Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations Maybe not enough information but.....

Hi. My wife and I are buying a small property with an existing 1 acre pond. When we were looking at it, the seller threw some food in to show me the fish. There was a myriad of small bream and about 7 blue cats around 7 or 8 pounds. He said that he had stocked it with bluegill, crappie and blue cats. I didn't see any crappie feeding but don't know that they would take fish food like the bluegill. I would like to manage the pond for nice size bluegill and 2-3 pound catfish. I will try to fish out and trap some of the small BG but my question is, since the pond seems to be out of balance, would it hurt or help to put a few HSB in to eat some of the BG?

There isn't much structure in the pond except for a fallen tree that is at one end. The shore line drops quickly to the maximum depth of 8 feet. It is mostly spring fed with some run off. I know that crappie are a bad idea in a small pond but don't want to do anything drastic until I've lived with it for at least a year.

What do ya'll recommend? Thanks.

Welcome to PBF!

IMHO I would fish it for a while and see what you catch before making changes. One thing I would do now is fish targeting those big blues and get them out if you can.

I am sure some other folks will be along to welcome you and offer advice.

Again,

Welcome!

Bill D.

Hey AR, I too have a 1 acre pond. Fortunatley I did not have any crappie in mine! Or catfish!

I agree with Bill D. I would get them big ole blues out of there. They get hook shy and will eat up some big BG!

HSB wont keep your BG at bay! They may eat some yes but, if your goal is Large BG then you need 10 to 14 inch LMB they will keep the BG at bay and the ones that make it past the LMB will get large and in charge!! Here is one of many I now have after 4 years. This one is an exceptional one, but I have quite a few now in the 8 to 9.5 inch size. Here is what I have in my pond.

CNBG, RES, LMB, HSB(20) a few HBG from some GSF I had. I now also have bass anywhere from 10 inches to 18 inches. They been growing eating all them BG!

Most would tell you cause you really have no idea what you have to drain pond kill it off and start all over, but if that's not an option for you then enjoy fishing it. Keep them Blue Cats and see if you have any bass? Fish with a few of those smaller BG with a bobber and see what you catch, but if you do hold on cause it could be a biggen!!

RC

I'll be the devils advocate, until you get some LMB in there to crop you're crappie and BG back I would leave a few cats in there as your main predators least til bass get big enough to take over.
Just my opinion but hey I like crappie!

Also welcome to the forum

Pat

RC,

That is one pretty gill!

Thank you both for the welcome and the advice. I echo the sentiment. That's one fine fish! Is that a coppernose?

I may rethink keeping catfish in the pond. I do pretty good catching wild ones on the river. One problem with the lmb though, I can't catch them to save my life!

Hope y'all have a good weekend. We're packing for the move!!! Long time coming....

Exciting time. Be safe!

Thanks for the warm welcome and your advice. We just closed on the land and now have to wait on the previous owners new place to be ready. We'll move in about 30 more days. Still thinking about my options but I think that my best short term move is to live with it till next spring, see what's really in there and decide based on real information, not just hearsay.

Really love this site. Y'all have really good information and have fun too, the best of both worlds.

If it were my pond I would start over.

I don't believe that the crappie or the blue cats have any place in a one acre pond. That is just my opinion though and your mileage may vary.

I would PERSONALLY give it a year to find out what is really in there.

+1
Give it some time and fish it. See what the weight to length ratios are and go from there. Things might work with a little tweaking
Just my thought


Pat