Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Minimum size pond for a great LMB fishery?

Okay, I'm taking a stab at it. Based on my fishing records and estimated average weights, I removed something like 10 lbs of LMB, 65 ponds of CC, and 50 lbs of BG/RES/GSH (nearly all BG). That's an estimated 125 lbs of fish removed.

I fed 300 pounds of fish food. If we assume a 50% conversion rate, that means I grew an extra 150 lbs of fish on top of what grew naturally in the pond from the natural food chain. Might we guess that Mother Nature is at least as providing as I am, and that another 150 lbs of fish grew naturally? So 300 lbs of fish grew in the pond in 2007.

Now comes the part that I can't figure without a Lusk or a Cody or a Willis. NOT ALL OF THOSE POUNDS OF FISH WERE PRESENT AT THE SAME TIME! I didn't take 125 lbs of fish out all in one day. And the 300 pounds of fish that grew? A lot of it was forage fish - Small BG eating pellets or periphyton - that was then eaten by larger fish, on up to 3 lbs LMB and 9 lbs CC. And those predators only convert at maybe a 10% rate, so if 270 pounds of forage fish grew in the pond and were eaten by predators, the latter only gained 27 pounds for their trouble.

(If I toss in 3 lbs of LMB that grew from eating pellets, I get my 300 lbs of fish that theoretically grew in the pond, making things seem neat and tidy even if it is all just a logical house of cards.)

So I'm really lost trying to figure out just how many pounds of fish are in the 1 acre pond, Eric. There had to be a fair % of the final number in to start the year with, and it seems like some additional biomass should have accrued from all the eating that went on. I'll take a really wide WAG of 200 to 500 lbs. And I won't feel bad if/when it's pointed out how far off (probably high) that range is.