Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations Managing a die off pond.

Time for another "Once upon a time" Pond Frog Manager story. Yesterday was a marathon ender as far as work, 13 straight just to get caught up. But decided to mix work and pleasure by fishing and photos. I have a new customer who has a 1 1/2 acre pond. Incredibly beautiful setting but unmanaged since day one. Real light original stocking, 100 bg, 100 res and 25 fla lmb. Sadly coontail came along for the ride with the fish. Almost entire perimeter is cattails, can't launch a boat to get it to the dock. Bad die off two years back sent most lmb floating. So last week I hand pull massive amounts of Coontail around the front and sides of the dock. Then I clear cattails and willows on both sides of the ramp to the dock to get a boat in.

I roll in around 8. Need to catch some fish and see what is still there. Catch over 100 bg, only 3 over 4", 1 RES 4", 3 LMB 2-6". See no large fish except one lmb around 13" BG are super stacked like the coontail. I caught 100 on little pieces of gulp red worms on a 5 ft FE II. Tie to a depth pole in one spot. I put the larger ones back. All three of them, the RES and the lmb. The rest went to my Weston bait tank, and got aerated. For lunch he brought out cigars and I had a fine bottle of Tempranillo Port. I showed him all of the baby lmb in the shallows, and how he could relax and fish off of his dock now. I left my size 12 bare hook and splitshot dangling over the edge. The bg hit the splitshot then hooked themselves on the bare hook. Just for S and G's I started fishing with the bare hook and caught over a dozen more. Can't say I see a pond like this everyday. I know this is a blackbottom sediment pond as when I pull up the Coontail it is stuck all on it. I think 15 year old pond, started from scratch.

So I start mapping out strategies. Have to get rid of all willow trees in front of pond, killing the site lines and infesting the edge. Cattails have to go, already have a muskrat, and can't get near the water. Coontail has had a decade to takeover. It has. Stuff has no roots but still gets attached to the bottom, dies off and makes a new layer of muck. At least he has use of dock and boat. Need 100's of hybrid carp, and maybe 100 RES. Bg need to be thinned out heavy. Might be 5,000. I guess even though those adults had close to no spawning beds they were not too stressed out and took over the entire pond, once those LMB died off. Lots of croaking male frogs, but very few babies and juveniles. Would like to get a dozen fat full grown females in there. Going to wait a year or two for carp to get big enough to avoid getting eaten and get ahead of the coontail. Not much else for them to eat, not even much algae. Going to have a major tree removal, eradicate all of the cattails and bulrushes with Lake Mower. About a 3-4 year plan.

Next off with my bg baitfish and planters for my kiddie pond. Go to my big pond, which used to be home of the stunted no forage lmb. Also unfishable from vegetation. Those days are long gone. A bit breezy so tie off on a single bulrush, those things are strong. Have a stand of Frog droughtbuster lily pads, just huge now after 4 years. Pads over 12" across and lots of flowers. I planted cluster of 5 with hole in middle of them. Hole is about gone. Just splitshot and size 4 baithook the bg in front of the pads. Can't keep the lmb off. Average fish seems to be at least 8 oz heavier than last season. With small hook I miss a lot of hook sets. Sometimes fish get three feet out of water and bg comes flying out. These lmb are scrappers.

Finally wind dies down, pond like sheet of glass. I head to the middle and rig up two poles for bg, 1 for plastics. Catch fish after fish, nothing less than 14" Pretty thick also. Soon I'm next to shore, but have about 90 minutes of sunlight, maybe two hours to fish, and a huge amount of bg left. I decide to make it a 12 hour day. Munch some yogurts while drifting no time to eat but blood sugar getting low. Reload the bait bucket for the boat.

Back near the shore catching a few, but had put away the plastic rig for two bg poles. Hit the electric to get back out to the middle. Pretty soon hells a breakin loose. They are even hitting cripples I have had four or five misses on. Just boiling on the surface, all around the boat. I'm getting hits on both poles, sometines takedowns on both. I quit weighing and measuring and just fish. Catch fish in any direction I cast. But sun is setting and skeeters are buzzing all around. So I put the motor in reverse 1 and backtroll super slow. Towards shore. Get a big takedown on my Kistler. Big fish, ripping out drag. I hold on to it ripping out line and reel in other pole with one hand. Pump it in, slowly bringing in in and it takes off even harder. I had a breakoff earlier on another big fish so I knew I had a nice new no nick leader. I take my time. Pulling the boat now, I get the prop out of the water. Not going to lose this fish there.

Finally get a glimpse of it. It's Goldwhiskers. I have C and R'd this fish before. Last season on 6lb test splitshoting worms. An albino channel, weighed in 11 lb 5 oz on a digital. I plant albino cc's here and there for laughs. Last one I got from an Asian market as they won't buy them, think they are defective. But it was real pale with a pinkish hue. Mr. Goldwhiskers is bright butterscotch, very bright. Big fat head, huge crease down the center. Last time I had to land him to get him off, and he bit my thumb and laughed at me. No camera, no net, no fish pliers.

My wife got me a nice small digital camera that fits in my overalls top pocket for easy access. I just don't carry a net, gets in the way in my 12 foot aluminums. And my fish pliers are sitting next to me now, by my pc, first trip out to the big pond. I even have a lanyard on them and a quick clip in case they go overboard, expensive special pliers. No overalls, since it is kind of a day off, so camera is stuck in my trouser pocket. Only have stainless needle nose for hook removal. I'm screwed. Still fighting Mr. G. But he is getting tired. Been a long day, and I am also. Fumbling around trying to get camera out, get it out, turn it on. Get out useless pliers. He is spent still thrashing a bit, looks like he got a lot fatter in this heavy forage pond, belly way bigger, looks stocky now. I grab the pliers and get ready to try to lip him in. I assumed great hook set as he really fought hard. Look over at him, hooked by a thread by his bottom lip. One head shake and hook goes flying over my head. Many expletive filled and head shaking by me minutes later I am still in shock.

My wife got me this camera to take a photo of this fish. I have all sorts of second guesses. I doubt even with the right pliers I could have boated him. And I can't give fish all day long to take bait, too many morts from gut hooks. Only way was to take a photo boatside, better than nothing. But I just did not have the time to make a decision because as soon as I saw hook weakly he was hooked it was gone. And my pole was bent hard the entire fight. I'm thinking 13 lbs now.

Everyone knows this fish, it used to swim around the paddleboat and circle other boats. You could see it a mile away. You could throw your entire tackle box at it, and it would laugh. Some guys just fish for it. Both times I hooked it I never saw it. I think of Mr. Goldwhiskers as an adversary, but a respected pond friend. Last time I said wait til next time, I'll at least get a photo. I'm still shaking my head.

Great story, Pond Frog! Sorry it didn't work out in the end, but you'll have your day. Perhaps we should change your forum name to Captain Ahab until you have photo documentation to share with us!

More like Capt Incompetent. Or Capt Unprepared. My first trip out to the big pond and it really caught me by surprise. Plus I was not going to stick my thumb in that fishes mouth again. It hurt for a week last time. Shoulda, woulda, coulda took a photo next to the boat. I just don't want to handle big cats that much. I got spined in the palm by a little bullhead last year also. I could barely turn the handle on my reel the next day. I ordered special pliers the for it. They and my camera will be with me every trip from now on this season. I'm just a reckless fool when I fish.