Pond Boss Forums INTRO New Forum Member Introduction Hello from SW Ohio here

I've been reading this forum for the last several years and we have finally purchased our new home with a pond. We are located in SW Ohio and look forward to the knowledge on this site.

Welcome to the forum.

Welcome. Very good quality fish can be raised in Ohio. One of your first homework assignments when the water gets 60F+ is to do some fishing in your new pond using a variety of baits. I prefer live bait such a garden worms or night crawlers. All types and sizes of fish readily eat worms.

The angling method that I use consists of four very simple items – a thin diameter monofilament line of 4-8 lb test, a small gape No.10 long shank hook (Carlisle style), a slender style of bobber and a narrow diameter red worm or small piece(1"-1.5") of nightcrawler. No lead weight is ever used on the fishing rig. The small diameter line increases the catch rate by reducing the line visibility to especially larger wary fish. The small gape hook is important because it can hook both small and large fish. The biggest walleye that I ever caught(8lbs) was on a No.8 hook. The long shank hook allows easier hook removal if the fish is deeply hooked.

The slender bobber allows detection of very light fish bites and provides enough weight to allow the angler to cast the bait up to 20-40 feet offshore. Sitting on the bank provides a low profile so larger fish come closer to shore looking for food. When using a low profile, one does not need to get the bait very far offshore to consistently catch numerous fish. A young inexperienced angler sometimes helps me sample fish for surveys. With my simple angling method, we both catch lots of fish as very similar numbers & sizes of fish.

Total time spent fishing should be recorded. All fish caught should be counted, measured, and the data recorded. After several hours of fishing these data will give you a very good idea of what is in the pond and if it is in balance. If you share the data we can help with data analysis of what is in your pond.

Normally with this method you will catch mostly panfish who in a balanced pond are and should be the most numerous types. However you will catch predator fish with this method and the ratio of panfish to predators caught tells the balance of species in the pond. Sizes caught tells the size class structure of the fishes present. Good fishing.

Welcome. I spent many years in SW Ohio and enjoyed good fishing in private water. My brother caught a 7 lb LMB in a 3 acre farm pond that was completely unmanaged, so there is definitely potential!

Hi, another sw ohio guy here. I have 1.5 acre pond and a small 1/4 acre that I have access too. this looks like a great site for info