Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Corrective stocking When Should I Start Fishing A New Pond

I have a new pond built 02/05. Stocked Bluegill and Redear in April and F-1's in June. Most of the Bream are now 4"-6" and my F-1's are about 8". When should I start fishing to thin the bream population or should I wait for the bass to get larger and feed off of them for a year or so? I know my bream have spawned out at least 3 times this year...possibly more. Thanks in advance for any info.

RLewis, it sounds like things are going nicely for your pond.

I don't recall the size of your pond or the stocking rates, but an unqualified response could be that there may not be a need to thin out the bream. This is of course assuming that you're not looking forward to cooking 'em up.

I think that with the bluegill at 4-6" and the LMB around 8", the LMB will certainly grow in length much faster then the bluegill, but the age group of LMB may never be able to eat their counterpart age group of bluegill, thus providing a solid brood stock year class of bluegill.

I'm not sure about when it would be best advised to try to fish for the LMB.

Patience my friend, that's the key to pond management. Sure it's ok to pull a couple bgill if you want your first fish fry, but not many. They are and will be the backbone of your pond, try to wait until 2007...same goes for the bass

RLewis :

It would be OK to catch a few BG if they are released. Use a very small hook, make sure your hands are wet before you touch the fish and release quickly. I would not take any fish out until at least next summer at the earliest. I would not try to catch the bass until a year from now and would not take any out until summer 07. At that point you will need to think about what your goals are ( big BG or big LMB or balanced)and mgt. to that by taking out what is required. This assumes you are not planning any added stocking in the next year. ewest

ewest, you take all the fun out of having a new pond ! I sample my young fish all the time for several reasons...most of all, I want to know their growth rates. Second, I want to know where they are living in my pond. Third, I love to see and document what they are biting on. Leaving them alone is no fun...

Fish as much as you wish, but don't harvest. Watch your growth rates over the next two years. As growth rates of bass level off, and frequency of small bluegill declines, then make the decision to harvest bass. Harvest bluegill in the third year, but don't take the largest sunfish. Take the next size down. The largest bluegill help ensure you will have better growth rates of all bluegill, as well as guaranteeing you will always have broodfish sunfish to supply ever-growing bass populations.

Eastland :

I have lots of fun doing just what you described. It is a blast to survey wether by hook and line or sein or electroshock or observation. I just don't keep fish early on. My reason for holding off on attempting to catch bass in year 2 is the catchability matter discussed many times here. I know in year 3 I will have to take out a bunch of small bass and I don't want them hook shy because I have caught them before. It is hard enough keeping the ponds balanced ( not bass crowded) with out dealing with 2 yr. old hook shy 12 in. LMB being the first offspring of the originals (now 3 yr. olds). Now if I can only figure out how in year 3 to take out the bass which are non-aggressive I will have made real progress. ewest

I understand But my pond is 1 1/2 years old, and I took out my first 3 bgill (about 7") last weekend and threw them over mesquite coals for dinner after bowhunting. Took only males, it was quite fulfilling. I can do that, it's my pond I will take 3 more when gun season opens up ! You can probably buy them in the store for near nothing, but to me, catching and eating fish from my pond is priceless. Pretty soon, I will be chomping down on intermediate sized bass !

Eastland :

One point I forgot is pond size. RLewis's pond is small. With a larger pond that was stocked properly a few fish won't make any difference. I usualy don't eat the fish by choice but other family members love to eat them. ewest

I admire your patience, EWEST, and wish I had some of it!

ML :

No great patience here. Just talking about patience with newly stocked ponds. As you know I have other ponds with which to be impatient ( trying to get enough non agressive LMB out so I can expir. with) options. ewest

EWEST,

You recall that F1 pond I've talked about? Was observing it Saturday and it has cleared nicely after the 10 inch rain. I saw an F1 swim by (looked to be at least 12 inches) chasing a small something or other....man I want to fish that pond bad....but I'm using you as a model for patience...don't let me down.

ML,
Speaking of patience, it's October have you fished your tilapia yet?

Rad,

No, the hurricane (Rita) clean-up has really socked me in on time. Why don't you come over and catch them?

I hope to give it a try in another couple of weeks and will post any results...good or bad. Thanks for asking.

ML :

You have exibited remarkable patience on your F-1s. While I don't fish for the first generation brood fish I also don't worry about them after they spawn the first time. Other than being the brood fish they are not the fish I spend time managing. I try not to put to much pressure on that year class but after 18 mths, and one spawn they are on their own. It is the second generation and on that require mgt.( they are the ones that tend to over populate ) . They are the ones I don't want hook shy or it will take twice as much effort to keep them in balance. I need to find a way to train an electric eel so that it will hunt out non aggressive LMB and charge them up a little. ewest

We should get Robinson to work on that one...if he has listening devices that can hear leaks in a pond, surely he could ID a whimpy LMB.