I have bought a farm with a 2 acre pond on it about 1 1/2 years ago. The farm has a house on it that I rent out to some folks sort of in a caretaker status. My question is how much fishing can the pond handle without getting to the point that it is difficult to catch fish. The renter fishes it quite a bit, but keeps only the cc which I want removed. He throws back everything else. Another fellow who works for me on the farm fishes a good bit also and I have noticed a few friends of theirs fishing there also. I get to fish there maybe once a week. Without being a hard ass, how many folks can fish there without getting the fish "gun shy?" I know this is a rather nebulous question,but whatever help you can give canhelp. jimmyt
That's a bad situation... the fact that they're inviting friends over to fish it without your permission is worrisome.
My thought is that if a pond owner is going to let anyone outside of their own immediate family fish the pond it should be by written permission only, with signs stating this posted at the pond. The written permission should spell out terms such as acceptable keeping of fish, barbless hooks, not bringing in minnows, not stocking fish, cleaning up trash, when the permission to fish expires, and not bringing friends.
In your situation, it sounds as if the pond might already be messed up. And as long as you're not there, these people might keep fishing it, regardless of what you say. Your best bet is probably to just let them fish the piss out of it (perhaps without friends), but charge them to cover the cost of you stocking some fish for them to catch in a put-and-take fashion: maybe CC, HBG, and HSB, possibly RBT in the winter? If they're going to fish the pond to hell, you may as well break close to even financially and be relatively assured that they're not dumping in crappie or using goldfish as bait. If they're paying for fish to go in, even if not full cost, I bet that the number of friends they bring over will hit zero rapidly.
I don't know what it is with ponds, but people seem to think they're an unlimited resource and that pond owners are jerks if they don't let people fish. I wouldn't expect a rancher to let me go mess with his cattle or take some without paying for them.
