Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Corrective stocking Fixing my quarter acre ponds

First off I would like to thank esshup for the help that he has already supplied to me on another outdoors forum and everybody else for their old posts. I bought a neglected property in September 2015 that has 2 quarter acre ponds on it. I have better knowledge than most of water quality because I'm a water chemist by trade, but have never managed a fishery before. I'm a closet crappie lover, but know enough about them to not try them in my ponds. I will describe each pond and see what everyone thinks I should do. I'm thinking that I would like at least one to be a HBG fishery. I would also like to harvest several meals a year, have fun fishing for the kids(but not a bunch dinky fish), and I don't really like catfish.

The front pond has constant flow from a spring and great mixing. This pond seems to range from 3 ft to 8ft deep. It has a few 10-12 inch LMB(maybe 10) and 5-7 inch BG (maybe 25-50). The water is clear with some weed cover. We had very harsh winters in both 14 and 15 in Indiana and I believe this to be reason that their are so few fish. Otters are another possibility. The previous owners swear that the ponds were full of fish LMB, BG, and CC just a few years ago. I see no catfish and not feeder fish. Has some bullfrogs. This pond has not froze over this winter at all. I have power right to the edge of the water. Can probably see a secchi disk all the way to bottom, but at least 5-6 ft. I can see the fish and my lures a long way off.

The second pond seems to be around 5-6 ft in most places with a few shallow edges coming off a hill. It is mostly runoff fed, but seems to have some spring flow, but much less than the other pond. This pond seems to be void of fish, but has a booming population of bullfrogs. This pond freezes 100% across the surface area. Is down in a valley and long way from a power source. This pond adds great wildlife value to our property, but is more neglected than the first. This pond is also very clear.

Given these facts what do you all suggest? I might add that I have a reputable fish farm according to this site 10 minutes from the ponds and another 20 minutes from my house that is 3 hours away from the ponds.

Typical bluegill from front pond.

Back pond.

I am by no means a pro, but I am a hard core fisherman and I own a 1.5acre pond. I can tell you, unless you shock the water or siene it, there are likely way more fish in there than you realize. It is really difficult to assess population density accurately otherwise.

If I was going to stock your ponds......I'd put in 250 4" HBG in the first pond that already has fish. That would provide you with fishing opportunity pretty quickly and forage for those bass, if you intend to keep them.

I might put in 300 small HBG in the neglected pond and use it for rearing and forage purposes. I think you'd be smart to avoid crappie due to the small size of the ponds. You would likely wind up with a stunted mess after a couple of years.

I don't know how warm the water gets but have you thought about trout or Walleye?

Welcome to PBF Duggout!

A couple of nice looking ponds and for sure a couple of dandy looking young anglers!

Bill D.

I think my plan for front pond will be to add 250 HBG and FM as soon as I can. Should I add more LMB or BG? Stripped bass to completely beat down the BG spawn? Will the existing LMB destroy the HBG, making this a bad plan or should I add more than 250? I really do not think either spawned last year. Maybe they were a new stocking before I bought the place.

As far as the back pond; I was thinking of only stocking forage this year. Give me more time to see if I can rig up some kind of aeration. I think the overflow pipe needs some work as well. I'm afraid they will just winter kill again or be an otter snack.

I fish the front pond everyday that I am there. Usually I catch 1 or 2 fish and then the bite stops. The bass are all clones except for a short one with a few scales missing on its side that I have caught 3 times. I probably should have pulled it out. The bass are short, but fat. The BG look healthy too with no size difference. I have to work hard to get the bites that I do get.

It's hard to recommend what to do without some numbers. You need to survey your fish populations, either with rod and reel or with a shock boat. You're a water chemist -- would you make recommendations without basic data like pH, hardness, etc.?

Get a relative weight chart and go fishing!

When you stock HBG make sure they are 1/3 the length of most of the bass present. LMB will eat those that are smaller.

The clear water indicates low natural fertility and low fish production ability. So establish a pellet feeding program to improve fish growth and hopefully a higher density.

IMO you are fishing these small ponds to frequently. It appears you have created hook smart fish. Look through these threads in the LMB Archives to learn about hook smart fish. There is a section on: Largemouth Catchability - Hook Smart - Hook Shy
http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=255372#Post255372
This is another topic from those archives about overfishing. the smaller the pond the more overfishing becomes a concern.
Too Much Fishing Pressure?
http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=21676#Post21676



Spend time reading and learning what other information is in the Common Pond Q&A Archives to learn more about fish management and help your situation. Spend more pond time building a couple fish traps & using them, focus on monitoring and recording numbers & sizes caught and then feeding the fish for improved growth. Feeding the fish is a very good way to grow lots of larger fish in small ponds such as yours.

Use Google to search for Pond Boss forum topics you want to read about. use: pond boss forum fish trap
as search words to learn about fish traps for ponds. Here is one link to get you started.
http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=259781#Post259781

I keep reading and reading different threads; now I almost afraid to do anything. Stock crappies and carp and walk away! All kidding aside I've learned a lot. I guess I am going to have to go to work and test some water; this is supposed to be fun not work. A lot of terrestrial habitat manipulation is less of a science, but has less risk and returns I think.(more of an open system) I'm going to try alfalfa bales for an algal bloom. I'm going to stock the biggest HBG that I can get and FM. I already own a wildlife feeder that I will turn into a fish feeder in the summer. I will let you all know how it goes. I'm only going to put FH in the back pond for now. Build up the forage base and work on getting some aeration out there. Then I might go with the YP, SB, and RES fishery. I'm hesitant because those species seem harder to get here plus I think there is less interest in those species from my family. I might just go CC or another sunfish and LM pond of some kind. I am not afraid to be very active in my management, but I live so far away I cannot commit to being super hands on. I need a pond that will run itself and be fun when I need it to be.