With 66 acres of water you may not or should not have to feed pellets to grow big or quality fish. This is a very good topic and lesson for forum discussion.
Two items of several things or topics have a big influence here.
1. Pond fertility. Even with infertile water, thus clear water (vis 4-6ft), 66 acres can grow a lot of total fish poundage when the system is functioning at carrying capacity. With some increased alkalinity / fertility / plankton the fish poundage will be even higher. If the poundage of fish is harvested and managed correctly one should be able to skew the sizes / community toward large individuals without pellets. Fish poundage (carrying capacity -standing crop) due to natural fertility ranges from a low of about 50 total fish pounds per ac in clean clear low alkalinity water to a high or around 450 lbs/ac in high alkalinity (90-180 mg/L) limestone soil based ponds. These total account for or encompass about 10 times more forage fish pounds than sportfish pounds a typical 'natural' forage to predator balance.
For our 66 North Carolina clear water acres, lets assume 130 total fish pounds per acre (8500 lbs / 66 ac); 13-15 lbs/ac will be predator pounds and 115-117 lbs should be forage - panfish. If there are 14 lbs of bass /ac then the 66 ac has 924 lbs of bass. If 25% of the bass should be harvested each year to produce overall larger bass there needs to be 231 lbs of bass removed each year to achieve the "goals" of larger bass with natural foods only management. Ideally there should be some panfish also removed each year and this will take additional time / effort. Is the owner up to this challenge and does he have time and resources to do MORE if the pond becomes more fertile?
2. Adding pellets without proper harvest / management will just result in more fish but not necessarily larger average fish. Increasing the carrying capacity by feeding, fertilizing, or increasing the alkalinity means harvesting more fish to achieve goals of larger fish. Is this a management method / effort you have time and ability to achieve beyond the current status of the 66 acres?
My point is manage the 66 acres properly and it will produce lots of high quality fish without feeding pellets or increasing fertility.
My question for the fishery experts is: Will larger sized fish be able to be produced if the system has low or high fertility? Managed properly which system will produce or is capable of producing the largest fish?
Last edited by Bill Cody; 01/22/18 09:04 PM.
