Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations Pond Management Advice

I live next to a pond and would like to manage it. I know it once had bluegill in it but I fished it today for the first time this year and caught nothing but VERY small bullheads which I had never caught before in this pond. They could have been put in it by neighbors ( I am not sure if they did but that is my best guess ) but tomorrow I plan to start ridding the pond of them. The pond is .5 - 1.5 acres ( not sure exactly ). Anyways when the bullheads are gone what would be a good species for a minnesota pond? It doesn't freeze through in the winter which is good but there is some winter kill some years but it isn't bad at all. I was thinking bass, crappies, bluegill, perch or possibly a combination ( not sure how walleye and pike do in ponds ). The fish that live in it feed mostly on bugs but I could get minnows if necessary. My last question is how many and what size fish to put in it? Thanks for reading my long post. I am new to pond boss and I look forward to some great pond fishing!

Just looked on google maps and when comparing my yard to the pond it looks to be just about 2 acres exactly if tha t makes a difference

Welcome to the forum MINNpond!!

It is virtually impossible to rid a pond of a fish species once established and bullheads are one of the hardest to eradicate. One outing with a rod and reel is not going to provide you with much of a picture on what is in the water in terms of species and size classes. It takes several creel survey's and hopefully trapping, seining, and electrofishing to get a decent estimation. If there is reproduction in the pond, the babies are the "minnows".

What would you like to make of the fishery as far as goals go? Any known structure for fish under the water?, Do you have a budget in mind?

Go to acme planimeter to measure your pond..

"When the bullheads are gone"

Rainman of course is right. Bullheads seem to be able to survive nuclear blasts

Well I knew the bullheads would be an issue but I have a lot of spare time to attempt to fish them out or at least keep numbers low. Long term goal is to have a recreational fishing pond with preferably smb, perch and a sunfish species. Planimeter says the pond is 1.5 acres.

You could do WE in that pond even NP but you need to be careful as to how many different predator fish you have. You can fish for those BHeads all you want but it would help if you had a predator fish in there helping you kill them as well.

Like Rainman said though you really dnnt know for sure what's in there. Just because you haven't caught any doesnt mean there isn't any LMB or SMB or WE in there already?? There just may not be very many???

I would NOT put crappie in there your pond is a bit to small for them.

Nothing better that WE though when it comes to eating fish!! IMO!

Wow! I didn't know that it was big enough for those fish. In that case I would like my long term goal to be a well established WE, SMB and BG pond with BH as limited as possible. I'll figure out what other fish are in it over the next few days. Thanks for the advice so far guys!

If it's a true 1.5 acres I think you could do WE along with your SMB you just need to regulate your WE situation. My grand dad had a pond in Wisconsin Rapids that was 3/4 of an acre and had LMB and WE in it with BG. I remember pulling a few nice 22 to 23 inch WE out of it! Remember a good basis is no more than 50lbs of predator fish per acre. You have 1.5 acres so you could do about 75 lbs of predator fish. Which isn't a whole lot once they start to get to be 2 and 3 pounds. I would fish it a bit longer though just to make sure of what you have in there.

Good Luck and welcome to the PBF!!

RC

Forget SMB in a pond with BG. Very hard to manage to keep it balanced. I would not add pike with walleye. Pike like to eat walleye so supplementing the WE numbers will be difficult. Bullheads - strongly consider renovation with rotenone and start over.

Well after WE and SMB I really don't care too much about any other species after that so what do you guys think would be a good food source for those fish but will still keep a good population balance?

You might be getting a little ahead of yourself...

The presence of only very small bullheads hints to me that you might have a severe winterkill or summerkill issue. BH are tolerant of low dissolved oxygen compared to other species and the bigger specimens will die first.

Water quality could also be an issue so water testing also seems prudent.

I know this is going to be a long term task I just want a plan

I'm no expert. Bill Cody and many pond management professionals on this site will do a much better job than I can.

You should order the "Perfect Pond" book as a reference.

But here's how I might proceed...

I would start with some basic metrics. How old is your pond? Plumb pond bottom depth with a sinker and some line and map it on a Google maps printout. It will probably be shallower than you think. Measure silt and muck build-up with a pole. Send away samples for soil and water testing.

Then consider pond improvement. Drain with a trash pump and apply rotenone to kill the BH. Muck out with a dragline if needed. Repair dam/spillway if needed. Add structure and cover if desired (e.g. SMB spawning beds). Add diffuser and/or surface aerator (strongly consider this to make it through the northern winter).

Only then would I consider stocking. FHM/YP/SMB/WE, etc.

Well one thing that has not been asked as of yet is.... You said you live next to a pond and would like to manage it??

Do you have permission to do anything to said pond? Have you got the go ahead to do what you want to it? Who's pond is it? I would get written permission from said pond owener before I start messing with someone elses pond!! That could come back to bite you big time! Especially if you start draining it and putting rotenone in it to kill everything off.

I'm just saying....

RC

My house and a few of my neighbors' houses backyards all go back and meet at the pond. Our houses are built in a circle around the pond. I don't know how much each person owns but if I do decide to treat it to get rid of the BHs I will go around and get permission from everyone. I'm the only one who ever fishes it so that shouldn't be too difficult.