Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations great place..!

i was watching north american fisherman today and saw a guy with a pond boss hat catching insanely huge bluegill..some sorta southern hybrid..? anyway, my interset piqued and here i am..i recently bought a house with a pond. i think its about a half acre. has a good population of bass , whoops i mean lmb, a couple different strains of bg. about 5 huge carp and one big white amur.deepest spot i found is around 9 ft. it basically has no structure so i put in some cinder blocks around the pond for the spring spawn and one giant pile of rocks. also cut down a small willow tree and stuck the branches in 3 different spots..i will probably try and add some smallmouth spring and want to add some crawfish..i did a bunch of searching before i posted but all the threads kind of veered off the subject..the one thing i know for sure is to try and get papershells..anyway this place looks great and it should be fun for the winter..

My guess is the guy was Bruce Condello. Maybe Bob Lusk at the fishery he manages in North Carolina. Richmond Mill is the fishery that fits the southern location.

Welcome to the forum!

It's easier to get forage established before the predators are in the pond. But, you gotta play the hand of cards you are dealt. I'd try and add as much cover to the pond in the form of cinderblocks, and other things that have 1"-3" holes in it, to give the papershells some place to hide. With having LMB in the pond, just be aware that the SMB will probably be a put-n-take fishery. They have a very hard time getting enough spawning sites with LMB in the pond to spawn in enough numbers to keep a viable population going.

My bet is that it was Bruce Condello but I'd also bet it wasn't a hybred. Pure bluegill, most likely at Richmond Mill Pond.

Lucky Musky,

First, welcome to Pond Boss. This a very friendly group serious hobbyists, serious professionals, and groupies like me trying get to the next level.

The show you watched could have included any number of long-time nationally recognized Pond Boss members. The bluegill you saw were probably not hybrids -- just the best of the best that were grown through high quality fisheries management. The show could have been recorded at any number of sites, and presented on any number of TV programs. Many involved here at Pond Boss are passionate volunteers who are ready to help with questions.

A half-acre pond can produce wonderful family enjoyment, incredible meals, and trophies. We can help you get there, if you aren't there yet.

As for threads that "kind of veered off the subject" -- that unfortunately is a consequence of the close friendships that develop on this site. Hopefully you will become a regular posting member. If you do, you will meet some wonderful people here -- we have some extremely well respected researchers and fisheries management people in your local area. Then, you will be taking threads off into the weeds.

Regards,
Ken

yes, i kind of figured that about the smallmouth..i may change my mind in the spring. i still would like to get some crawfish in there for the lmb though..i do have a small runoff stream..i think i will hunt for them there first next season before i try and put any in myself. ive seen frogs so maybe there will be some small crawfish too. im wondering about eradicating the carp. ive seen them vaccum bass and bluegill beds before at a local lake i fish..should i be worried about them? the pond seems to have a good forage base. seens lotsa minnows and a ton of snails..a few turtles and frogs. anyway, thanks for the welcome and the replies..i like this place already!

You can also get some smallmouths that are trained to eat fish food and stock them into the pond for some fun. You will most likely have more fun watching them feed than you would actually fishing for them.

If it was my pond, I'd get the carp outta there. Probably by fishing with a bow rather than a rod n reel. If the White Amur (or Grass Carp-GC) is large, depending on the pond weeds, I'd consider getting rid of that too, and putting in smaller ones. If that one is say 20#, you could put in more than enough 1#-2# GC that would eat more weeds than that one, and free up a bit of biomass for other fish. (read up on pond carrying capacity, there's good stuff in the archives) Just make sure that the GC that you stock are at least 1/2 the size of the largest LMB that is in the pond. If not, they might become dinner.

I would also look into stocking some RES or PS, depending on whether RES would live in your climate or not. They will eat the snails, which will help reduce the chances of white grubs, black spot or swimmers itch appearing in your pond.

Nate has a great suggestion about the Feed Trained SMB. There are times that I think feeding the fish is more fun than fishing for them!

thanks for the reply, i was thinking the same thing with the bow..tried with rod and reel, corn, mini wheats, bread with no luck. and yes i find myself feeding more than fishing...lol. i would like to leave the white gc in there. i think i will just try and fish out the big cg's somehow..surely didnt know about the "swimmers itch" with the snails..yuk, does it get ya where i think i gets ya...!? will continue to check the archives..thanks.

There and other places......... Guys and Gals, it's not picky!