Anthropic here is an article from Virginia Department of Game
of Game & Inland Fisheries Conserve. Connect. Protect.
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Home Fishing Private Pond Management Pond Management: Managing Fish Populations
Pond Management: Managing Fish Populations
The purpose of fish management is to provide good fishing. Pond owners must decide what they want from their pond and tailor their management to meet their goal(s). Ponds less than 1 acre in size are difficult to manage for bass and sunfish. For ponds larger than 1 acre, a largemouth bass/bluegill fishery is the most popular option for Virginia ponds. Other options for ponds larger than 1 acre may include managing for trophy bass, trophy bluegill or trout. Consult your local fisheries biologist to discuss them.
Harvesting
All ponds have a maximum weight of fish the pond can support. In unfertilized ponds, you should be able to harvest up to 40 pounds of adult bluegill (about 120 fish) and 10 pounds of adult bass (about 8 to 10 fish) per acre per year. In fertilized ponds, you can harvest 160 pounds of bluegill (600 to 700 fish) and 35 to 40 pounds of bass (30 to 35 fish) per acre per year.
Thanks tubguy, great info! Their advice is quite a bit different than what I see so frequently here, though likely a lot of it has to do with goals. Someone interested in lunker bass, for example, might harvest more smaller bass while harvesting fewer BG. More forage fish for fewer predators means faster growth for the predators.
On the other hand, if a balanced pond is desired and sustainable food harvest is important, the Virginia folks are likely correct. At Pond Boss, it seems most folks who really want to raise food focus on CC rather than the classic LMB/BG pairing.
While I enjoy catfish, I like BG from clean cool water even more! That's not my main goal only because my BOW is a 65 minute drive away and I'm not that great at filleting.
