I'm not selling out, I'm upgrading ! It's a funny feeling, selling makes you half sick, the other half is "what if". For those who care to remember, I've been contemplating this for a while. The "Iron is Hot", it's time to move forward. I have several questions to the PB faithful about harvesting what I'm leaving behind.

1) It's going to be months before I find and buy a new property and get the earth movers going, I would like to make one final harvest of my current pond. What's ethical ? I would like to harvest a few LMB & HSB, then keep as many CC & Crappie as possible, I have 2 weeks.

Just fish heavily and keep what I catch ?

LMB - should I try to harvest anything...they are running 100% RW's, and the new owner is a "great guy", but a fishing novice. I will try to mentor him, a.k.a. maybe Eastland jr.

The most important FACT (i.e. tidbit) that anyone reading this should take away is : there's a fortune to be made building small ponds on small tracts of land. I will try to see if the correlation holds true as I work my way toward larger tracts Funny how ponds & patients go hand in hand...you need both, or you will fail.

Eastland,

I think it depends on what the buyer is expecting. If I bought your pond expecting it to be full of fish and found out you cleaned it out before you vacated the premises (or thought you cleaned it out before you left) I'd be ticked. Of course that may not be the case at all, but just adding my two cents. Personally if I sold a pond I'd want to leave it in as good as condition as possible.

Eastland,

Without knowing the sale details, I would tend to side with Cecil's thoughts concerning the pond and its contents.

Put yourself in the buyers position.

I'd leave it as is. Advise him to get on Pond Boss so it can remain the outstanding fishing hole that you created. In a way, it will always be your pond and your fish. If he messes it up, I figure you will consider it a personal matter.

i say take em if you want em. they are yours. no way is a major factor in buying your place the fish in the pond. it will come back. buyer wont know the difference and if it does then he will learn. i view it as extracting your value and maximizing your return.

There was a lawsuit, I'm pretty sure in TX, which Bob Lusk (IIRC) wrote about. The old property owner allowed friends to clean out the pond after the deal was made to sell the property. The new property owner sued over the lost fish and the case was decided in his favor. A dollar value was placed on each of the large bass removed; the total settlement was in 5 figures.

I wouldn't remove a whole lot of fish unless the sale agreement was clear on my right to do so. Precedence has been established.

Fish it the same way you would if you were not selling it. But I would talk to the buyer and see what he is going to do wrt management. If he is not going to keep feeding you both would benefit by reducing the numbers. If he does not have feeders and you are taking yours then the #s will need to be reduced. Without a seine or shock boat that is not always an easy job.

I would take a few choice fish in each species, but I wouldn't clean the pond out.

If and when I ever sell my pond, I'm going to sell it to a person who likes to fish, and we're going to go fishing before price negotiations.

Dude (potential buyer) would have to have a mean poker face to not to compromise his negotiating position after hooking into numerous 3-4lb.+ SMB
and HSB.

Then, if the guy tries to hardline me, I'll tell him that I can take a lower price, but I'm going to remove more fish.

I would have also informed him that I'm taking some fish regardless of sale price, and I'd give him a quantity and I would stick to it.

You don't put a smallmouth through graduate school and then leave him.

Great replys ! After taking into consideration everyones advice, I will simply put myself on a limit. I will be the only one fishing, and it's only for only 3 days. 5 fish limit per species per day...easier said than done

I will post pics upon my return Sunday.

WOW that would be like buying a fast car then after you get it home finding the motor was gone! My feelings are you reap what you plant in this world …………….taking the fish will come back to haunt you………….leave them and get permission to fish it!

Good choice. I'll look forward to seeing the pics.

Last fall I mentioned here that we were going to have to sell our place because of declining health. When we moved out here onto 150 acres of mostly mature woods and a 13.5 acre pond at the base of our “mountain” (or what passes as a mountain in Alabama), the wife set the condition that we build her dream house here. I decided then that we would never get our money out of the place, for few people who would pay what the house is worth are willing to live so far out and with trees, the mountain, and the pond for neighbors.

Fortunately, we found just the right fit, and we closed yesterday at a moderate capital gain. I told the new owner today that our plan was to treat the property as if it were always going to be ours until they moved in, a month from now. He found that very agreeable. So, I will continue to feed the bluegill, put in Tilapia in their season, fertilize, and take advantage of the spring fish harvest, culling out all but the very largest bass and keeping enough bluegill to have for breakfast. He is quite agreeable, especially since he has an open invite to fish with me and learn the “hot spots.”

I think that the secret to ethical treatment of a pond that has been sold is to discuss what you want to do with the new owner. That way, you don’t take any chance on taking advantage of the buyer, and you can have guilt-free enjoyment of what you have worked to build up. After all, the point isn’t ever catching out all the biggest ones; it is relaxation and enjoyment.
Lou

The pond should be left as it was when the deal was made. I hope you already knew what the honest course would be before you asked.

Eastland don't fill guilty about taking the fish. Do you need me to come down and have a Rotenone party. We'll have one hack of a fish fry.
I got family just over them hills to the north of your place. They are experienced with problems like yours. Leavem or eatem that's what they say. Besides the guy who bought your place is only concerned about the BIG BUCKS. I bet he saw your website with that ten point floaten, well the rest is history. How about posting a pic of when it was full, 25 ft wow. Let's give it a proper burial. All kidding aside good luck in your new search. If you find something up around Woodson in Throckmorton County give me a shout. That's were I was reared, and family roots are deep there.Oh hunten pretty good too.

Eastland,
Good end result, you don't stop flushing the toilet, watering the plants or enjoying the spring blossoms.