Tell the property owner that you'd nuke the pond with Rotenone, clean out the pond and restock it with golden shiners. Make sure that you will have the use of the pond for at least 4-5+ years.

If I was in your shoes, ideally the pond could be nuked then pumped down with a 3" or 4" semi trash pump. Clean out the pond of any hard "junk" that has accumulated. Sticks, branches, tires, etc., then let it fill back up. Stock with 25#-30# of Golden Shiners. I'd feed them to get them to grow quickly.

Get a seine that is 6' tall, 30' long with a mud line. Get it made from 1/4" Ace or Delta knotless netting. Memphis Net and Twine, Douglas Net, etc.

String the net across about 1/3 the pond. slowly pull to the end. use a scoop net to net out the shiners. If you don't get enough, move the seine to 1/2 the pond and pull it the other way.

You will have to kill a lot of the weeds in the pond to be able to seine it, but I think it'll be worth it.

OR, just kill the weeds in the pond, make some sort of grapple hook out of pieces of rebar welded together and drag the bottom of the pond getting all the junk out of it. Then start seining the pond. Toss out every Bluegill and Bullhead you catch.

If you are using a minnow trap, maybe the larger shiners aren't going into the trap. Shiners prefer to live in the open water in the middle of the pond, not near the bottom or the edges of the pond.

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3/4 to 1 1/4 ac pond LMB, SMB, PS, BG, RES, CC, YP, Bardello BG, (RBT & Blue Tilapia - seasonal).