Proud new owner of a 2/3 acre pond in central Virginia. My goal is to have a healthy population of BG and LMB with a few bass getting to 2-3 lbs and the remainder being smaller. Long term I'm planning on aeration and feeding bluegill to boost pond productivity. I recognize a 2/3 acre pond will require closer management.
However, I first have to figure out what I got today...
Pond appears healthy having done the basic water testing of Ph, phosphates, nitrates, etc. with everyone coming back in healthy levels. Water clarity is about 24’, good depth throughout with 3’ at banks dropping quickly to 8’-11’ for most of the pond area, it’s light on aquatic plants, some filamentous algae (not bad but watching), and decent structure with numerous downed trees. I've seen plenty of frogs, newts, toads, turtles. A toad spawn(?) last week was both impressive and raucous.
So onto the fish. Over several days of fishing I’ve only caught or seen small LMB. Of the 30+ fish I’ve caught only one or two was much beyond 10 and none of them were fat. They were not tough to catch. Despite targeting bluegill while fishing, I’ve come up empty. I haven’t set a minnow trap but that is next on my list. So far looks it like LMB need to be culled.
I’ve caught and release everything to date, but haven’t done any length and weight documentation.
What are recommended next steps give what I’ve done so far?
As an aside, I’m not willing to do a drain and start over.
Last edited by 1997pond; 04/01/21 10:57 AM. Reason: Clarified goals for LMB population
