Had some time today and figured I would give an update and maybe a couple more questions.
I did decide to move forward with the plan with a commitment to continued agressive weekly harvesting indefinitely while continuing to closely track weight and am going to begin adding length to the tracking.
Regarding the bass harvest, the total count is now at 283 and estimated around 90-100 lbs based on the readings I have gotten since I started weighing the fish. I've been using the Rapala High Contrast Digital scale, 50lbs. I haven't thrown any back, although there haven't been but a handful that would even be considered to throw back.
The lime is in and I have added 2 applications of fertilizer since then. The first application after the lime produced what seemed (to me anyway) to be a pretty thick bloom. I came to the pond a few days after the application and it was pretty thick green with a thin film and producing many bubbles at the surface. That was in the afternoon. By the next morning, it had cleared up considerably but still had the nice, green tint. I was worried about this at first, but after reading up on it, it seems to be normal. It seems to have only had that big bloom the one time.
I have increased the cover with larger laydowns around the perimeter in probably 10-12 different spots. I have been using small oak trees and larger branches. Also, holly trees. One thing that seems to be already successful is an idea I got specifically from this site after looking at all of the homemade habitat pictures on here. I found an iron bedframe with springs in our old abandoned camp. I cut 8 pieces of 2"1/2' PVC about 2 feet long each and put them at various places within the springs (I wish I would have taken a picture). I put it in about 8 feet of water 20-30 feet or so off the shore right near some good shoreline cover. A couple of weeks after putting it in, I started getting consistent bites around the shore as well as deep around that cover. I am planning on putting in another one (there is 1 more bed) as well as 5-6 more bass-specific cover spots around strategic areas. The idea (based on what I have read) is to create bluegill cover near the shore and deeper bass cover within striking distance. I have 4 50 gallon drums that I am going to work with this weekend and try to come up with something creative.
From what I can tell about the overall trends of the fish, I at least seem to be making progress. But that is where my questions start: The past month or so, based on calculating the relative wt of a few samples, I appear to be catching primarily young, healthy bass. In walking around the banks, I am also seeing quite a few fingerlings around 4 inches or so. I did see a big, healthy looking bass swimming in and around the bluegill at the feeder. Definitely the biggest fish I have seen in a long time. Don't know if that means anything but it was just encouraging to lay eyes on a fish in there that wasn't less than 13 inches long and thin haha.
I am working like crazy to continue to pull out any bass that I catch (unless it's obviously a bigger one) and was planning to do that throughout the next year. Also, the CNBG are scheduled to be put in next month so I am going to try to have all of the additional cover for both bass and CNBG in before then.
Questions for the group:
Is there really a way to know when you are where you need to be relative to the bass population? I seem to be having a much harder time catching stunted bass and even a harder time catching younger bass. I don't THINK that I need to slow down and I am not terribly worried about OVER-harvesting, but I thought I would get some input.
I asked this question initially but I think it just got lost in everything else: I have read that turtles are not really a factor in fish populations, but they are definitely affecting the bluegill feeding. Last week, I crept out and watched from a short distance and there were 5-6 turtles right in the middle of the feed gobbling up the food. I am thinking I need to start shooting them. Can you have too many turtles?
For birds, I have 1, sometimes 2, egrets that are at the pond daily. I have also seen what looks to be a green heron stalking the banks. I hate to get rid of them (the heron is REALLY cool) and my management guy says they shouldn't be a problem. He specifically mentione being on the lookout for cormorants and anhingas, but said I shouldn't have to worry about the egret and the heron. Any thoughts on that?
Thanks all!
Last edited by Horkstram21; 09/19/25 03:50 PM.
