My father and I recently bought a pond near the Kansas City, Missouri area. I'm here looking for some guidance in managing the fish population. Any input is greatly appreciated. Attached below is a Google Earth image of the pond.
Pond Details: -4 acre creek-fed pond -11 feet deep in the middle, average estimated depth of 5 feet -Known fish: LMB, CC, BG, GSF, and either BCP or WCP (not sure which one) -Pond has lots of algae, but we will be taking care of that soon -There is currently not a great deal of structure, although we are slowing adding more and more in the form of brush piles and rock piles -Pond has a large watershed -Muddy water after rain, slightly murky water normally
We plan to drain, dredge and expand the pond in the next 5 to 10 years or so. Our #1 goal right now and in the future is to grow lunker LMB. When we drain the pond someday, we will stock new fish with that goal in mind. In other words, there will be no GSF or Crappie, and possibly no CC. But for now, we'd like to take some steps to improve the current LMB population.
The current state of LBM fishing is pretty good. We started recording our fish caught a few months ago. We have caught around 50 fish, with four over 3lbs. They were 3, 3.4, 4.5, and 5.4 lbs. I have attached a spreadsheet which contains a graph of the LMB caught so far. (Note: unfortunately the four LMB over 3 lbs were not measured for length, but all four were pretty meaty fish).
My first question is, based on the data, what would be an appropriate number of pounds of bass to remove to maximize future growth of big bass? It seems to me like there are too many fish in the small to medium range. What do you all think? Also, what would be the ideal slot range?
Next, I was wondering about the removal of the GSF and Crappie. I know these species are not good in a pond this size. We purchased a seine net and plan to try to remove some of these fish. Is that a good idea? Do you think we will be able to remove enough fish to actually help? And after we remove them, will we have to add additional BG to offset the other fish removed?
