Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Corrective stocking Overcrowded bass

Studies clearly provide that in normal southern ponds carrying capacity is reached in 2 years. From there on you are managing the makeup of the fish population. Its best to get the population #s as balanced (close to your goal) as you can prior to that time. Then you manage the populations by any of several methods including harvest , predation , natural morts , seine , electroshock , partial rotenone , gill net , traps etc. The first fish in are your brood stock and set the proportional balance by producing offspring in the correct #s. They are not (unless you are running at hatchery #s) the fish who will fill up the carrying capacity it is there first offspring that accomplish that. Fish have high natural morts and that has to be factored in also. Just because you reach carrying capacity does not mean you will have DO problems. In fact most ponds run at carrying capacity without fish kills.

He does not want to kill the pond that leaves 2 choices. Stock more forage in hopes of producing your way to balance through more forage in conjunction with LMB removal, then manage for goals . The other is to try to do so only by removing LMB in the given time (pre carrying capacity/reproduction) then adding forage. The problem with that is you sometimes end up with a LMB only pond because they eat all the forage and produce lots of additional LMB while you are trying to remove them. Then you have no choice but to kill the pond (at least in part). The reason for draining the pond at least in part is to reduce size so the rotenone won't cost $50,000.00. The reason for the TShad is they use a different part of the pond niche than BG , open water and the plankton there. IMO the combo plan is much better , saves time and has less risk than a wait until the LMB are reduced then add forage approach. You will note that the biologists who saw the pond did not say remove all you can first then add BG but instead suggested a combo plan or drain.

I do think you can do the removal first but it would have to be a massive effort over a short period of time and involve several methods. Electroshock , catch , seine and partial rotenone of the LMB nesting to kill large #s of the fry.