Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations New stocked pond - now what?

Hello, First of all, when I was builidng my pond I had some issues that worried me and I am extremeley grateful to everyone on these forums that helped me relax and take a "wait and see" approach. The dam was finished in the fall, 2010. It's turned out beautifully. It's holding up very well vs. other ponds in this drought. So thank you all.

My question now is fish management. I have a three acre pond. I put in 1000 blue gill and 200 LMB and a whole lot of fathead minnows in March, 2011. The fish were 1" to 3" long. I now have LMB that are 14 to 18" long (they will bend your pole nearly 180 degrees - very strong) and some nice keeper size BG. I can tell the BG are reproducing as there are a lot of baby sized BG along with the larger ones. I am not sure about the LMB - I have't seen any small ones yet. It seems like i've read where they can take two to three years before they start reproducing.

I have been shocked at how quickly they have grown - all my fish seem extremely healthy. I would like to keep things balanced out. I guess my question is: when and what do I start harvesting? Can I start keeping my BG if I want to eat some? Should I start keeping my LMB or wait another year or so? Also, I still see a lot of minnows, but they arn't as numerous as they used to to be, should I add more minnows?

Thanks for any advice! I love where things are now and I don't want to screw it up.

What would your goals for the pond be? More of a bluegill pond or a trophy bass pond?

It depends where you are in Indiana. The LMB had a poor spawn here in the Northern part of the State. Other than some LMB YOY LMB that I netted for stocking in another pond this Fall, I'm not seeing hardly any.

I agree with BGK, what are your goals for the pond?

Regardless of the goal, stocking more minnows is a waste.

I want a good combination of good sized bass, don't have to be trophy, and plenty of BG for eating and for the kids to catch.

I'd take out some of the LMB that you catch, and some of the BG. I don't think you'd be hurting anything by removing 20-50 LMB and 100 BG to eat. Your BG stocking numbers were light by 50%, so I'd definately take out some LMB to eat before BG.

How much has your pond dropped this year? If it's dropped 2'-3', do you see any BG beds above water now?

Did you see signs of BG reproducing in your pond this year?

If you want to be selective about taking out the LMB, take out the skinnier/smaller ones.

Are you feeding the fish ? I don't remove stocker fish (your big ones are the original stockers) however some people do harvest a few. Your LMB may not have spawned yet. If so you have a chance to bring their numbers down now by removing the worst looking ones. I would be careful about harvesting BG until the LMB/BG #s are more in balance. Can you post some pics of your fish ?

Hopefully this will show my pic. This is the first bass (or fish of any kind) I caught in my new pond. I caught it on my second cast. It was on the hook as soon as the hook hit the water. I have not done much fishing. Probably a total of 1.5 hours this entire year. I've caught 7 or 8 LMB that look just like this one (and I look at my fish a lot off the bank and every LMB I see is around this size). Some are a little bigger and maybe some a little smaller, but all very similar in size. I just got a scale yesterday so I'll start weighing them. There's a lot of fish around this dock because of the rip rap I think. Minnows and BG and LMB lurking after them. I don't feed them. The BG are so thick around this dock that you catch one as soon as your worm hits the water. The pond is down about 1.5 feet. I can see some nests that are now above the water.

A couple of other items - I choose the 1000 BG/200 LMB ratio because that's what the IN DNR recommended. I threw in the minnows because I've seen a lot of guys on these forums suggest them. I really wasn't planning on fishing it much till later this year or next spring, it's just that I have seen so many BGs and didn't want to get over run and end up with nothing but tiny ones, I was thinking maybe I should start harvesting them now, but I have no clue really. Thats why I come here.

The LMB looks healthy. My guess is you have not had a full LMB spawn due to their age - under 2 and your location. I would not harvest the big BG yet. You are likely on schedule and in good shape. If you catch a LMB that looks skinny take it out.

I wouldn't touch it (for now) and wait a bit longer.

Thanks guys. I appreciate the input!