Fish n Chips, I think some of those posts (I read the whole thread just now) are probably going to reflect more the way I will harvest. The reality of it is, it likely will be very much "hit and miss".
We might have up to 10-15 people fish the 3.5 acre pond on and off, and my guess is most of them will catch and release, but I would guess at least a few will eat some. I know my wife and are going to try to and her parents love pond fish so surely some of what we catch will end up there.
What I do hope to do at least, is put a log at the pond so anyone fishing there (and it is a limited group) will at least write down the species and the length. If they happen to weigh them that too. Also if they were released or kept.
That at least should give me rudimentary handle on what the population looks like. We will see how long my enthusiasm lasts for pond management. I figure it is a lot better to use some simple system that will actually be used than some esoteric fancy record keeping system that everyone will "forget" to do when they catch fish.
Thanks for the link. It was a good one. Sending it to my son too, as they do a lot of their own food via garden and game as well as fish out of the creek. The pond I just renovated for them will get stocked from my pond next year. They like to fish and eat fish, so I know they will be interested in what they can expect out of their new pond.
