Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations Adding new genetics to older pond

First time post here but we just moved to some land with a 200×75 foot pond on it with an average depth of about 6-8 feet. It contains small LMB and some large bluegill and small sunfish. I was told the previous owner stocked catfish but have been unable to catch any with any bait. I was told this pond was stocked along time ago and wondered if it could benifit from adding some new genetics possibly some coppernose bluegill and some Florida large mouth. Also the wife wants to add a few catfish to the mix. Looking for sugestions
Edit: goals are a trophy bluegill pond with some catfish present bass would be mostly for BG population control

Welcome Red!

Have you tried using live of cut BG to fish for the cats? What other forage bases to you have in the pond? (minnow, crawdads, frogs, etc.) If the cats are there and used to eating the available forage it may be what they would hit on mostly.

Are your numerous LMB in decent stunted condition? If so, I bet adding more bass would be unnecessary. You have probably read that for a good size BG in a pond of small size that the LMB population should be high and contain stunted fish under the 14" long range (in general). There is a ton to qualifying the necessity for adding new genetics and I'm not your man, but someone here will chime in soon.

Most people's opinions would suggest keeping the catfish out, so it would be very important to find out for sure if you have any to begin with. The catfish will act like the LMB when it comes to controlling the BG populations, but may be harder to catch and cull once they get big enough to eat your larger BG. Something to think/read more about.

I believe you will find PB members asking you to be a lot more specific about the numbers/pounds of fish you have in the pond and to what ratios. Also look up Relative Weight info with respect to the individual fish's size. This will help determine the health of the fish and the pond.

No I havent used cut BG yet but i will try! As far as forage there are frogs, some small amount of minnows not very many and there are crawfish holes in the area. I attatched a few pictures of typical bass from the pond with the larger one being the biggest caught yet. I will look into the relative weight to get a better idea about there health.

Welcome

Welcome to PBF Red,

IMO The LMB in the pics look in poor condition and stunted which can be one attribute of a trophy BG pond. You say you have some small sunfish. Can you post a picture? With all those small LMB and only a few big BG, I would consider stocking 25+ good genetic 5 to 6 inch, or bigger, BG in your 1/3 acre pond if it is fertile enough to support them.

Just my 1 cent.....

Bill D.

Do you know if the pond goes dry during drought periods, or loses substantial surface area?

Sorry no pictures of the sunfish just the blue gill. I would like to try to add some coppernose BG from a local fish farm with some fatheads. Also no the pond doesnt go dry it can be feed by a well so it will stay full year round. Attatched some of pics of the BG so far these are not the biggest just all i have pics of. Also i have begun feeding pellets. Will fatheads allow the bass to grow more and thin the bluegill population a bit?

The first two photos are of Hybrid Bluegills, (HBG), the last one is blurred and my eyes aren't as good as they once were, but it looks to show more BG traits. I do think it is a hybrid also, possibly an Fx.

+1

If HBG are your predominant panfish, that could also help explain the poor bass condition due to the low reproductive rate of HBG. It would be interesting to see some pics of the small sunfish.

Lots more to come in PB mag on adding new genetics and the effects on many traits -- catchability , aggressiveness, reproduction etc.

Before you spend a dime on fish, you need to have a much better understanding of the fishery. That bass looks like an old, stunted fish. If that's the case, it's growth potential is limited. But, as explained above, that might be a good thing, since you want trophy bluegills. Don't stock bluegills until you understand the dynamics of what you have. An electrofishing survey could very well be a good idea.
Another idea is to start feeding the fish and see what kind of response you get. It won't take long to find out if you have catfish, nor will it take long to find out quantities of sunfish.
Don't add fathead minnows, for any reason. Not a good investment for a fishery as this.

Thanks for the advice! I am beginning a feed program and will start logging the types of fish caught,length and weight and ill get back to ya! Hopefully much more to come in the future