Pond Boss Forums Thread Like Summary - Common carp

Hi, newly registered to the forum. I've been lurking/searching the forum for a while, regarding this issue. I own 2/3s of the shoreline of a ~3 acre pond. The remainder of the shoreline is owned by 6 homes/an hoa. The pond is 10' at deepest point, average is 5' ish. It is drainage fed from the neighborhood. This spring will start year 3 of me attempting to manage fish populations.

My current evaluation sits at:
LMB-Catchable size (14+") were stocked by neighbors in the past (58 fish stocked, supposedly) I have never fished for the bass, but caught 3 different year classes on worm/bobber last summer (4", 7-8" and ~12") and these fish were all very healthy (RW is a new concept for me, but all fish I caught were football shaped!)

GSF- Multiple age classes present
BG-Multiple age classes present, no large fish. Moderate population at best.
Common Carp-present and reproducing. Were introduced in a flood over a decade ago. We removed 6 5 gallon pails full of adults last year. Minnow trap shows plenty of juvenile carp.

Bowfin/Dogfish-juveniles present in small numbers in minnow trap (native here, likely introduced sane time as carp)

Bullhead-present in pretty decent numbers.

Not much else for minnows/ forage base

Goals-Reduce carp and bullhead population. Grow as many 3-5 lb bass to catch and release, as we can.

Bass will eat the carp up to a certain size. Anglers and eagles/osprey have greatly reduced the adult carp numbers the last year. Are there other predators that could be stocked to help? Flathead was discussed, but long term worries of decimating goal fish populations...What am I missing as far as reducing reproduction/recruitment of carp? Bowfishing is not an option, Karen across the pond would have a fit! Draining and starting over is not an option either.


Will cooler water species such as pike or walleye survive a shallow pond in SE Wisconsin summer?

If you made it this far, thanks for your time, and any input you might have!

Basically just 10% (even 5%) of the surface area of the pond needs to be ice free to stop a winterkill, and the diffuser should be in 1/4 to 1/3 the total pond depth, so putting one in front of your house should be no problem - depends on the HOA.

as for the gill net, again, just in front of your house would work. You take out trash fish and release any good fish. Talk to Karen and see about how she envisions the pond to be managed. Talk to the HOA board and get their blessing. Then once you have their blessings, you can tell Karen to go pound sand. A LOT depends on the HOA rules and regs.

Several local ponds here had winter kill last winter. My favorite little 1/2 acre public honey hole was 100% killed. Dead magnum gills, channel cats, bass, littered the edges. Our pond 1 mile away had 0 killl during this period. The lack of vegetation decomp surely helps with this. I read about HSB but I think they'd be a one year and done thing here, there is ice on this pond from November to March.

I am not feeding anything yet. I may be able to hide an aerator in the corner closest to my house if the need arises
Definitely won't be able to do the center/anything obvious. Hoa ownership of part of it makes things complicated.

I do own a couple cast nets, and need to practice before my next saltwater fishing trip.

Are you talking about water temp or air temp? Water temp in ponds that aren't super cooled by an improper aeration system installation/operation shouldn't get cooler than 39°F. As long as there are sufficient O2 levels, HSB will survive under the ice.

Tell "Karen" she is protecting ANS species and ask her if she wants the responsibility of stopping the betterment of the situation.
Why does said individual have more authority than the rest of HOA participants?
"Karen" needs a carp put under her car seat on a 90 deg day...

Dave,
Next time, say never mind me, I'm just here to feed the alligator.

You might consider stocking a few Tiger Musky, a cross between Northern Pike and Musky. They are more heat tolerant than Pike, and do not reproduce. They can grow up to about 38 to 40 inches, so unlike Flathead wouldn't eat 3 to 5 lb LMB. Should help with carp. Great sportfish, too!

The Carp, bullheads and dogfish will be a constant issue, another flood could bring more in. Look into getting a gill net and deploy it/run it a weekend a month. Run it every 6-8 hours and you can remove a lot of unwanted fish and return the good fish back to the pond. The bullheads can be removed with baited catfish traps. Look at Memphis Net and Twine for them, Or you could use a modified fyke net to catch them and sort out/return the good fish to the pond.

I was going to also suggest Tiger Muskie as anthropic did, but I'm feeling like your somewhat shallow depth would be more of a concern for survival over cold winters vs. survival over warm summers in Wisconsin. I think 10' depth is plenty for survival during a winter with the understanding that you are in Southern WI.

Are you doing any feeding? If so, bullheads do tend to gather when feed is thrown, and if they do, you might have some luck using a cast net several times a week.

Removal of as many of the 'trash' or 'rough' fish as you can is a good thing towards getting better sized fish.

Stocking adult bluegill may be a good idea too.

Don't forget about Hybrid Striped Bass also. They may help with some of the juvenile rough fish.

World record is 96 pounds. I caught a 20# one when I was a kid on 8# test line. 30-40 pound specimens in the Great Lakes is common. 10-20 pound ones are very common.

I'd like to stock a fish that preys on otters.

Hammerhead sharks would do it