Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations How can i tell if my pond has too many fish?

PSD and RW's must be used. You have to fish pond though to find these things out. There is not real set not enough fish or to many fish there is just no real way to tell that.

For PSD (Proportional Size Distribution)

Divide the number of largemouth bass caught that are at least 12 inches long by the total number of bass caught. (A number of fishing trips may be required to catch enough bass this size to make the calculation.

Multiply this number by 100 to get the PSD. For example, if 40 largemouth bass were caught but only 10 were at least 12 inches long, the largemouth bass PSD would be 25. So said EQ would be. 10/40 =.25 .25 x 100 = 25.

A bass PSD of 40 to 60 is desirable. You would also like for 25 to 33 percent of the bass you catch to be at least 15 inches long. If your bass PSD is to low it may be a sign of poor water quality, or lack of forage, too much aquatic vegetation, or too many small bass. An overabundance of 8- to 12-inch bass is a common problem because too few small bass are harvested and removed. Removing 15 to 25 of the 8- to 12-inch bass per surface acre per year is a good idea because it makes more forage available for the growth of remaining bass. You can do this same thing for Bluegill if you want. Keep in mind it takes a little work though.

Also like Brian said you can do RW's (Relative Weights) on fish.

All fish have a relative weight for their length. Find a chart for this and compare with the fish you catch.

For example if you catch a Bass that's 15 inches long the RW should be a certain weight according to the chart. For this example lets use 2 pounds. And if you catch this 15 inch Bass and its only 1 pound 8 ounces well then you know your fish are under weight and may not be getting enough forage or may be to many bass in the pond. Of course this cant be determined with just one fish you need to catch several and check them. Who ever said pond management was easy haha!!!

Good Luck,
RC