Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Corrective stocking Neglected Pond, New Owners

Hello All,

Thought and reflections on how we go about restocking this old pond are what I am hoping for from this post (warning: it is long).

My parents have a ~0.4 acre (per ACME planimeter) farm pond on a south central Indiana property they purchased in December 2014. This is an older pond; we've spoken to people who remember it from 30+ years ago. It was formed from a ravine that was dammed up, and has no spillway or drainage system I have found. There appear to be some natural springs that feed the pond (we were told this was the case, and you see the open spots mostly when there is thin ice cover).

There is a lot of dark muck on the bottom, probably from all the leaves from the lovely big deciduous trees on the south side of the pond. It is somewhat shallow at one end, but a lot of the pond is reasonably deep, 6+ feet; I have a tough time getting accurate depth measurements, probably because the muck is so thick.

I am reasonably sure that last year there were no fish left in the pond; apparently there were bass in the past. I tried fishing with worms and flies a few times with no luck, and drug nets a couple of times and got a lot of tadpoles and insect larvae, but no fish. Not a single fish sighting was made after diligent observation of the pond in 2015. The snails, insects, bullfrogs, spring peepers, and various species of turtles are thriving though.

In 2015 the pond was not treated or managed in any way; we just enjoyed wildlife watching (baby wood ducks were the summer highlight). We had a duckweed issue last year, and are looking into adding an electric aeration system this year. I think that might help with the duckweed and the deep muck, and would certainly help fish (please correct me if I am wrong).

I treated the pond with Aquashade yesterday (2 quarts for a calculated 2 acre feet), as the previous owners told us they added dye to the pond to help control aquatic growth. I don't think it will help with the duckweed, as it is an emergent plant, and was worried it might not be good for microfauna, but we added it. I am not sure if freshwater ponds have little photosynthetic creatures like saltwater plankton that are the base of the food chain?

Today Mom and I added 5 lbs of fat head minnows from a local hatchery. My Dad says he eventually would like bass in the pond, so it seemed like fatheads were a good step to start reestablishing the food chain. Hoping this was an OK step.

I think this pond will primarily be used for occasional recreational fishing by my family, and a lot of wildlife watching. Our goal at this point is not necessarily a "trophy" fishery, but hopefully, a fun and balanced one. Think grandparents and grand kids fishing together.

I do need some (OK, a lot) of help with a fish stocking plan, based on the stated goals of the pond. Minimal long term management of the fishery is honestly what is realistic for my folks. Restocking as needed is fine, but fish won't be fed pellets or aggressively harvested, most likely.

Could you give me some ideas about what some reasonable stocking plans (species, numbers, order of addition) might looks like for this old farm pond?

Thanks in advance for all the suggestions.

It sounds like a highly eutrophic pond by it's description.

If there is $$ available, I would drain the pond and clean out all the muck before stocking any fish. You will be fighting a constant battle with algae and other plants due to all the excessive nutrients in the pond.

Thanks esshup. Eutrophic is a good word for the pond; a least it doesn't smell anaerobic when I stir up the muck. Draining the pond is a longterm goal, but at least 3-5 years down the road most likely.

Will aeration help reduce the muck? I have heard some say yeah and some nay on this point.

As to if aeration will reduce the muck, I think the best answer is "it all depends".

If there is low O2 levels near the bottom muck, then anything that will increase those O2 levels will help reduce the level of muck.

A case study was done on a local lake. One area was aerated. Another area was aerated and had bacteria added monthly. Another area only had bacteria added. Their results were as follows:

Only adding bacteria = no change.

Aerating = 1.5" muck reduction in 7 months

Aerating and bacteria = 2" muck reduction in 7 months.

Thanks for the information.