30 or so 6" LMB?
anyway to determine if the existing BG population would be enough to support more bass if added?
there are a couple of very large snapping turtles, head as big as my fist in the pond. are these of any concern?
Do you know how deep this pond is? Is there any chance of a winterkill in your area? That might possibly explain the apparent absence of larger fish. If the pond is susceptible to fish kills, either winter or summer, that would have a huge impact on my stocking plans. Do you live on the property? (to control access to it)
Are you planning on doing any supplemental feeding in this pond?
I think your idea to fish it some more is a good one. You need some idea of what is in there now, regarding species, and sizes.
I don't think 30, 6" LMB is too many, I am more concerned that they have a food source available. Maybe put out a few minnow traps?
Personally, I wouldn't worry too much about the turtles...
"Forget pounds and ounces, I'm figuring displacement!"
If we accept that: MBG(+)FGSF(=)HBG(F1) And we surmise that: BG(>)HBG(F1) while GSF(<)HBG(F1) Would it hold true that: HBG(F1)(+)AM500(x)q.d.(=)1.5lbGRWT? PB answer: It depends.
I'd either spend as much time as I could fishing BOTH ponds, or see if you can get an electroshock boat in them, or a fyke net for a survey. Even if pond #2 hasn't been stocked, I'll bet there are fish in there.
Do you know how deep this pond is? Is there any chance of a winterkill in your area? That might possibly explain the apparent absence of larger fish. If the pond is susceptible to fish kills, either winter or summer, that would have a huge impact on my stocking plans. Do you live on the property? (to control access to it)
Are you planning on doing any supplemental feeding in this pond?
I think your idea to fish it some more is a good one. You need some idea of what is in there now, regarding species, and sizes.
I don't think 30, 6" LMB is too many, I am more concerned that they have a food source available. Maybe put out a few minnow traps?
Personally, I wouldn't worry too much about the turtles...
the pond isn't very deep, probably 6'-7' at it's deepest.
not sure on the winter or summer kills. we are in central arkansas. we have never seen any dead fish in or around the pond.
my parents live on the property and they do control access to it. i believe the neighbors that poached the bass were an isolated incident.
if i continue to see only fish the same size as the one attached, what does that tell me?
if i do stock some 6" bass would it be a good idea to stock some larger standard BG with them to spawn and produce some forage for the bass.
is there any reason to cull any of the existing BG in there?
Do you know how deep this pond is? Is there any chance of a winterkill in your area? That might possibly explain the apparent absence of larger fish. If the pond is susceptible to fish kills, either winter or summer, that would have a huge impact on my stocking plans. Do you live on the property? (to control access to it)
Are you planning on doing any supplemental feeding in this pond?
I think your idea to fish it some more is a good one. You need some idea of what is in there now, regarding species, and sizes.
I don't think 30, 6" LMB is too many, I am more concerned that they have a food source available. Maybe put out a few minnow traps?
Personally, I wouldn't worry too much about the turtles...
i have thought about feeding. are turtles pretty aggressive with the floating food?
Sprkplg is right on. Those are not regular bluegill....some type of hybrid, likely some green sunfish in their genes. Chances are, they aren't going to get much bigger than that. If you don't want to kill out the pond, you need to add bass and regular bluegill if you want fish with more size. If you do kill it out, don't restock hybrid bluegill or you'll end up with the same problem down the road.
Often those generic hybrid bluegill will grow to decent size if they are not overcrowed and get plenty of food - 2 important items. Often due to their aggressiveness, they will accept pellets quicker than non-feed trained BG. With ample food they should easily grow to 8"-9".
aka Pond Doctor & Dr. Perca Read Pond Boss Magazine - America's Journal of Pond Management
pond 1: we were back out there yesterday and caught about 15 or so BG (or whatever they are) in the 3-5" range in a few hours. some had alot of orange on the belly and had orange trim. some had orange without the trim. some had no orange at all, and some were missing the black spot.
we fished it pretty hard for bass and got no action at all.
we also put out a turtle trap to try to thin them out some. within an hour of putting the trap out we had 4 BG in there the same size as before...
so my current thinking is that there probably isn't anything in there except the 3-5" BG and a bunch of turtles.
pond 2: also fished it fairly long for BG and bass and did not have any bites at all, so i am still thinking this one is empty.
here are my current thoughts: pond 1: is there any reason to try to get ride of the existing sunfish/BG that are in there? i am thinking leave them in and add: 30 LMB 300 BG (to add to the existing BG population, should i also add in some RES???) 3 lb Fathead minnows. and maybe some Golden Shinners
any thoughts on what size lmb's and bg's i should go with do to the existing 3-5" fish. also when should i consider stocking the pond? is it a bad time/too hot to go ahead with the BG's and minnows?
Pond 2: thinking of doing one of two things. possible use this as a forage growing pond. maybe put some golden shiners in here and let them stew for a while and then periodically remove and add to pond 1... or maybe trying to do a crappie pond in this one. i know they would probably get out of control, but i enjoy crappie fishing and would rather something be in there than nothing...
