Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations CPUE numbers?

Is there a ballpark number of largemouth CPUE/hr while rod and reel fishing?
I'm trying to track CPUE and just wondering what the numbers should look like.

CPUE?

Catch per hour is going to vary greatly depending on where you are fishing and the management style of that body of water.

In my neck of the woods, if I go to a public lake, I am expecting about two fish per hour. If I go to private waters that are routinely fished, I am expecting about eight fish per hour.

That being said, I've been to an overstocked lake that was severely under-managed. Fish had huge heads and deteriorating bodies. I caught thirty five fish in an hour....

CPUE is Catch Per Unit Effort.

Basically a measure of the "efficiency" of catching fish.


Layne,

I have seen that used on Pond Boss, but somewhat sparingly. I think(?) it is more commonly used as a descriptive technical term, rather than a highly tracked measurement.

Are you trying to track it over just a few smaller bodies of water, or more universally?

I think if you were tracking it for years on your own 2-acre pond, then it could have some great value. Especially, if you also tracked your length/weight of your fish.

As an average fisherman, I think the variability of the conditions is a bigger factor. For example, we have been almost skunked at a pond one Saturday, and then a week later just slaughtered the fish.

Those are just my opinions as a heavy consumer of Pond Boss readings. Hopefully, some experts will drop in and give you some better answers.

As usual, I was typing (more slowly) while someone else was giving you a reply.

I agree with ML.

A pond with stunted bass, or even stunted crappie, is going to create an incredibly high CPUE.

For a kids' pond, that may be exactly what you want. There would be times during the cycle where every cast would probably catch a 10" bass. However, that would be tough on you (and the fish) to sustain. You could then cull aggressively, and manage the pond for different subsequent goals?

CPUE varies greatly in my pond according to atmospheric conditions. South wind, falling barometric pressure fishing is good. North wind, high baro pressure, you can still catch fish but the numbers are way down. An East wind? Look for something else to do besides fishing.

Thanks guys, I'm basically trying to track it over a period of time on my pond... and I do realize that fishing conditions have a lot to do with it. I think that if that is tracked and recorded over a long period of time along with RW I could get a lot of useful information from it. Just like esshup stated using with wind direction and baro pressure readings could help in determining best days to fish then I could compare those type days over time to help gauge population stats.

I wrote me a small ios app to track as much info as I can so that I can do all types of comparisons and that is one I thought would be useful, especially for electro shocking. I've seen some numbers for electro shocking but really nothing for rod and reel fishing.

Layne,

I like your plan.

Please post your data in a few years.

I bet your post will provide a great benefit to some new pond owner in your area that wants to introduce his family to fishing but is not an expert.

In my experience, kids enjoy "catching" much more than they enjoy just "fishing"!

A friend of mine told me this twenty years ago before we had our kids. Take time to look under stones for bugs and critters. Bring live bait so that something is always happening. When you catch a fish, take time to look at it and teach about it. As adults, it's all about numbers or how big the fish was. For kids, it's just quality time outdoors making memories with someone they love.

The CPUE in my pond depends on how fast I can re-bait the worms on the hooks for the grand kids and take the BG off the hook, and how many grand kids I am trying to keep entertained.