Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations 9 acre resevoir lmb overpopulation

The resevoir behind my dads is very overpopulated with lmb. I have fished there a good bit since he moved there 10 years ago well actually alot. There average size Is probably 7 or 8 inches and tho I have never looked for them specificly (just found out about the word and its meaning today) I have certainly noticed skeletor bass tho I wouldnt be able to give a good estimate on ratio of them until I go out fishing again and pay more attention. In all of my time fishing there I have only caught 3 good bass in the 3 - 4 pound range and very very rarely a normal bass of about 2 pounds. I can remember 2 of the good ones I caught well enough to say they were not skeletors the other one I was too young to remember well. There are lots of bluegill in the medium size range not sure about small ones as I use small cranks for bg that I dont imagine small ones would hit. There are absolutely zero big bluegill. There are bullheads. me and 3 friends fished for big cats all night once based on a neighbors story of 2 40lb either blue or shovelhead being stockef in there by someone but none of us got a bite with our cut bait. I hope that wasnt to much but I wanted to provide all the information I could that I thought my be usefull. 1.I think its pretty obvious that its overpopulated with lmb but I was wandering are bg over populeted because they get to medium size to big to be eaten by small lmb but never grow more? 2.When i take out reccomended 30lb lmb per acre and the lmb start to get bigger will that take care of the bg problem? 3.One more question as I recdntly went on the prowl for my first real trophie lmb, is it possible for there to be a few real big lmb like 6 7 pounds feeding on all these little bass and maybe the abundance of medium bluegill? Just in case last time I fished I started using this big bass colored zoom swimbait. Thanks so much in advance cant wait to get some responses and start with the overhaul soon. I think it could be a great fishery as no one but me ever fishes it and it has no public access due to properties surtounding it.

If there is a possibility of a lunker or 2 in there its likely I havnt caught him due to using small baits for all the small fish fyi

tribulator, you've pretty well figured out your problem. An overpopulation of small LMB can decimate the smaller BG which will disrupt the food chain. If you do take out the 30 pounds per acre, you may want to consider electroshocking the pond. 270 pounds of small LMB is an awful lot to remove via hook and line.

Yes LMB are cannibals. If the preferred forage is not there for them, they will eat the smaller LMB.

IMO, if you're using the Zoom Fluke, you're using a great bait for the larger LMB. Cull fishing and trophy fishing are 2 different things, and take different baits.

Good luck, and welcome aboard.

There are a number of options, some take a lot of time, some take a lot of money and some take both...

Hiring an electroshock boat and shocking the lakes this time of year and removing every single bass you shock up would be a good option. You may look into stocking a handful of musky to assist in the removal of all the stunted bass. One musky or so per acre would be a good start. If you can drain the reservoir down, pump out the remaining water and start over would probably be the best option...

I agree with Al and CJ but would save the start over option as a last resort. The shock boat is a great (the best) idea. So are church groups and scouts etc. fishing to remove LMB. Time to get to work on those LMB. Pics help in any analysis.

"is it possible for there to be a few real big lmb like 6 7 pounds feeding on all these little bass " Yes that is the normal result and happens often.

Well first things first, since the normal result is a few big suckers im gonna go out and try to catch my first real trophy with the big zoom bass fluke. And ya I was thinking 30 lbs would be a lot to do without more knowledge of the populations. I was thinking 20 lb per acre would be a safe start. And according to my math I think with how much I fish and the fact often bring someone with me that it would be feasible in a season. As to the muskie, that would be flippin sweet but I have questions about that. 1. Once they get bigger would they focus on only small and medium bass let some big ones grow. 2. When there big will the leave the bluegill alone so all the bass have plenty of forage? 3. I forget had another question in my head but anyways please inform me of the possibility of muskie here... oh yeah should I stock same sex so I dont get too many later on?

Well first things first, since the normal result is a few big suckers im gonna go out and try to catch my first real trophy with the big zoom bass fluke. And ya I was thinking 30 lbs would be a lot to do without more knowledge of the populations. I was thinking 20 lb per acre would be a safe start. And according to my math I think with how much I fish and the fact often bring someone with me that it would be feasible in a season. As to the muskie, that would be flippin sweet but I have questions about that. 1. Once they get bigger would they focus on only small and medium bass let some big ones grow. 2. When there big will the leave the bluegill alone so all the bass have plenty of forage? 3. I forget had another question in my head but anyways please inform me of the possibility of muskie here... oh yeah should I stock same sex so I dont get too many later on?

1. Ohio allow muskies to be raised in your pond. However, depending on the county, they may reject the idea, in fear that the pond's muskies may overwhelm the local waters if the pond overfloods and allow the muskies to escape. Make sure to contact the local county's regulatory agency first. If the reservoir is yours, it's not a problem. If it's not, best to discuss the stocking of musky with the local agencies first.

2. Musky males are very territorial. For the reservoir of 9 acres, I'm not sure how other would feel, but I would stock 1 per 2 acres. 4 max in that 9 acres. This should allow the musky to grow, plenty of room to prevent dominance, and plenty of food source to grow and adapt. The musky size should not be less than the size of the longest bass you find.

3. When releasing the musky male, make sure to release them far away from each other. Plant each one in different corner of the reservoir.

