Pond Boss Forums INTRO New Forum Member Introduction new member questions

hello to all
ive been reviewing alot of info on this site & am impressed with all the knowledge. especially that obtained by trial & error..
i have a 5 acre pond average depth is 12 ft max 20 feet at dam.
lake stocked with lmb,bcp,gsh,hbg,fh,cc. ive noticed most of the forage i fish i put in 3 years ago are pretty much gone. i have a small 1/2 acre clay pit im in process of killing off. then stock with gsh & fh only to use for restocking lake. figure it should save quite abit of money as far as minnows are concerned.
big question is i have a large empty fish bowl that i hace added many trees, piles of tires trying to create habitat. but it appears the center of the lake due to depth is void of fish. . water clarity is 3-4 ft. stocked lake with ken fish farm gg fingerlings & now catch some that are bigger than my hand.put in 12 pair of breeding bcp & am now catching many crappie 8-10 inches. caught 1 that hit my 3in surface popper while bass fishing weird thing was it wasnt hooked popper was stuck in his mouth sideways. i figured it was one of my breeders. water was limed & treated with microlift which really cleared up the water. even the bass which were stunted when i first bought prpoerty 5 years ago ago starting to get bellys on them. been removing any lmb caught under 12" & all bcp.cc i know they are there but they sure are shy.even exisitng bluegill & sunfish appear to have increased in size. i see schools of fish swimming out in lake but dont know if those are minnows or small bg schooled up.
could we & yp be added to provide fishng in center of lake.
also how do i fertilize pond for minnows.
any input would be appreciated

John,

It sounds like you have some great pond waters. But, you've got lots of questions. I'll try to answer a few.

As for forage/minnows, figure that 10 lbs. of forage fish will roughly result in one pound of predator growth. Then, think about feeding those same predators with high quality feed. In general, we figure that 10 lbs. of high quality feed will roughly produce five pounds of growth.

As for the pond with 3-4 feet of clarity and crappie -- most of us would probably see this as a problem pond. Certainly during the summer, your pond should be generating a lot of feed through "blooms" which would keep your visibility to less than about 18 inches. And, then there are the crappie. Many people want them, but most who have them in small ponds (less than 10-20 acres) are not happy to have them. They cause just way too many problems by eating important forage fish and overpopulating.

Please give us a little more information about what your short-term and long-term goals for your ponds.

Regards,
Ken

i was under the impression that a pond with crappie should have clearer water so lmb can have a greater impact on bcp populations. howevere with that said. what would be the best way to fertilze a 5 acre pond & with what? CAN REGULAR GARDEN FERTILIZER BE USED & what time of year is best?
thanks for your input

Welcome to PB John. Start here. Not yard fertilizer.

http://www.pondboss.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=96127#Post96127

Few people know more about pond management than EWEST. I strongly recommend reading, and then re-reading, the link he posted above.

Yes, clear water can help the bass find a lot more crappie. But, the crappie spawn before the bass. The crappie can put a big bite on the tiny bass, bluegill, and red-eared sunfish in a pond.

A lot more questions and observations will be extremely valuable to many other forum readers. Please give us more information, and please ask a lot more questions.

Regards,
Ken

thanks for fertilizing links guys. another question, i have 2 bojo fish lights i bought 3 years back to help feed the crappie but dont have any electric at lake was going to run power up there but to long of span 900ft. electric co wont run power without seperate meter. any one know what the requiremets for a solar powered system to allow it it run all night. sure would be nice to get these units up & running spent to much for them to sit around collecting dust