Hello everyone,

I am completely new to the entire process of managing a pond but have been trying to implement some changes to a pond that my family owns. I guess I will begin with the structure of the pond and then go into the problem we are having in hopes that you all can help. I am located in northern Illinois and the pond is an old rock quarry that measures 11.5 surface acres and is 40ft deep at its deepest point. There are drop offs and shelves at various depths, its not just a deep bowl. As you can imagine the bottom surface is mainly sand and rock. There is very little if any submerged vegetation and almost all of the structure consists of old fallen trees along the shore line which have broken down extensively. The pond is fed by natural springs and also their is a nearby river that seeps through the ground as the pond level fluctuates with the river level. The water is VERY clear all year long.

Now to the problems at hand. As I stated before, this pond has been in the family for decades and I learned how to fish at this pond. There used to be a huge population of large BG, plenty of 2lb LMB and many 4lb LMB and even a 7lb LMB was caught, crappie were present, not in huge numbers but they were 12-15 inchers. There are a couple types of catfish, one is channel for sure, other is greyish/blue looking. And then there is the large population of common carp. Now adays, it seems like there are thousands of 10 inch skinny LMB and very few fish at or over 2 lbs, some big BG but never see any little ones except right after the spawn on their beds. The crappie have disappeared entirely. Catfish population seems to be doing fine, and there are still a lot of carp, even after years of removal. I have never seen any forage species, only LMB fry and BG fry that are obviously immediately eaten.

What is the plan of action here, I would like to reestablish a healthy LMB fishery and also bring back the number of BG in the pond. I don't really care about the cats, and the carp can go for sure. I think adding lots of structure, especially off shore would help. Would it even be possible to establish a forage species with that many hungry mouths?? Also, is it possible or economical to grow vegetation in a sand bottom?

A few years ago I contacted a hatchery here in Illinois for advice and they said that removing LMB and cats would rebound the BG population and possibly adding a predator such as tiger musky would help keep the LMB population in check. I looked into stocking the TM and think they would explode in size with so much food to eat!! I would love any and all advice and feel I have a unique opportunity and I could turn this into a fishermen's paradise in a few years! I just want to do it correctly.

Thanks,
Brandon

Last edited by b. dreier; 01/23/15 09:28 AM.