Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations Stocking question

Just bought some property that has a 4 acre pond on it. It's an older pond (I used to fish it when I was in high school, had lots of bass in it 12 years ago), average depth is 4 feet. I'm having the pond reworked to make it deeper, trying to get a few deeper spots 8-12 feet deep. I know there are already some bluegill and bass in it but I'm thinking that with the pond being deeper it could support more fish. We are in southwest michigan so I was thinking of just putting in some more bluegill and LM bass. Problem is, I have no idea how many to put in. Also, I've read on here of guys stocking the pond with minnows, do I need to throw some of those in as well? If so, what kind? How many? I'm new to this stuff and am just trying to figure out the right balance between LM bass, gills and minnows.

I'm putting in some pea gravel in some shallower (3ft) for spawning. I will also be adding some structure/cover for fish.

The main goal for the pond is to have a place to catch bass and gills for the kids.

Thanks

Howdy, dwt.

4 acre pond is a substantial body of water, you're a lucky man, and it's fun to obtain a place to which you have a long standing connection.

This is a great time to be making pond plans for the spring, and being that you're in MI, you've got some time. If you're new to pond management, you're best source of concentrated, pertinant information is Bob Lusk's book, Perfect Pond, Want One? Second would be the Archives on this forum, though there will be some meandering and repetition there.

That said-most of what you've read about stocking minnow pertains to ponds with no existing fish. For the sake of getting the ball rolling, are you planning on completely draining the pond, then restocking?

To add to Yolk's question, when you say "to catch bass and gills for the kids", what size fish are you wanting to catch?

What size are the fish in the pond right now?

To answer your questions: no, we are not going to drain the pond completely. The guy who is working on digging it out right now is lowering the pond 2 feet by pumping water out into a larger body of water that our pond drains into. They are doing the digging/excavating two ways, they have a large backhoe working from shore and they also have a barge on the pond with a backhoe which is dredging as well.

We'd like to be able to have some bass in the 3-4 pound range. I figured to get bass larger than that it would take alot of time and we'd have fewer bass as well.

Esshup, you came up and visited our pond late last summer. This is the pond you went to in watervliet, MI. Right now they are scraping out all the cattails and making the pond much deeper. I'll need to call you in a month or so to figure what chemicals to dump in there in the spring to keep the lilly pads out.