Originally Posted By: esshup
Originally Posted By: Bill D.

I have a small pond (with SMB and BG) and IMO it is way easier to manage than a larger one would be. Small changes by adding to your predator base and/or removing a few by angling can make adjustments to the pond balance way easier than in a larger pond. In addition to what Yolksac said, if you think you have too much recruitment from your BG you can always add a few more SMB or WE or YP (yes they eat small BG) or .....

IMO starting with SMB and BG just means you might end up with a more diverse pond than originally planned...never know what you will catch when you toss in a line!



Bill D, what size is your pond again? I forget.

Do you have to consider carrying capacity when adding predators? How many BG per surface acre should be removed by angling per year? Does sex of the BG removed make a difference?


Esshup,

Very interesting discussion.

Our pond is a water table pond that varies from .35 to .6 acres.

IMO of course you have to consider carrying capacity. I try for 100 to 150 pounds for my little puddle That’s one reason I posted you may need to harvest predators if the conditions warrant it, for example, signs the predators are over eating their forage base. I admit TJ’s example above where all the 1 to 3 inch BG are being extirpated but yet the pond is filling with 5 to 6 inch BG has me scratching my head. If the BG never make it past 3 inches then where are all those 5 to 6 inch BG coming from? IMHO you would want most of the 1 to 3 inch to be consumed with what few recruits that make it through being your future brood stock and your BG for angling/harvest. If you have too many 5 to 6 inch BG then maybe reach into your management tool box and consider adding a few large gap predators like single sex LMB as bonus catches.

With respect to how many BG should be harvested per year, IMHO, it depends. Using TJ’s example of all 1 to 3 inch BG disappearing, maybe you harvest no BG and harvest a few predators in an effort to get BG recruitment to your goal. IMO selectively harvesting male of female BG is a neat management tool although I’m not sure I could reliably identify male from female until they get pretty big (except maybe prespawn when the females are gravid).

My point was that with a small BOW removing/adding relatively small numbers of predators can significantly alter the pond dynamics where in large BOWs it is much more difficult.

I don’t mean to suggest it is easy or that we will necessarily get the outcome we are hoping to achieve. For example, if we add YP to the SMB and BG pond, they will undoubtedly target small BG but they will probably also draw the attention of the SMB away from BG as forage in lieu of the more fusiform YP forage. So what would be the net effect on the BG population of adding YP to the mix? Would the YP feed on the SMB spawn and effectively help manage the SMB population?

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