Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations Southeastern Indiana Pond...

I have recently acquired a pond..that just happened to come with a house. Or a house that happened to come with a pond...depends on how you look at it.

Here is what I have...

-1 acre pond
-Average depth appears to be about 8'-10'. I actually just made it out onto the pond this weekend for the first time with a rowboat and used an anchor to get a rough idea of depth. At one end it starts about 3'-4' and gradually descends to about 8' and seems to level off until closer to the dam end where it drops down to 15'-20'. With my quick depth tests, I cannot say much about the bottom other than it seems to be mud with very little if any vegetation/cover.
-The water is very clear
-The pond has the geothermal coils on the bottom for the house and is also the water source for the house.
-I've caught BG and LMB but not even weighed/measured them as of yet. I have no idea what else is in there at this time.
-The fishing seems a bit slow, and somewhat non-existent in the shallower end. The downside to this is the dock is on that end. I see some sort of minnows/shad and small schools of 3-4" LMB at times in the shallow end, but rarely anything else but a slightly bigger LMB. It is set in a wooded setting.





The deep end is to the right and cannot be seen in these photos.

I am going to dive into more reading on here tonight. I am, however, open to any suggestions on what to read or where to start when you have no history on the pond. I was told that it was last drained in the late 70's...but that's the extent of the info I have. The same person told me it was 25' deep...so I don't know how dependable he is. I would like the fishing to be a little more productive..but do I blindly add some stock to the pond, or is there a better way?

Any and all advice is appreciated!

Thanks,
Scotty

Welcome to the forum. I wouldn't add fish as of now, I'd wait until later on in the Spring when you can assess the fish population better.

Start a journal on the pond. note what you caught, it's size (weight/length) and species. You'll get a feeling for what's in the pond after a bit. Or, you could look for someone to shock the pond and get an answer right away.

Beautiful looking place!

Congratulations, real pretty setting. The first two things I would do. 1 Aerate, it will help in decreasing the muck which you surely have with all those trees plus increase water quality. 2 Get some pallet set up for FH spawning next June and get lots of forage going. You may also try feeding if somehow you can get some feed without buying a large quanity. Bob-O
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Registered: 24/01/06
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Loc: Butler In. Very NE corner
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Thanks for the input so far!

I will search the forum...but out of curiousity...what's the cost to have someone shock the pond? Also..I see you are from Indiana, do you recommend any companies that do this?

Thanks
Scotty

I don't know of anyone in Indiana that does it for hire. There may be someone from out of state that would do it. I think Greg Grimes was soming up into Ky. to do some shocking last year?

Try sending Blaine on here a PM. He might know of someone. He's in Atlanta, IN

Nice place ! Send Cecil Baird a private message. He can tell you about Ind. services and may be able to help with the fish.

Thanks for the responses guys...

Another contact would be Dave Sefton djsefton@frontiernet.net (Mongo on the forum) who is in south cent Ill.

Aquatic Control, Inc. is a lake management company out of Seymour, Indiana. They do electrofishing surveys for private pond owners. They can be reached at 800.753.5253. They also have a website. http://www.aquaticcontrol.com