Pond Boss Forums FISH & FISHING Show off your catch 2018 Pond Boss Family Fishing Photos

So far no evidence of WE recruitment, but that doesn't come as much of a surprise for a small, clay-lined pond. I ladder stock WE every year or two to keep the population around 50/acre - I buy advanced fish [12-15"] from a hatchery up North which are only age 2. It would take me 3-4 years to grow 4-6" age 0 fish that large, so I don't mind the investment annually - literally buying time and the adult fish suffer little to no predation using this method.

BG management is an ongoing effort from ice out to ice up. Confirmed male fish showing potential are caged for potential grading and gender confirmation [Condello] and are stocked in the trophy male lepomis fishery.

I'm on a zero cull rule for YP as the population has suffered the past few seasons due to heavy predation from the apex predators. I'm trying to restore the population to it's historical glory years, next year I'll be stocking a few hundred adult fish [8"+] in another effort to get them going again.

I've only caught a few SMB demonstrating below 100 WR, but imagine I'll start seeing more that are on the decline and will cull those. Otherwise recruitment is extremely low due to dense predator population, and the only SMB stocking I perform is by selecting the top 5% fish [5-15 SMB annually] I raise for hatchery sale. I want to keep those fish in the main pond as they're showing some serious potential. Some of these exception fish grow from 1mm fry in mid May to 8" by late October. Those babies are not for sale!