Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations Newbie here - couple of questions

Couple of questions, but first want to say how wonderful this forum is for getting information. I've fished small lakes and ponds my whole life, but recently purchased a house with a small (stocked) 1/3 acre pond in the backyard. I've found catching fish is one thing...keeping the population balanced is quite another. Again, thanks for being such a great resource.

Before my couple of questions, a bit of background. Here in north central Kentucky, the pond serves as a "bowl" around the neighborhood rain runoff before it goes into a creek system. We get lots of lawn runoff from other properties, but the good news is...it only takes a half inch of rain or so to top the water levels off. It's teardrop shaped, with the deepest parts being 6-8 feet deep (near the overflow tube), with 3-5 feet around the edges. On the opposite end, sediment has caused the depth to be very low (full of cattails) around a foot or less for the smaller 1/4 of the pond.

Before I moved in, it was stocked with lots of bluegill, quite a few small (skinny and under 1/2lb) bass and some monster channel cat. there are also 6-8 grass carp (that I've seen) to keep things clear. (That's another struggle altogether) I've been adding cover over the past couple years to assist with the effort. (5-6 submerged X-mas trees, some fallen logs/trees etc.

My primary question is regarding the catfish, as my kids LOVE to catch them (since they are all in the 5-7lb category). I know these fish won't normally reproduce in a small pond, so they were obviously stocked there. I've heard you can build certain structures to increase the chances that they'll reproduce. Is that a true statement? I figured since I ONLY see large cats, there is really no reproduction activities going on.

Also, I'm trying to grow my bass by harvesting as many small ones as I can each year. My bluegill population is quite dense but I've seen several threads here regarding how to handle their numbers in regards to larger bass. The plan seems to be working (ie the bass are getting a bit bigger), but it feels like I should be doing more. Wondering if there were any threads/tips anyone could link me too..as I'm sure this has been discussed here before.

Finally, this probably goes under and algae topic, but I'll ask here as well. I'm got a rather large bloom overnight ("oily" film on teh surface, rather thick, but still visible down a few inches), and the grass carp (who are huge..some as big as my leg) do a good job of controlling it; However, since the film "breaks up" as I run a small kayak through it, Im' thinking it might be pollen as well. Will a heavy pollen cover (or algae bloom) threaten the population if it covers the pond a certain time? Does it depend on the depth? Or simply act as a giant buffet for the grass carp? I'm a bit concerned as it seemed to blow up overnight, but I know it's not the "stringy algae" that usually causes the most problems in the early springtime. (Note, I do not have any aeration at this time)

I apologize for the variety of questions, and appreciate all the great advice in this forum. I'm very glad I found it.

Thanks

Welcome AJL,

I'll try and answer 2 of these for you anyway.

1. Your pond really is to small for 2 top predator fish such as catfish and LMB. IMO you need to pick one and get rid of the other as best you can. A 7 pound cat will eat bass and anything else it can get in it's mouth... If it were me I would get rid of them, but that's just me.

2. Grass carp don't normally eat floating algae if they are they must be real hungry...

3. If you really want to start having a quality pond with all the work your doing you may want to consider aeration in your pond if you can. A major bloom could result in a fish kill... notice I said could it just all depends on a lot of factors... I'll let others get into that.

Good Luck
RC

What RC51 said +1. Old ponds are continually getting older with even more problems. Put a complete pond renovation in the next 10 yrs on your capital appropriations list.

Thanks for the assistance. Its' definitely getting up there in age, but was nice to move in with an established population. (A little too established). I would be concerned with the Cat population, (eating my bass), but their numbers are still so high, I'm not sure it matters. That is, unless the cats are eating all the smaller baitfish. The good news is, I'm still seeing large swarms of tiny bluegill deep into the summer (which I didnt' see before I started managing the pond), and I'm seeing an increase in the bass size. Still not very big..but getting better. I can definitely see how increasing the cat population wouldn't be good long term (for the LB)

As for the grass carp...lol...my kids get a kick out of it because a) they're so big and b) after a rain, they will stick 1/3 of their bodies out of the water and eat weeds like a cow. it's quite a sight , really. They do seem to keep the algae down when it does flair up, so I appreciate that. But I also know they are getting up there in age, so probably won't be too long before I have to replace them as well.

Overall, it's been wonderful, as I've been able to give my kids a place to learn to fish on a daily basis...something I would have loved as a kid. Now, if I can just keep the algae out and get some bigger bass....i'll be set.

Thanks for the help once again...for this and all the helpful threads throughout the board.

AJ,

2 quick things I would do if I were you. It sounds to me like you want nice size bass, not super big but nice 2 to 3 pounders maybe a 4 plus once in a while. If so here is what I would start to do.

1. Keep every Catfish you catch.

2. At first don't keep your bass cause you don't really know how many you do or don't have? I would keep records of my bass and their relative weights and lengths. There is a chart on this site that will tell you at blah,blah length your bass should be blah weight. And it will tell you the percent of RW (relative weight) you are at with each bass.

Your seeing bass size increase right now I am sure cause your keeping the cats and you have a lot more BG in the pond now. I would give it about 3 to 6 months and see where your bass are then RW wise. Some folks are very picky about this and will keep nothing that is not 100 percent RW or more. I like to give myself a little wiggle room and I go with about 90 and up. Anything under 90 I get rid of.

As of right now you cant really determine if your bass just are not growing and are stunted or if they would grow if said catfish were not in the pond eating EVERYTHING!!!!! The RW chart and PSD ratings are 2 must use tools for a pond manager..... PSD ratings are a whole other post tho...

Good Luck man sounds like your going the right direction!!

RC

P.S. Oh yeah and be patient none of this pond stuff happens real quick! lol