Pond Boss Forums FISH & FISHING Fly Fishing & Other Fish Species Catching Goldfish

(Mods feel free to move this post if it should be elsewhere)

I apologize if this post is the equivalent of a stupid question but I am no fisherwoman so I thought I'd consult the pros.

I live in Southern New England and have an approximately 1/3 acre pond (150' approximate circumference). We have owned the property for 6 years. The majority of pond is 6 feet+ and the shallow areas reach 6' within 10' of shore. The pond is man made and was put in in the '70's to irrigate the garden. It is not lined. It is spring fed from the bottom and has an outflow (though the spring doesn't feed it so much that it is always outflowing, only when we get lots of rain). It has a stone bottom (not that I can see it) and the man who installed it used to swim in it and said it was 9' deep.

The owner before us, who bought the place in the 90's, added goldfish. They are 8"+ man-eaters. Well, not really, but they certainly do breed like rabbits. The pond has a lot of fish and minnows. They appear to all be goldfish. The minnows are dark in color, a charcoal color.

I would like to make the pond more swimmable. The two obstacles as I see them are muck (probably the goldfish are big contributors) and leeches, that live in said muck.

LMB have been suggested to eat the leeches and minnows. I am not sure how I feel about this as the LMB also eat frogs and are hard to sex, which means I could end up with too many of them.

So I would like to try and remove some goldfish and minnows first and only add more fish as a last resort. Any thoughts on the best way to catch Goldfish? I imagine that I should purchase a minnow trap (type and usage suggestions are appreciated). But how do I catch the adults? I have tried fishing for them, as ridiculous as it sounds. But I think they are too small to really hook.

Any suggestions?

Get a seine and seine them out.

Hey Greyhound,

As Esshup said, IMO if you're in a hurry the seine will be the surest and fastest.

If you want to trap the minnows, IMHO I would buy a Gee's G-40 Trap. If you want to try fishing for the larger ones again, use a #10 or 12 hook. Lot's of baits you can try. Dough balls, canned english peas, worm...I would keep the bait small and fish with an open bail so the fish can run with the bait a little.

FWIW IMO I would think the leeches are a bigger problem for swimming than the fish.

Good luck!

Bill D.