I Have a Plan… Almost - 02/23/22 12:23 AM
Hey everyone, following all the great advice given on my first post (Glad to be Here), I have a plan for my pond this year. Would love for you all to take a good a give me some feedback, as well as fill the few remaining holes.
Current situation:
- My pond is approx 1/3 acre that’s from 1-8 feet deep. It’s roughly shaped like a long triangle, very shallow on the long tip and deeper at the wide base.
- I have lots of pondweed. Not much FA, thankfully.
- I’ve already removed almost all my LMB and have some midsized BG from last year
The Plan:
1. Add more adult BG (shooting for around 350 total adult BG in pond)
2. Add Pumpkinseed sunfish to the pond. My reading on the forums says that they eat differently than BG and won’t compete. They spawn often and we have tons of them around here. Seems like a good way to spruce up the forage buffet.
3. Add 40-50 mid to large YP. Some of them will get eaten, but if some can spawn that would be great. I like fishing for and eating perch. My bass will like them too.
4. Add 250,000 GSH fry from Anderson
5. Continue culling all LMB aggressively through the pre spawn period to give the forage species a head start in their reproduction.
6. Add some smaller LMB back into the pond around fall. Is this a good idea, or should I wait until next year?
Questions:
1. Weed management - right now there is pondweed growing almost everywhere in the pond. We attack it with cutters and remove it…but I want to leave some this year for my baby fish. What depth should I leave un-raked? What will they most readily utilize?
2. Feeding - I’m still trying to convince my wife it’s a wise use of money to feed our fish. Can you give me an estimate of how much I would need to feed them, ideally? I can buy Aquamax locally at Tractor Supply for $1 a pound. Roughly what would I be looking at cost wise for the season?
3. Aeration - right now I have none. I’m not overly concerned with summer night kills, but winter kill is a serious concern. Right now, we have probably 12” of ice covered by a foot or so of snow. Just read a PB article about allowing sunlight into the pond and letting gasses out. Right now neither is happening. Am I wasting my time and money growing out this pond without aerating over the winter? I’m hesitant to do it because my kids like to play on the ice during the winter and the aeration would prevent that. The pond isn’t really big enough to follow the 50 foot rule safely.
4. Habitat - I need a lot of work here. Besides the weeds, my pond doesn’t have much… and I want to fix it. I’m pretty familiar with what LMB need, but I’d like to help provide what the BG and others need. Any help here would be appreciated. I’ve looked at many of the threads about habitat, but haven’t really been able to solidify my plan.
Thanks so much everyone!!
Current situation:
- My pond is approx 1/3 acre that’s from 1-8 feet deep. It’s roughly shaped like a long triangle, very shallow on the long tip and deeper at the wide base.
- I have lots of pondweed. Not much FA, thankfully.
- I’ve already removed almost all my LMB and have some midsized BG from last year
The Plan:
1. Add more adult BG (shooting for around 350 total adult BG in pond)
2. Add Pumpkinseed sunfish to the pond. My reading on the forums says that they eat differently than BG and won’t compete. They spawn often and we have tons of them around here. Seems like a good way to spruce up the forage buffet.
3. Add 40-50 mid to large YP. Some of them will get eaten, but if some can spawn that would be great. I like fishing for and eating perch. My bass will like them too.
4. Add 250,000 GSH fry from Anderson
5. Continue culling all LMB aggressively through the pre spawn period to give the forage species a head start in their reproduction.
6. Add some smaller LMB back into the pond around fall. Is this a good idea, or should I wait until next year?
Questions:
1. Weed management - right now there is pondweed growing almost everywhere in the pond. We attack it with cutters and remove it…but I want to leave some this year for my baby fish. What depth should I leave un-raked? What will they most readily utilize?
2. Feeding - I’m still trying to convince my wife it’s a wise use of money to feed our fish. Can you give me an estimate of how much I would need to feed them, ideally? I can buy Aquamax locally at Tractor Supply for $1 a pound. Roughly what would I be looking at cost wise for the season?
3. Aeration - right now I have none. I’m not overly concerned with summer night kills, but winter kill is a serious concern. Right now, we have probably 12” of ice covered by a foot or so of snow. Just read a PB article about allowing sunlight into the pond and letting gasses out. Right now neither is happening. Am I wasting my time and money growing out this pond without aerating over the winter? I’m hesitant to do it because my kids like to play on the ice during the winter and the aeration would prevent that. The pond isn’t really big enough to follow the 50 foot rule safely.
4. Habitat - I need a lot of work here. Besides the weeds, my pond doesn’t have much… and I want to fix it. I’m pretty familiar with what LMB need, but I’d like to help provide what the BG and others need. Any help here would be appreciated. I’ve looked at many of the threads about habitat, but haven’t really been able to solidify my plan.
Thanks so much everyone!!