I just bought a place with a 3/4 acre pond. It's about 12 ft deep, lots of lilly pads, turbid, I hear froggs and see little turtles. I also see lots of freshwater mussles. I'm sure there's small bass and blugills. My question is, seeing this and with the intent to raise lots of fat bass and et al what are some firsts I can begin to look at and do to understand and improve pond health and fish populations?

Hello Ladies.,

In a word, FISH!

Aside from laborious netting, fishing is the best (and most fun) way to get a feel for what's in the pond. Ideally, you want many large, plump bluegill (BG), and a few plump bass (LMB). "Rough" fish such as carp, drum, gar, bowfin, bullhead catfish, etc should be absent. A great bonus would be red ear sunfish. (RES)

Good luck!

disagree a little bit you want to bream of all sizes just large bream is a sign of a bass heavy(small bass) pond

So you're a little kid, right?

Why don't you try to do this. First, find a way to capture a fish. If you have a digital camera we can help you post a picture of your fish on this forum. It would be helpful if you can tell us how many inches long it is, and maybe how much it weighs. We will tell you what kind of fish it is and whether it is healthy or not. If we know a little bit about what kinds of fish you have and how fast they grow then we can give you some helpful hints on how to make your bass grow bigger.

I was a little kid once with lots of questions and, luckily, somebody took the time to answer them. We would be happy to help you some too. Really look forward to hearing some more from you.

Sincerely,

Bruce

Am I missing something? Why do we think this person is young?

From the actual writing, I would think adult. I don't see too many youngsters using "et al" in their writing.

Turbid water in the pond is not a real good sign. It could mean you have muskrats or carp or bullheads in the pond. Fishing is a good way to sample your fish. Start by fishing with a small hook & a piece of garden worm on the end of your line with a slender type bobber that is placed 2' to 4' above the hook. You can vary fishing depth by adjusting the bobber up or down on the line. You don't have to fish very far from shore - 8' to 25'. Take pictures of each different type fish that you catch. Also after or during bobber fishing try fishing with a baited hook lying on the bottom. This method should let you know if bullheads or carp are in the pond. Post or e-mail us your pictures. We will provide online help.

Sunil, Ladiesinpinknightshirts lists occupation as "little kid". Possibly mom or dad is assisting in creating post.

OK Bruce. I see now. I seldom look at the profiles, yet I noticed from one of your previous posts that you most likely check it first.

If I had a pond when I was a kid, I'd have gills by now and be living underwater.

Guys :

Part of the question was what can I look at...

Ladies you may want to look at the site below about Conn. ponds/lakes and fishing a publication by your Dept. of Natural Resources. A good place to begin your adventure.

http://www.dep.state.ct.us/burnatr/fishing/book.htm

ewest

Your quest "to raise lots of fat bass" may be hindered by the size of the pond. I think the others will agree, a pond of this size has its limit on the number of "fat bass" it will support. Do you have a number of fat LMB you are hoping to raise??

pinky:

Don't let 'em getcha down. You can have fat bass in that pond...maybe not hundreds of 'em, but plenty. Iowa's state record is from a farm pond.

Take Bobad's advice and fish the dang thing. That's the easiest and most rewarding way to find out what's in there.

Go to Wal Mart (or anywhere) and get a reasonably priced fishing pole, along with some smallish hooks or 1/16 the ounce jigs and either night crawlers, waxworms or (right now, especially) crickets or grasshoppers and rig up. Write down all the fish you catch (length, weight if possible) describing what they look like. Are they "fat" or do they seem really skinny.

If you can get those pictures and post them here (or even just describe as above), these folks will be all over you with telling you exactly what you have, if they are healthy, how to make them grow and how many to keep. Some fantastically helpful people here.

ladiesinpinknightshirts,

Fish and observe.....fish and observe. Your pond will tell you what it has and what it needs. The trick is figuring out what the pond is saying...but that is one of the things that makes this such a fun thing to do.

If you observe things that you need second opinions on, ask the experts on this Forum. You may very well get many different answers (all well meaning), but don't despair, that is simply an indication of the complexity of pond speak.

Congrats on the longest name tag I've seen to date.

Matt,

I guess my post does sound a little pessimistic. Relating to my own experiences (pre PB), when my first pond was built the results were very different than my expectations. No doubt a pond this size can yield some fat bass however my intent was to say that pinky should not expect to land a 5lb bass on every cast from a pond this size. I agree with the others that fishing this pond is the first step. Once they have a better picture of the pond soup, the advice they will receive here will help guide them to acheive their goals, provided those goals are within the bounds of a pond this size.