Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations Members observations re:LMB conditioning?

What I'm interested in is this. Assume that you manage a 5 year old tank 1 acre in size with a healthy bluegill and LMB populations and supplemented every spring with Tilaipa for forage.

What could be done to minimize the chance that the Bass would become conditioned to associating baits with fishermen? I don't fish my tank more than once ever 2-3 weeks in the spring and fall. Is that too much? What do you consider "over-fishing"? How big does a pond/lake need to be before this conditioning isn't really all that significant.

Trying to setup some guidelines about how much fishing is TOO much for this one acre tank.

All opinions appreciated

Good question and I don't know. My fish are definitely conditioned and seem to know me pretty well. Mine is generally, assuming rain, about an acre.

Take a look at this article...

Fee-Fishing Ponds, Management of Food Fish and Water Quality

Beginning on page 3 there is some interesting information regarding "hook-shy" fish. Keep in mind that this article is directed towards "fee fishing" operations which presumably receive fairly heavy fishing pressure. That being said however the article contains some interesting information regarding "hook-shy" fish.

I'm certainly no expert but I think the information in the article is interesting.

From the article:
Managing fish inventory
“Hook-shy” fish are not easily caught and tend to accumulate in the pond, reducing the remaining carrying capacity of the pond and fishing success. Good record keeping on the weight of fish removed will suggest how many fish can be restocked without over-loading the pond, and will give a fairly accurate account of the weight of “hook-shy” fish remaining in the pond. As many as 30 to 40 percent of the fish in a pond can be unmatchable or “hook-shy.

Many operators fish a pond until few fish are being caught, then either drain or seine the pond to remove the remaining fish.”

My guess is that in order to keep LMB from getting hook shy (and then just taking up pond space) you will need to remove LMB when caught which could directly conflict with your reproduction of LMB.

Tis a quandary.

JHAP, very cool link... Great info IMO.

Holy Moly, could this be added to my good post count?

Hey, don't get carried away with this good post.

Alright, so what would be the forums advice on this pond? What self imposed constraints should I place on the fishing there? Dave, how much fishing pressure does your's get?

IMO The amount of self-imposed constraints on fishing pressure would be dependent on numerous things such as: how many fish you want to catch each trip, the type of fish caught, the general size of fish desired, number of fish in the pond, type of lures/bait used, and how the fishery is managed i.e. numbers in each size class. It's not a simple answer. But the simplest answer is the less it is fished by anglers the better the fishing will be and vice versa. Note that angling is not the only way to remove and manage fish.

When I come past with the golf cart my fish know I got a bucket of BG for them and wait like dogs. They see I have a rod in my hand and dissapear. There really not that dumb

I generally fish for awhile every couple of weeks.

I can usually scratch out 3 or 4 small bass if I go around daybreak. They don't get released. I see a lot of small bass busting small BG around the banks but they won't hit my jigs. I occasionally see larger fish but never catch any of them. Well, sometimes I can catch a couple if I use a 2 or 3 or inch bluegill. They seem to know that there are strings attached to my offerings.

Ok, this is really what I'm trying to get my head around. If LMB are as easily conditioned as forum members describe, why do fish on larger bodies of water seem less inclined to this conditioning. Is there a particular size a BOW needs to be to help insulate from this. Obviously the mere increase in number of fish in a larger BOW is part of the equation, but there seems to be more to it than that. Any reputable hypotheses on why "lake fish" seem less easily conditioned?

Oh they are still conditioned... It all about fishing hours per surface acre. Some of the rural public fishing lakes I fish see little pressure and the fishing shows it. Some of the lakes I fish right outside Washington, DC get pounded insanely hard. You'd think they were barren of large bass... Then you look at the electroshock survey results and are amazed at the hogs hiding in them. Then there huge bodies of water like where I often fish, the Potomac River. It's just so large it can handle the pressure. The bass are smart but not uncatchable.

Ever fish all day and catch little or nothing? Just think how may fish saw your lure and realized that there were strings attached.