Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations put, grow and take management

Norm/Ewest: There is indeed much information on these topics floating around the fisheries profession. Summaries and review papers are always extremely valuable. Having said that, I think we may have one specific challenge. Most of the published literature and state agency reports will be for larger, public waters. These waters tend not to be as intensively managed as some of the ponds managed by Forum Pondmeisters. Eric, you may very well know how much work is still being done on pond management by southern schools such as Mississippi State, Auburn, or Texas A&M. I have a sense that not much is currently being done. Certainly, I have a strong sense from my past several years on this Forum that the innovative work so commonly discussed here is not occuring in research efforts. BOB LUSK -- could we get you to comment on this? You're closer to the situation than me.

From my own perspective, I'm primarily educating graduate students through research on large, public water systems. ALL (every single bit!) of our pond work is "fun" work, and often done only out of personal interest or for my graduate advanced fisheries management course (every other fall semester). So, when Ewest suggests putting a PhD student on a review project such as this (which incidentally would be GREAT for his or her education), then I have to factor in the time. Their education, their salary, their equipment costs, their vehicle costs, their travel costs, all are paid by the funding agency. Thus, we first have to meet contractual obligations, and then fill in the "spare" time with fun projects from good ideas such as this.

It seems that I have moved away from the primary topic, but I thought this should all be explained. Our fisheries profession still looks at small ponds primarily as bass-bluegills, well maybe some channel cats through in, and managed for either big bass or big panfish. That's obviously still ok in many situations, but the truly interested pondmeisters want more.

For now, I'd like to hear Bob's thoughts on the matter. Unless he changes my mind, the best information on the "special" types of put, grow and take stockings (hybrid stripers in half-acre ponds, male-only bluegill ponds, female only yellow perch ponds) may actually come from this forum. Certainly, we could supplement with information from public waters on more basic questions.