Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Need help finding out if my pond has fish

Hello! I recently moved into a house that has a pond in the backyard. We are getting it stocked within the next couple of months, but we would like to know if there are any fish in it. We have done fishing with no bites at all. There are 2-3 inch bass that wash up to the edge dead. There are not a lot, probably like 5-10. No other fish are washing up dead. Can anyones experience help out?

If you are seeing a few small dead fish show up after Winter (which I see every year, sometimes with one or two large fish thrown in), I would bet my annual Tilapia stocking fee that you have a whole bunch of live fish in there.

Bill Cody's "small piece of worm, small hook" sampling method is probably the best fishing way to find out. The fish will get more active/responsive as the water warms up. (LMB metabolism and appetite double with every 8 degrees F of water temperature increase.)

"....my annual Tilapia stocking fee...."


Quite the risk taker.

I agree with his advice though! Grab a bag fish feed locally and start throwing it out in a consistent spot at a somewhat consistent time, and you'll start to see what fish are in the pond.




And Welcome to Pond Boss!

I have been at people's ponds where I can determine the species and size of the fish that are feeding. At other ponds, I can only see quick flashes - with no clue as to what grabbed the pellet.

I expect an experienced hand feeder gets much more proficient at fish identification over time.

Is there an easy way to sample (lift seine, etc.) the feeding fish for rookie observers (like me), OR in the situations where a quantitative sample is required? (For example, to determine some relative weights.)

The O.P. has to start somewhere, and what I've suggested is one of many starting points.

2-3" Bass are not found dead on shore right now are they? If so, are you 100% positive they are bass?

They look like bass, just hard to tell, they don’t have much color. They’re all the same size when they wash up

Vadini34, I'm way out of my regional wheelhouse here, but 2-3" seems small for lmb. If they were spawned in 2021, they should be bigger than that. A few pics would sure help.