So I've been reading a lot of information since I've joined and have now convinced myself I do not know where the heck to even begin 😄

I know I've got a FA problem and my LMB are more than likely stunted based on my catches. I know I need aeration... So much I could do to start, but I don't know where... Well, I won't do aeration this year because I can't afford to do what I want. What is the best place to start?

I am sure an expert will be along shortly to help, but I can give my two cents. I believe a good place to start would be manually removing as much FA as possible to get excess nutrients out of the water. Secondly on the LMB and BG you should catch as many as possible to assess the population, so you know what fish need removing and where the gaps are. I am sure somebody will come along soon and help you more than I.

Could you tell us a little more about your pond? How big? How deep? How bad of an FA problem? 50? 70? 90 percent???

If I were starting over now and just got my pond and could not afford air. I would.......

Learn what to use to control my FA to some degree. Have my water tested to see if it needs anything. Start catching LMB and getting some RW's on them. If they are below 90 percent RW I would get rid of them.

I would say do an electroshock of your pond to see what you have but if you cant afford air I'm sure you cant afford shocking your pond right now either....

When you catch your fish do they look healthy? Do they have any kind of black specs on them or parasites or little critters moving around on their scales??? Or do they just look skinny? If it's option 1 then you may need some RES in your pond to help with possible snails that are being used as hosts for the parasites....

IMO if you have ducks or geese get rid of them they do nothing but make a mess in your pond and leave possible parasites in your pond from there bird crap and their mouth all kinds a ways....

Oh and I would also buy the book Perfect Pond Want One? In the PondBoss store. Lots of great info in that book!!!

RC

How old?
What's in it now?
And what are your goals?

Usually, you can't go wrong with a relatively neglected LMB pond in the south by removing as many of the stunted LMB as you can, unless your primary focus is a trophy panfishery. But it all depends....

If needed organize a kid fishing derby. You could get some help from the local Rotary Club or such. Do not return the catch would be the idea.

Avants,

Remove every skinny LMB and every LMB under 14 inches.

That is the simplest place to start.

Think about adding Tilapia for FA control and additional forage.

Once you answer the other questions, additional advice should follow.

Thanks folks, I appreciate the responses. I am one who mostly will let a few days pass before I respond to posts. Plus there is that thing called work...

Thank you - so far, I have caught approximately 30 LMB and 2 BG. I guess I am happy to know I have BG, just need to figure out how many are in there. I am going to get a seine in the near future and see what I can determine with that.

RC - thanks for making me think

“Could you tell us a little more about your pond? How big? How deep? How bad of an FA problem? 50? 70? 90 percent???”

The total size of the pond, based on Google maps and measurement toos, is about 1.52 acres. I own about .57 acres of it, and the abandonded house/lot next door owns the rest (I know that is a separate issue, may be some legal issues down the road - ill cross those bridges if and when i need to).

I am not certain how deep. I was able to find a used pond pounder this week for a OUTSTANDING price and will be paddling around the pond and getting depths. I would be surprised if it is deeper than 10 feet.

I say i have a FA problem because I would get caught up in it while fishing and it is all over the shoreline perimeter, but maybe I don't. I would say less than 20% of the entire pond has FA.

“Learn what to use to control my FA to some degree. Have my water tested to see if it needs anything. Start catching LMB and getting some RW's on them. If they are below 90 percent RW I would get rid of them”

I will figure out if I really do have a FA problem and get my water tested ASAP. I have been keeping mental records of my catches but do need to get them on paper. I know my smallest LMB was 9” and would not even register on my scale (I will get a better scale). The largest was 12” and weighed .7 lbs. I will be having friends and family come catch what they can and I will try to have a slot limit established by then.

“I would say do an electroshock of your pond to see what you have but if you cant afford air I'm sure you cant afford shocking your pond right now either....”

Would love to electrofish – but even if I had the money, I am not sure my pond would be accessible for their boat/trailer without taking fences down and the CMO (Chief Marriage Officer – aka my wife) would not like that too much. And… while I cannot afford the air setup I want, and since I don’t own the entire pond and will wait until someone buys that land (been vacant since 2008 and if I could just buy the land without the crappy house I would do it), I did do some googling and found a way to do something. I know it is not going to help the entire pond, but I felt something, even temporary, is better than nothing for what I do own. So, I have a sump pump throwing water onto the surface. Not sure that is getting more oxygen in the water, but I have noticed 100’s of minnows in that area, whereas I never saw anything but moss there before. That’s cool to me  I am building a pvc venturi device this weekend that I am hoping will do a better job.

“When you catch your fish do they look healthy? Do they have any kind of black specs on them or parasites or little critters moving around on their scales??? Or do they just look skinny? If it's option 1 then you may need some RES in your pond to help with possible snails that are being used as hosts for the parasites....”

Fish look healthy – good color – no critters. Just look small and skinny

“ IMO if you have ducks or geese get rid of them they do nothing but make a mess in your pond and leave possible parasites in your pond from there bird crap and their mouth all kinds a ways.... “

We have 2 migratory Canadian geese that do not appear to be old enough little ones, and other occasional visits from migrators as they come/go, but no year round birds – all wild.

“Oh and I would also buy the book Perfect Pond Want One? In the PondBoss store. Lots of great info in that book!!!”

Will definitely pick it up in the near future. Thanks!

Thanks for making me think like RC did.

It appears the pond is about 30-50 years old. Man made, stock tank that is slow spring fed. It got really low a few years ago (well, low to me – I know that is subjective) but still appears to have had enough supply to about 50% of it in water (again, estimates, could be more/less, I did not track it then)

I know there are Water Moccasins, Cotton Mouths, turtles, LMB and BG. A neighbor tells me a few years ago, when his pond was drying up, he put LMB, Crappie and Catfish (not sure if channel or other) in there.

And my goals – thank you for bringing that back to the forefront for me. My goal is for the pond to provide a enjoyable/challenging LMB experience. Except for culls, and even then I have no plans to eat them (let others do that), I am catch/release. I don’t think I have ever caught a LMB over 2 lbs in my life, so, at a minimum, I would like to have better than average chances to catch healthy and appropriately sized 2+ lbs LMB, if realistic.

I have wondered if Stripers would be good in there also, but want the focus to be LMB. If Stripers negate the goal then no biggie. I want to get going on the LMB first if both are possible.

I am not interested in Panfish… if they get caught they will go back unless they need to be culled.

Thank you!

Thanks Dan - I am planning a friends/family derby after I get more data. Planning on doing that as soon as possible. Great idea and thank you!

Thanks Highflyer, after i figure out if I really have a FA problem, and if i need Tilapia, wont i need a permit for them?

You mentioned 12" and 0.7lbs. Std size (100% RW) is 0.9lb at that length. So he was 78% RW. That would indicate they are hungry. Your scale may have been accurate to +/- 0.2 lb, so yeah. I mailordered a scale that reads to 0.1 oz for not that much.

Look toward the bottom of this post for some small LMB std wts.

http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Main=33841&Number=444865#Post444865

Going by that info on size and weight, I would start by removing at least 30 pounds of bass (Not 30 bass) per surface acre of all sizes this year. The only ones that I would leave in would be the ones that weighed over 110% relative weight. I doubt you will find any that fat, but you might.....