Pond Boss Forums INTRO New Forum Member Introduction Hello From Maryland

Hey Guys. I'm Eli. I live in Northern Virginia, but my parents have a horse farm over in Maryland. It is a 100 acre horse farm. They purchased the farm maybe 2007 or 2008. The pond has not been managed since then. It was stocked by the previous owner because i know my parents did not do anything with it.
I am a complete newbie when it comes to this stuff.
According to google earth the surface of the water is 204ft... the surrounding area is up to 216ft. So most of the property i assume drains into this low lying area.

This is the earliest satellite image on google earth that you can really make out.


This is 2006 that little middle piece is now gone... maybe it was dug out to allow room for more water?


This is what it looks like about now. The banks have receeded as well Im not sure how the rainfall has been this year or the past few years. I used the Google earth program to guestimate the acreage of the pond. This is how much the water can come up to when it actually does rain. The smaller pond i think they used to level out some land when they built a larger barn. It is small but pretty deep.


There is very little waterside vegetation. There is only a small patch of cat tails about 10 ft wide.


The water visibility is very low. Can't see more than a foot into the water. Its pretty murky. Theres some vegetation in the pond. Definitely algae not sure what kind ill have to take a picture.

Caught this guy

It looks like it has a tail inside of it.

I caught this one a week after I think its the same one lol.


These are more typical of what are caught.



[img]http://i971.photobucket.com/albums/ae194/elizerkim/null_zps509ea73a.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i971.photobucket.com/albums/ae194/elizerkim/null_zps8d23d17e.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i971.photobucket.com/albums/ae194/elizerkim/null_zpsc28edaed.jpg[/img]

The pond isn't fished. In fact it is easy to catch these guys. Are these large mouth bass? If not what are they? I dont see any minnows on the waters edge. No frogs no tadpoles. I think they are eating each other and I haven't caught any other types of fish. There are turtles but they only hang out in the smaller pond.

Theres a lot of geese and duck that poop all over the waters edge. I think they also eat a lot of the algae and water plants (not many along the shoreline).

I just started fishing the pond and it has become really fun. I just want to make sure these guys dont die off. I've been reading this forum a lot lately and have been working out a way to try to stock some other forage species to make it work out.

Thanks for taking a look.

Hey Eli -- welcome to Pond Boss.

Yes, those are largemouth bass. They are eating something because they look pretty healthy.

My guess is that the pond also has bluegill in it. Get some worms, and moderately small hooks, about a #4 (not 4/0) bait hook. Some small bobbers would be good too. Spend an hour or two going around the pond edge fishing with the worms.

Let us know what other kinds of fish you get, and their approximate sizes. Photos like you posted above would be perfect.

It is getting a little late in the year and the fish are probably starting to get sluggish because the water temps have dropped quite a bit lately.

Before stocking more fish, you need to get an idea of what is in there. With the size of the bass in your top photos, small stockers wouldn't even provide a decent snack for them. This fish would eat the new small fish pretty quickly.

Ken

What's in that little pond? There might be a possibility that you could raise fish in it, then transfer to big pond when they get bigger.

catmandoo-
Thanks for the information. I've done some lurking before i officially posted, I was just worried they were stunted or something from lack of food. I will definitely go up there next week and try with the worms and bobbers. The water clarity is just a little rough and haven't seen much on the waters edge. I do see some fishes coming towards the edge and attacking/eating something. Ill try to measure and do the weight estimates. Should i move this to another section when i update?

Fish n Chips-
I haven't seen anything in there. Only turtles really hang out there. I gave that a thought as well. Maybe growing some larger bait fish in there. Doing some forage cocktail in there. Only problem is... it is at a higher elevation than the main pond so if it rains im not sure if some fish/eggs will float on down into it. Maybe i can rig up some netting around the border.

It's not a big deal if forage fish wash into the main pond. It IS a big deal if predator fish make it into the forage pond.....

Yes, weighing and measuring them will be a good way to go in finding out their condition. Definitely do that.

What would you hope for with this pond? Big bass, big bluegill, or other? Choose one thing as a primary focus and it will make it easier for folks to guide you in achieving it. If it's big LMB, sounds like you might need to start culling some if your "easily" catching them. Print those RW charts and bring them with you. It might help you on the spot in deciding if you should throw any back, or not. Again, that is dependent on what you want to make happen for the pond's future.

Looks good. One suggestion though. If you are releasing fish don't allow them to make contact with the ground and get soil on them. Good way to set them up for bacterial or fungal issues.

esshup-
Lol i could see that being a big problem. I would have a fish with food coma.

Fish n Chips-
I really don't have a set plan yet. I just want the pond to be healthy/balanced and be fun for family and friends to fish in. We wont really be into eating the fish mostly just for sport. I guess it would be LMB as a priority and blue gill for some variation while fishing.

Cecil Baird1-
Thanks for that comment. I am a completely rookie, but that does seem common sense.

I will be printing out some charts and getting some data hopefully this weekend. How are the color on these fish? Some of the LMB i've seen on this forum and TV have really nice dark coloration on them but mine seem a little pale with not color patterns.

Hey Elizer, I grew up in the Centreville, VA area but live down in Stafford now.

LMB from murky water tend to have washed out coloration. With the pond water being on the murky side, you're seeing paler bass.

CJBS2003-
Stafford isnt too far. As far as the coloration goes that makes a lot of sense. If i clear up the water clarity will they change colors like chameleons or will they have to eventually start adapting through their young?
I definitely have been looking at making the water clarity better as well. Alum, lime, and other methods.
Thanks for that info though.

They're able to change color fairly rapidly... There are many factors that affect a fish's color. Genetics do play a role, along with a number of other factors.

thats good to know. Looks like i might need to work on some water clarity.