Hi There! My name is Jarrod. I've been reading up on the forums for a while now and have decided to finally post up my pond. What an awesome place this forum is - Thanks to all out there who contribute and share information and ideas!
BACKGROUND - I was an avid sport fisherman all during my childhood until I moved away to college. Bass and Pike were my favorites, and at one point when I was a kid I had dreams of joining the Bassmaster's Tour and becoming a professional fisherman. Well dreams gave way to reality and I ended up becoming a pharmacist. I have not really fished much in about 18 years now. Last year I moved out of town to my dream property in the country. It is a 10 acre peninsula with about 1/2 mile of river frontage on the 3 sides, with about 1/3 acre pond in the front yard. I've done more fishing in the past 9 months than I have in the past 18 years! I LOVE it! It's so great to get back into it again. Now it's time to make the pond the best it can be.
RIVER - the river is the Pine River in Central Michigan. It was contaminated decades ago and for a long time only supported Carp. Now it has a great population of SMB, some CC, Rockbass, Suckers, Carp, Shiners, and even a few NP, and I've seen one LMB. Those are the ONLY species I've found so far. Never seen or caught a single perch or BG or sunfish or Trout. In the same hole at different points in the year I have caught a 24" NP, 17" SMB, and 21" CC.
POND - I bought the property a year ago. The pond was built around 1995 as a trout pond. I was told by a neighbor that it was dug 40' deep and that there was a natural spring feeding it (I doubt both of those claims). Some time ago this whole area flooded and the trout were all lost to the river. This past spring I saw a couple dead fish when the ice melted. I tried fishing several times and could not catch a single thing and saw no signs of fish, not even minnows. Over the spring and summer the pond was stocked with about 15 SMB between 12" and 17", 1 12" LMB, 4 CC from 12" to 21", a couple Rock Bass, 1500 FHM, and one sucker. I recently re-caught one SMB that was now about 19" and healthy looking.
From spring until late summer the water was crystal clear with bright green Chara all around the bank anywhere from 4' to 10' out from the bank. I could probably see about 6 feet down into the water. There was also a bit of ugly floating algae also, but very little weeds.
Late summer the water turned cloudy and the Chara seemed to die. I couldn't see more than 2 foot down. It happened after I added the CC, not sure if the murkiness is due to the CC stirring up the bottom, or due to the water temp rising causing a change in the vegetation/algae. About a month ago I added some beneficial bacteria (Easy Pro Sludge Remover) and an aeration system (1/4HP Stratus Rocking Piston with single membrane diffuser). At first I got a lot of sulphur smell and chunks of goo floating on the surface, but that has since gone away. All of the floating algae has gone away around the edges. Visibility has improved to about 2' and all of the floating algae is gone. Now starting to see some green blobs of algae under the water, but not the weedy or mucky floating looking stuff from before. Just green "blobs".
I was told the pond was about 40' deep. Well I went out and measured (brick and rope) and the deepest part now is 18' The pond is currently 2' low from max springtime fullness, so all the numbers in the picture below would be 2' deeper in the spring. Even if it has collected 3 feet of muck in the past 20 years that would put max depth at about 23 feet when it was built. The water level fluctuates about 2 feet from spring to fall. This is why I doubt that it is spring fed. I would think it would maintain a more even level, as the only escape for the water is into the ground or evaporating into the air. Here is my depth chart:
PLAN - I'm not really sure where to go from here. I am having a delivery of fish brought in about a month but not sure what to stock. I want something good for the SMB and CC to eat. I would LOVE to be able to catch a 10# bass or a 20# CC some day, and I also plan on having one large NP in the future, but I also want some easy small fish for the table. BG, crappie, perch, etc. . . maybe even a few trout if the pond could support them. Right now the aerator is in the center of the pond at approx. 12' depth. I plan to move it to about 6' before winter and let it run all winter long. I would like to be able to swim in the pond some day. This would involve cleaning up the bottom or putting in sand, and getting the water quality back to more clear. Draining and starting over is not an option at this point. . .
I'm thinking of adding 250 HBG, 50 YP, 20CC, 10#FHM, and one adult NP next spring. Your thoughts and advice are much welcome and appreciated! Also, how can I tell if there is a natural spring feeding cold water into the pond? How can I tell if fish born and raised in the pond are safe to eat?
Here are some pictures of what I've caught in the river this year:
