Hello everyone. Just purchased my future retirement home in Lower Alabama and it came complete with 2 ponds. The first is between 1/2 and 3/4 acre in size and was told that it is 8 feet deep. It is crystal clear and over grown underwater with some sort of vegetation. It has according to the stocking report that I recieved 500+ BG stocked last year and 5 huge grass carp. I am looking to stock LMB very soon and Tilapia to eat the FA that is growing everywhere at the moment. The grass carp don't seem to be eating any of the submerged weeds I have so I am working on getting those identified. The second pond is less then 1/2 acre and was told 28 feet deep and it is stocked with CC BG and 1 big grass carp. That pond seems to be doing fine from what I can tell the water is not clear like the larger one. I want to use both my ponds for recreation. I was feeding my catfish until the feeder feel in the pond because something erodded awy the sopt the post was set in as my water level dropped due to the heat. So my biggest goals at the moment are to get my weed problem under control and then to get started on growing some nice bass. On that note i have talked to 2 different fish suppliers locally and one said to stock fingerling LMB and the other told me to stock larger bass due to the wide range size of BG already in the pond (fingerling to large palm size). Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Hello Ah64driver2002 and welcome to Pond Boss. First off congratulations on your retirement home.

I hate to be the one to have to tell you this but your retirement is now over. You wrecked your retirement when you purchased a property with not one but two ponds. You will now spend all of your spare time worrying about the pond, thinking about improvements you can make to the pond, working on the pond, talking about the pond, writing on forums about the pond, generally obsessing about the pond.

So now that you know your retirement is over and done with let's get some expert feedback for you.

Welcome to Pond Boss, sorry to hear about your retirement problem.

One item that seems strange to me is the stocking of large Grass Carp. I seem to recall reading on the forums that younger Grass Carp eat more vegetation than older (larger) ones do but let's wait for expert feedback.

JHAP was right on all counts, but he forgot to add "taking pictures of your pond", to the list of obsessions.

We like pictures.

So your goals at the moment are to get the weeds under control, and start growing some big Bass?

I remember when I started with only two goals, so innocent and unsuspecting.... that's before my hair turned grey, my fingernails fell off, and these dark circles appeared under my eyes.

No worries though, I'm sure you'll be fine...

Welcome aboard!!

Haha, welcome to Pond Boss ah64.

I would learn towards stocking larger LMB instead of fingerlings, if you can source them, for the reason you mentioned. You're going to end up with a LOT of BG in those ponds and you want your LMB hammering them right away.

I am not sure when the carp were put in and what size they were. I just know they are huge now. and Don't seem to eat much grass but they are loving the bread and chips my kids are feeding the BG. Hope to get a guy out this week to look at my weeds and determine if the carp will eat them. If they do I will be getting a fresh batch of smaller carp to help clean some of this stuff up. I know I have FA which I am going to try and get some Tilapia to fix for me as well as feed the bass I plan on putting in. Hope this all works out.

I was told by a biologist for the state of Oklahoma that grass carp cause more problems than good they do. They destroy bluegill and largemouth nests and hardly control what they what are supposed to.