Base on how much the musky eats, based on their sizes and water temperature for you area, the bass population will be in control in a short while. Same for catfish.

So 1 muskie per 2 acres and get all male, so I should get 4. What about 3 to stay on the safe size? Im gonna google some hatcherys or whatever you call them. I like the idea of muskie since its a permanent solution or atleast for 10 years till they die. Do you know how long it would be till they grow big considering they should have an abundance of food here?

3 allows plenty of food source to forage in a longer duration f time, and much better control in the long run. There are many who raise and care for musky with greater knowledge than I am. I simply collect data and provide you the best optimal solution. You may want to ask the fishery that carry this apex predator and provide you the best insights.

Leo, any idea how to sex them?

Scott, I have no freaking clue. I'm still learning how to properly identify musky via BigBluegill.com from those who catch them constantly. I study their behavior patterns, habitats, but based on visual and recorded information. Identifying the sex, I'll leave that for the veteran anglers and specialists at the fisheries to identify. Me, when I catch a legal musky, it's dinner, after the pics, measurement, and weighing. Otherwise, it's my meal.

Leo, neither do I.

Are there Muskies on the left coast?

None over here. Wish the waters here have some.

But, from the unconfirmed invasive species reports I've been hearing through the grapevines, snakeheads are spawning in some of the southern California's waters. Snakehead = kinda like musky fun. They will bite just as aggressively when provoked, by a float tuber..

Thank you guys so much for your help and all the responses its much apreciated! Do you guys know if muskies get lure shy or are intelligent? Im wondering if I only had 3 if I would be able to occasionly fish for a big muskie in a couple years or if they would quickly get lure shy. If that is the case maybe the slightly smaller tiger muskie would be a good idea and I could put more than 3 in, they would still be big enough to control the bass right?Also this isnt getting to the point that I should make a post somewhere else specificly about muskie is it?

The other description for a musky is "fish of 10,000 casts".

Hybrid mushly might a good way to go. they get plenty big and are a little easier to catch. they will not reproduce either.

Like every species of evolving predation skills, unless it's as dunce as a dead log, once caught, it learns. Same with BG/bass/catfish/sport fishes, they all evolve in their evasions of possible lure/bait/manmade items-enticement after being caught once, or a few times.

Fyi everyone I did a little reading last night and it appears female muskie live longer and get bigger. If I were to only stock 2 female they would have resources to get huge correct? In which case the both of them in a couple years they both could have a almost bass specific diet? According to an article I read muskie will eat fish up to 1/3 of there body size. In which case even if I happened to grow two ginormous 55 inch muskie the biggest bass the would eat would be in the 2.5 to 3 pound range. But since I only have 2 muskie they wouldnt be eating alll the small and medium lmb. So I could still have some easy youngster lmb to catch but also due to a thinned population some good 4 and 5 pounders. What do you guys think of this plan? Also would a 9 acre lake be able to support enough 4 to 5 pound bass that them getting lure shy wouldnt be a big deal as long as I dont fish for them all the time right?

Correction probably bass up to 3.5 pounds.

Male muskellunge are extremely aggressive and territorial. Female, only during spawning phases, or when provoked. Safe to say, you can stalk up 4 females over the 3 males for the 9 acres, to keep the bass population at bay, or even reduced.

Muskellunge is an opportunistic predator. It will hunt for the most abundant, yet, when hungry, it will take on what's available in front of it. There's no specific feeding habit you can force it into, unless the entire reservoir is purely bass stocked. If you're hunting down the 4+ lbs bass, you may want to help the bass population reduction with fishing pressure. So, time to recruit anglers. Other than that, how about electro-fishing, or C4-fly fishing?

If you want to produce 4+ lbs bass, thinning out the smaller bass will promote just that.

No electro fishing or c4, what I really want to do is fix the problem with muskie cuz it would be 2 birds with one stone. Fix the bass and let me catch an awesome fish. So male muskie would handle the problem better than female, but tiger muskie would work for the bass too and I wouldnt have to worry about sexing them. Maybe tiger muskie would be more realistic because of there smaller size? would they do as well with the bass as a smaller population of male muskies?

It's all about how aggressive you want to control your bass population.

If you want to take down the bass population quickly, toss in 4 male muskies.

If you want to moderately control the bass, toss in 2 or 3.

If you just want to maintain the population, 2 males.

Be warned though, I've talked to the Depart. of Fish and Wildlife personnel earlier, larger males in the 15 to 18 lbs category will take out bass, regardless of size. The wardens found bite marks during their outings which belong to the muskies, yet, the floating bodies that were not consumed. Aggressive territorial dispute maybe?

Moderately controlling the small bass population, toss in 4 females and see how that goes. Female are much less aggressive than males. They will feed based on their appetites, and only territorial when it comes to spawning. Light-moderate control, toss in 3 to see how it goes. Aggressively, toss in 5.

Talk to the local fisheries that carry these muskies that you want. Just need to think over what you want to do in the long run.

Could be an oops. As in oops, my eyes were bigger than my stomach is and I can't swallow it. I'd better let it go.

Indeed..like how the bass choked on the gill that is just..just..slightly larger than its mouth.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFQ4L0zdQPc