I think it is a good idea for you to build a forage pond maybe around 0.1 ac or 60X70 or similar size. One can grow quite a few fish in 0.1 acre if feeding appropriate fish food. Paint roller pan shape forces all fish into the basin as the pond is drained. Draining each year is very,, very beneficial to minimize rooted weed and FA growth problems that always occur in and plague shallow ponds. A Fresh start with a clean basin each year. A lot of fish farms do this sort of management each year to minimize weed problems.
A Forage pond could be a good place to grow some YOY perch if GSF do not allow good YP or SMB recruitment in the larger pond.
Some adult SFS and BNM 20-50 of each,,, each spring along with one ribbon of YP eggs would make this a very useful forage pond.
Maximum depth of 5ft - 6ft IMO is good especially if you do the annual draining and fish transfer. This avoids the common problem of winter fish kill due to deep snow cover and DO loss very common to MI ponds. Annual draining maximizes the amount of fish for transfer at the end of each growing season.
Drawing down the pond for fish kill: A. reduces the amount and cost of chemical that has recently doubled in price. B lowering the water level forces all fish in to a smaller basin that helps reduce the changes of small fish hiding in shallow tight cover where the rotenone concentration may not be high enough nor penetrate long enough to kill them. GSF are tolerant fish of low DO and require higher concentration of rotenone to effectively kill them. GSF are tough fish. I hauled an 8" GSF home out of water for 8 miles, put it in a bucket of water,,, it swam and survived. 1ppm rotenone kills BG & LMB. I use 3ppm to kill GSF.
IMO rotenone is not very practical for a strong ground water nor spring fed pond.
Until you get some 10" to 12" SMB going, feed all the trapped GSF to the racoons and opossums. .
Last edited by Bill Cody; 06/17/24 07:59 PM.
