Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations What do I do now?

I would , based on the limited info, (always dangerous to rely on limited info), choose between 3 approaches.

1. Keep doing as is.

2. Add some adult CNBG to help with BG #s (the LMB need more food or their #s greatly reduced or a combo of both)

3. Increase feeding and harvest a few mid-sized BG (if you want to harvest BG).

Big male BG and healthy female BG are the key as they reproduce more offspring. When small male BG are doing the spawning you reduce all BG growth which can result in either BG overcrowding at a small size or very limited BG reproduction to adulthood due to predation (moving toward a LMB only pond). What you are doing in a LMB/BG pond as noted by many studies is trying to balance both populations in the middle at an inherently unstable point where the two normal states are BG crowded or LMB crowded. The pond tries to move to one of the 2 stable states and your job is to try and balance them in the inherently unstable middle. Tweaking that balance (is what you are doing) by mgt takes time when done in the manner you are using.

What CJ is bring up is very important because if the pond is at carrying capacity ( about 2 years after stocking in the south) then you have to make room for whatever tweaking you are going to do. Or increase the carrying capacity which can effect water quality.

What would help us is the % of small , med and large BG and LMB in the populations and their condition fat , avg , skinny.

My all to simple answer to the general question is don't remove BG when a pond is LMB crowded and don't remove LMB from a BG crowded pond. Remove what is crowded and or add to what is missing if you want balance. If you elect to increase carrying capacity then you have more room to work with but watch your water quality.