Greetings from Michigan, USA

We have a 1/3 acre pond. The pond has LMB, Hybrid BG, and 4-5 Catfish. In previous years, by June the LMB are trolling the shoreline and sometimes follow me around the pond if I have a bucket in hand (I sometimes would hand toss crayfish to them). Fishing them was as easy as it gets....toss in a line and fish on in a matter of seconds, maybe a few minutes. My little nephews love coming over because fishing at our pond is so easy. They can catch fish all day until the bait is gone.

This year has been VERY different and bizarre to me. I have not seen a single LMB around the bank area or when I'm walking around. I have only seen a few minnow sized LMB. I caught one LMB a week ago, and that was hard fishing compared to what we are used to in this pond. I have not seen or caught a single HBG. The catfish are there because I've seen them surface, but they've always been a challenge to catch, but at least they are there. I sometimes see what I think is a LMB (or HBG) going for insects on the surface, although that is rare this year. We had a very wet and sporadically cold spring, but I'm past the belief that that was the root of the problem. One difference or change compared to previous years is that I installed an aerator in July of last year (2018), but that didn't change their behavior after last year before winter and the pond iced over. The aerator we keep running 24/7 and it ran over the winter.

Any ideas of the problem, or if there is a problem at all? Are the fish dead and if so, why or how?? If many of them died over winter, wouldn't I have found them floating after the ice melt? Are they fine and hanging out at deeper depths now that aeration is present down there? I'm baffled.

Last edited by Busarider29; 07/25/19 09:44 AM.