Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations RESTOCKING BASS

I have a pond with catfish, brim, perch, and bass. the pond was there before we bought the house.i am thinking about taking out all of the oxygen in the lake to kill all of the fish to build a great bass lake. is this neccessary? should i shock the lake first and see how many fish of each kind are in the lake? there are kentucky bass in the pond, if i add some florida bass they will crossbreed from my understanding. anyways, i want a great bass fishing lake...what should i do? thanks......

Where are you located?

Often it is unnecessary to kill out a pond before starting management.

You need to determine if everything is in place for your pond to work right. Depending on your location, ponds should have: 8-12' max depth at a minimum, no vegetation problem, some sort of structure/habitat, an adequate watershed, and an alkalinity of at least 20 ppm. This is to start.

You can learn a lot about what's in your lake by fishing, but an electrofishing survey is the sure-fire way to get you on the right path, if you chose your pond manager well.

Located in Jackson, MS.

i have fished the lake to a "T". i know what is out there. i caught a 6lber a couple of months ago. The rest of the fish have been less than a lb. there is plenty of structure on the damn, broken off trees, etc..i have no clue what an adequate watershed, and an alkalinity of at least 20 ppm means.?? what determines a vegetation problem? so putting FL bass in lake possibly could hurt the lake? the lake is 8 acres. its tough to fish the lake when you can go 30 miles down the road and catch some lunkers on 10 inch culprit red shad and finish them off with a rattlin chug bug. The chug bug has been essential for top water this year...

If you don't get alkalinity, read here lots of good info. to get you up to par. ALso hiring a good pond consultant if a wise investment. They will not only shock the lake but explain realistic goals and managament recommendations to acheive them. We still don't know size of pond? I think this goes a longways in helping to determine wht you can expect in numbers of big bass. Good luck!

Tropheybass,

I sent you a private message re: your question but it's still marked as unread. To access it, got to your profile (click on "my profile" on the upper right of the forum screen) and scroll down until you see your private messages.

Tropheybass,

Contact your local county agent, Bill Maily at 372-4651. Ask him these questions, his office is in Jackson. You can fill out a form and have a biological report/pond survey done by the Miss. Department of Wildlife & Fisheries. I had this done 2 summers ago. I filled it out in December they made it out around July/August.

They will come out electroshock/survey and send you a report with their recommendations. If you are there when they perform the works you can get immediately feedback from them.

Best of all its free of charge. Also being around Jackson, Bill may be willing to come out himself and help fish erm I mean help survey and can even seine it.

I am in Raymond myself, so if you want to come see my pond or just chit chat about pond stuff, feel free to send a private message, email, or call 857-6193.

There is also a mississippi farm pond discussion board that can be found by from this web page that has some local biologist that work for the Mississippi Department of Wildlife & Fisheries answering questions.

MDW&F Fishing