Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations IF IT WERE MY POND I'D.............

First thing I�d do is start scrounging for material to build artificial cover for the forage fish. Enough to make 2 acres of it. Sound like a lot? Yes, it is, but it�s what you need if the only cover in your pond is the Niad. Right now, the predators have the upper hand chasing their prey around in a bathtub. That's why they grew so fast. They will over eat the forage base quickly. The underwater plants are the only cover, and they disappear in the winter. Place the cover near spawning areas, in deeper water near the spawning areas where the fish stage pre and post spawn, and in deeper water where the fish will be hanging out in winter. The cover will also help congregate the fish to make catching them easier.

I say scrounge because you need to spend as much $$ as you can on forage. Talk to Cecil about getting some YP from him too. They�ll help with the forage base for the SMB.

Then I�d put in at least 100# of GSH. They will hang out in more open water, and hopefully you can get them established in the pond. I think you only have this year for a window to get forage established with the predators in the pond. Wait another year and you�ll be scrambling for a long time � speaking from experience here. Both in the amount of cover in the pond and the amount of forage fish vs. predators.

With 10 acres, at BG stocking rates for new ponds at 1,500 � 2,000/ac you have a lot of catching up to do. Stock as many 5�-6+� BG as you can, even transferring them from another BOW providing you can positively ID each one. With LMB that size, BG under 6� could be food for the LMB. I would also stock as many 3�-4� BG as your pocketbook allows, realizing that some will be eaten. Even if 50% of the smaller BG survive, you are going in the right direction.

Don�t worry about the Niad this year, or even next year, concentrate on structure and fish. The Niad can be spot treated, but right now think of it as cover for YOY fish.

If it was my pond, I�d wait until next year to stock HSB. I�d concentrate on the forage fish base first.

Now, all that was said because I KNOW what�s in my pond in regards to fish by either a electroshock fish survey, or a fyke net survey. I�d have a rough idea if I were just going off of what I found if I was fishing the pond, but I�ve found that many more fish will NOT bite than will.

If a fish survey hasn�t been done, then �if it were my pond� that�s the first thing that I�d do.

I�d also concentrate on catching and keeping all the BC that I could, and initiate a slot limit on removing LMB until you can verify that your forage base is up to snuff