Sorry Meadowlark...didn't see the questions you'd asked until just now.
We fish the pond perhaps 2 or 3 times in the summer. We'll keep 3 or 4 dozen gills at a whack, and then maybe get into the crappies. We don't take too many of them out...perhaps 25-30 all year.
Ice fishing it's a bit different. Catch mostly gills. We keep all over about 6 inches or so, and the dinks get tossed over the dam for the coons and possums. The crappie are a "primo" ice catch, and we might only get 3 or 4 every time we go out. That's maybe 2 or 3 times a year.
There's another old guy who fishes by himself, and I know he takes a fair number of fish too.
We don't keep any of the CC, as they taste kinda mossy, usually. A few folks have taken some over the years, though. These average 3-5 lbs each now, and we put plenty of them in there initially...over hundred, anyway. We've also put in maybe half a dozen flatheads (don't stone me).
When you catch a bass, they're hard pressed to go over 3 or 4 lbs...and they're skinny.
It seems as though the cats are better predators than the bass. The pond is usually fairly clear, but fairly dark water (tannins from upstream oaks, perhaps?). Most cats caught are healthy, but they've grown pretty slowly.
Obviously, we're predator heavy. However, (and this is pretty much purely accidental, as we had no access to a resource such as PB, back in 1993), we were after good numbers of nice BG and crappies (blacks, BTW). His kids (girls) liked to fish, and my brother and I would rather take home half a dozen schlab crappies than C&R a 5 lb bass.
This is pretty much how I've stocked my own first pond and will stock the second. Bass and CC heavy, lots of gills (but this time I've gotten into some great brood stock, if they breed true) along with some redears and 100 hybrid BG. Tossed in those few eyes for something special.
Anthing else I can add?
