Pond Boss Forums INTRO New Forum Member Introduction New pond owner

You'd be surprised. Nothing has to be done quickly. It's more cost effective to form a plan first, figuring out your goals for the pond. Then take steps to implement those goals. The key is not to do something that you have to undo to do something later. Less $$ wasted that way.

Figure out your goals for the fishery. Larger bass and smaller bluegill? Up to 10" bluegill and 5#-6# bass? 12"+, 2# bluegill and lots of 12"-14" bass? There are lots of other options too. Once that is determined, an electroshock survey can be done to assess the fish population and at the same time fish can be removed that don't help you reach your fishery goals. Then once the population is assessed, a plan can be made to help you reach those goals.

Galvanized Gee Minnow Traps or Z-Traps can be used to sample smaller fish. Cheap and you can do that. A Fyke Net can be purchased, and used, but you need a boat if you don't have one. That would cost pretty close to what an electroshock survey would cost, and LMB don't go into a fyke net.