Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations What happened to my pond?

I bought a farm with a 40 year old pond five years ago. It's about 15 acres and fairly shallow, the maximum depth being maybe nine feet. Run off and spring fed. Since I've owned it we've always had good luck catching BG, LMB and back crappie.
It was dry here last year and we went into winter 2 to 3 feet low and had pretty thick ice, though we should have still had four feet of water beneath it. In early April of this year the water was still low but the fishing for LMB was very good. Also caught a crappie or two but no bluegill. A wet April filled the pond and slowed down our ability to catch bass. Still an occasional crappie but no blue gill.
I didn't get a feeder installed until early June, but now nearly a month later I don't see anything eating when it goes off.
In previous years I would see bluegills swimming around the dock but this year nothing. A couple of weeks ago I saw thousands of small fry swimming around the dock but didn't have a net with me to catch some to get a closer look. I think perhaps they were bass.
So lately the bass are hardly biting and I still haven't caught a bluegill. Is it likely that all the bluegill might have winter killed but not all the bass? And if all the gills are gone wouldn't the bass be very hungry and easy to catch?
What's going on here?

Sounds like it's time to sample....how about a seine, or a few fyke net captures for an evaluation of what's down there?

How about the LMB had an easy time eating the BG because of the lower water. Ate all of them, so the LMB survived. Now the LMB are eating crappie and each other. Just a thought.........

I think that fish n chips has this one pretty well nailed. If the water was low for any length of time the BG just don't stand a chance. That is if there is a healthy bass population.

I guess this would seem to make sense, so now I have a pond of ever larger and fewer lmb.
How could one go about straightening something like that out short of killing off the pond.

A survey sampling to try being as sure as possible of your population, then adding/removing the fish needed to correct for your longer term goals.

How do the bass and crappie look as far as body condition goes? Fat and happy, or skinny and hungry?

What you are describing is the problem that I have every year. Pond level drops, there is no cover for the BG to hide in and they get hammered by the LMB. In the past 3-4 years I bet I've stocked 4,000 BG in my pond of various sizes, but mostly 5" and less. Very few survive 'till next Spring, and that's with what I think are 50-70 LMB in the pond of all sizes, from fingerlings to 5# ones.

Been there, done that.

I know it is very difficult to do, but I think I'd wait until late this season, or next spring to make any serious decisions.

In my younger days, I frequently saw lakes "freeze out" in Northern Minnesota and Northern Wisconsin. Ice out was pure yuck, needing a face mask and gag bag to walk the shoreline. A year later, these water bodies usually were much better, and far more vigorous fisheries than before the freeze out.

The bass seemed fat and happy. Haven't really caught enough crappie to tell their condition.
I suppose my best course of action would be to wait until next spring, then add as-large-as-possible bluegill. Thoughts? Perhaps also add something like fhm or gsh to take the pressure off the gills?

It does seem odd that even 8 or even 10" BG are gone. Do you have bass big enough to eat that size? Or weren't your BG that big yet? I would try to figure it out as soon as possible and get BG in there, if needed, as soon as possible for spawning purposes.

I wonder if the LMB get hungry for lack of BG, will they keep the crappie under control. Maybe you'll end up with trophy crappie lake! Gotta think positive...

What happened to your tank rig?

Tank rig? If you mean my RAS those fish went into a different pond.

The biggest BG we ever caught there was just under a pound. We fairly regularly catch 17 to 21 inch lmb.