Hi Guys,

I need some help reading the data that I have from my pond. The pond is 40 acres and it's located within a private community just Northwest of Miami (15 miles). In October of 2006 I started to tag and keep records of fish that were over 3 lbs. During last summer the Peacock bass showed up. I've noticed that the LM have become much more agresive since then. On any giving fishing outing, two anglers are going to land 25-60 fish. My biggest concern is the weight of the LM. Here is a picture of a LM and a Peacock caught at the same time on the same lure. You can see how skinny the LM is compared to the Peacock.

Here is what the pond looks like. It's mostly a steep bank with depths of 15-22 ft. There is also a marsh area on the south side. It's the body of water that zig zags.

Here is the log that I've been keeping.

Any recomendations, including reading materials that will help me with my pond, will be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.

Peter, what type of forage is in the pond?? Do you know how the peacock got in? Are most of the anglers releasing all the fish? If in any day you're landing north of 50 fish and they're all skinny, you've got too many bass for the forage base. You've got good records of the larger fish, but of the 50 fish you'd catch, what numbers and sizes would you catch? Also, those larger fish had the forage at one time to get that big, so clearly something changed.

Aaron,

I know I have Bluegils and I have seen a few Tilapia. Aside from that I'm guessing minows. Unfortunately I don't know much about the forage or even how to find out what they are.

This pond links into the South Florida canal system which is known for having a ton of Peacocks.

For the most part my buddy and I are the only anglers.

Most of the bass we catch are in the 1 to 2 lb range.

I've heard of getting rid of some of the smaller fish but I wouldn't know what slot to use and how many to remove.

Thanks for your help.

Let me ask another question, what do you want from the lake?? Peacock? LMB? Large fish? Lots of fish?

When you say links to the canal system, how linked is it? If you started a culling program and removed small and/or skinny bass, would it even matter because more would just be coming in??

(I'm watching a FLW event on ESPN right now from Okeechobee, and darn I want to live in Florida!)

I'm looking to have large fish.

A fish would have to travel about a mile to get to my pond.

Am I nit picking? Should I just be happy with what I'm catching?

What do you think about adding more Tilapia? I heard that they bread like crazy. I'm sure the Peacocks would love that.

Should you just be happy with what you're catching? Never. I don't think anyone on this board is every 'satisfied' and is always looking to either improve something or make sure that whatever you're doing today aligns with you goals for tomorrow. So not nit picking. Its your pond and your fish!

Tilapia would help. If you have them already more wouldn't hurt. BG and tilapia both bread like crazy. I'd be interested to see what size BG you have in the lake and if you have enough and enough size. I'd also consider a feeding program for your forage if you want to really see what you can do.

I think you should think about removing some of the smaller/skinnier predator fish. There are lots of posts on here about culling. I'm sure some of the others will give their suggestions as well.

(see articles like: http://www.bassresource.com/fish_biology/big_bass_ponds.html)

I'm interested in how much a culling/forage/feeding program can help in a semi-private/linked lake like this. Ultimately I think if you get a few of these fish a little larger they'll actually start culling for you eating the 12" bass.

Ultimately, to get big bass you need them to have enough food to get bigger. That means either limited bigger fish so they have enough food, or enough food to support the base of fish.

Thank you for all your help. Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Peter -- what a fascinating situation! AaronM has given you great advice.

Are the peacock bass naturally reproducing in your pond, or do they just move in from the canal system? I'm just wondering if you create a void in the LMB with a culling program for small bass, will the peacocks be the one to fill that void? What do you think??

Peter we need more info. Do the canals connect with the lake ?

With only 2 people fishing and 40 acres and a year round growing season it will be difficult to remove enough LMB/PB to get where you want.

I suggest you locate a private fisheries scientist with a shock boat. Have them sample the lake to establish what the fish population is and get his recommendation. We can try to help from here but we are just guessing without knowing the forage situation. If you are connected with the canal system it will make a big difference.

I agree with Ewest.2 people fishing is not enough.Let me be the first to sacrivice myself.Ill move down and commit to fulltime fishing and taste testing to help with the culling process.Complete AM logging will be kept.PM logging will be sketchy as my handwriting gets worse as the beerchest gets lighter.

The Peacocks got to my pond through the series of finder canals that run north to south and are just east of my pond. Those finger canals are linked to the South Florida Water Managment district. On a couple of occassions I have seen Mullet jumping. I hope the tarpon and snook follow them in .

I did some looking around for someone with a shock boat in my area and I came up empty handed. I live near Miami, Fl. If anyone knows of someone in my area, I would greatly appreciate it. BTW, how much would it cost to have a shock boat come out and gather the information.

One other thing to mention about my pond is that there's a presence of algae along the shoreline. It looks like a lime green color. I started to notice it about 4-5 months ago and it's been growing ever since. Is this a good or bad thing?

Thanks again for the help