Hello,
I'm a long time bass fisherman and a short time pond manager. My wife and I recently purchased a 15 yr old custom built home in southern Indiana that has a 1 acre pond. My goal is to have a great Bass and Bluegill fishing pond. The first thing I've done so far is fish it about a 6 times to see what I was getting.
So far the bass population is good. However they're small. My brother-in-law and I have caught over 30 bass in a day a couple times already. They range from 8" to 15". The 15" are far and few between. Most common size 11'-13'.
The bluegill (Hybrid) population is low. However the size of the bluegill we've caught are very large! I've got large hands and I can barely get my hands around them.
Good problem to have I know. :-)
The previous owner says that there are about a dozen decent size catfish in there. He's wasn't sure if they were channels or flatheads. I've fished for them a few times and haven't caught one yet to verify. I'm hoping channels and not flatheads.
Structure is sparse in the pond as it seemed to be a bit more for cosmetics than fishery, so there is very little visual structure and little visible vegetation. About 40% of the pond has cattails on it the come out about 2' from the ponds edge. NO down timber, or stick ups. No rip rap or lily pads. It does have a grass carp or two. The pond is very clear! It also has several mussels in it. Not seen any crawfish yet. There are also a decent number of frogs in the cattails.
My objective: I want my Bass to grow much larger (if possible). I'd also like to improve structure and vegetation. So that I can help improve my bluegill numbers (Have places for the BG fry to hide).
So far, all I've done is order 50 lbs of fathead minnows to help fatten up the bass and take the pressure off the bluegill fry.
What do I do next? How do I improve vegetation/structure (without over doing it)? Any and all help is appreciated! :-)
Thank you!
Scott
