Last Friday, I had Dave "Beasley Bopper" Beasley of Solitude Lake Management electroshock my pond in Somerset, PA.
Myself, my wife, my brother, and his wife are the owners, and I have always been the one to manage the pond. We are absentee land owners, and the pond is about 52 miles, or about (1) hour from where we live. There is no electricity or living structures on the land.
I haven't been to the pond for close to (2) years.
With the arrival of kids, and then their collective activities, we just have not had time to get up there, as lame as that is.
Thankfully, I've got a 1/4 acre pond in my neighborhood, and that has provided the 'ponding' that we all deeply need.
In essence, I have neglected my main pond for close to (2)years.
This is a picture of Dave's boat; the 'chandeliers' are there, but the booms are disassembled:
This is the section of the pond that we were able to shock. This area ranges from 1' to 5-6'. A lot of sedimentation has occurred. We could not get to the other side off in the distance. That side would be 2' to 10' plus:
This is one of several large carp that we shocked. We also shocked a grass carp, but couldn't net him:
Here's a decent LMB for a northern pond. He's between 4 & 5 lbs.:
Here's a smallie probably a hair over a pound:
Here's one of many, many nasty white suckers that got shocked up:
This smallie was beat up bad, and was blind in one eye:
This smallie was of a decent size, maybe 2 lbs, but note the fresh hook in his/her mouth:
This is another smallie that was maybe a bit over 2 lbs.:
These are a mess of yellow perch. We brought up a lot of them:
This is the Death Pile where we deposited bullheads and white suckers on the shore; my foot is a hair over 12":
Overall, the process was very interesting.
Visibility was less than 18", and many times fish would go deeper when shocked, and thus I could not net them.
We shocked up many more LMB, but nothing worth documenting. We also brought up (2) crappie, and saw a lone northern pike (although I know that NP are reproducing in the pond).
I'm not surprised by the results as I have not been actively managing, nor even present, at my pond for close to two years. And, others are fishing it sans permission.
While the pond has no electricity, and any aerator system would sprout legs and run within days of installation, my pond is on the decline due to organic matter and silt.
Overall, an excellent experience, and good time, with our friend, Dave Beasley!!
