Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations Need Help with an 6 year old pond.

Hello I'm new here but I have been reading the forums for a while now. Here is what I need some help with.

My parents built a pond on their land about 6 years ago. My dad has no concept of pond management and doesn't really like anything to be harvested. I am trying to get the pond back into shape as best I can. I think its almost to the point where a total clean out would be best, however my dad would never go for that so I need any advice you guys can give.
first off the pond is somewhere between 1/4 and 1/2 acre. It stays extremely muddy due to the high fish population. water clarity averages about 3 or 4 inches at best. It has been stocked with channel catfish, LMB, hybrid bluegill, 2 grass carp, black crappie, and recently about 5 HSB.

Bass in the pond are extremely thin and range from 9-14 inches. I see some fry here and there but they never seem to make it because I never catch any bass smaller than 9 inches.

Catfish in the pond are doing well but I believe they are overpopulated. best estimate would be around 50 or so. mostly in the 3lb to 10 lb range. Last year I started to take out anything that was under 20 inches. I like having big catfish I just don't think there should be near that many.

Bluegill are abundant with a lot of fry every year. sizes are mostly in the 6-10 inch range. the hybrids have bred out to regular bluegill and green sunfish. I have removed most of the greens Its pretty rare to catch one now.

Crappie numbers seem to be decent with a lot of 10 inch crappie however I have never caught any that are a different age group. they seem to all be within an inch or so of each other.

they hybrids were recently stocked so nothing big to say about them.

The bass are the only obviously thin fish in the pond however none of the fish look particularly fat either. except the cats.

My dad feeds the fish a catfish food on a fairly regular schedule.

Here is what I'm looking to do. I want the pond to be a trophy fish pond. I'm not necessarily worried about trophy LMB. but I would like to have a few giant cats, some 2 lb crappie, and some trophy bluegill. I would like the hybrid striper to be big as well if possible. I also would really like to get the clarity to at least a foot or so if possible.
I was thinking of removing most of the female bluegill, cutting the fins off and throwing back all bluegill in the 4-7 inch range. removing all catfish under 24 inches. And possibly restocking a few more hybrid striped bass to keep the crappie numbers in check if they start spawning. Please any advice or tips would be greatly appreciated.

The real experts will answer you questions but since I am up early I will add my guesses. It seems you have a lot going on for a tiny 1/4 to 1/2 acre pond. Crappies are usually suited for much larger bodies of water and will be in competition for food with you thin LMB. The catfish are stirring up the mud in your small pond and also competing for minnows that your LMB would eat. Also the water is so muddy and probably caused by the catfish rooting the bottom, that the bass may have a hard time seeing the minnows to eat.

Welcome Crappiejohn! I believe you have your work cut out for you, and it will be an uphill battle.

The LMB are so thin because there are just too many mouths to feed in the pond. Crappie in a small pond are a recipe for disaster, especially if the pond owner doesn't take an active role in managing them. They spawn before everything else in your pond, and eat a LOT of the little fish that are spawned every year. What they miss, the LMB eat before they get very big, and what they miss, the large CC clean up at night.

You are on the right track fishing out the CC, but you should take out a lot of the larger CC too. If you want a few large CC in the pond, I would clip off the adipose fin of a couple that you wanted to leave in the pond, and take out the rest. As for the LMB, take out every one you catch this year. I doubt that you will be able to catch every one, and the ones that are left will have more food to grow bigger. Even in water that has poor visibility, LMB will find food to eat using their lateral line.

Leave the BG in there to spawn, don't take out the females, at least this year.

As for the muddy water, take a mason jar and fill it up with water from the pond, and set it on the counter. If the water in the jar clears up in a couple of days, then you know that the water is being muddied my mechanical disturbance, i.e. fish. If it stays muddy, then look up a thread called "Alum kicks Clay's butt" and read it. Your pond will most likely need to be treated with alum.

A pond of a certain size can only hold a certain amount of fish. I think your pond might be getting close to the ragged edge. If something happens to reduce the O2 levels in your pond, then a majority of the fish will die, and your Dad won't have a choice about removing fish from the pond because they'll be floating belly up.

do the BG and redear eat the fish food too? have you thought about targeting them with the feeder? or in adition?

Thanks for the help everyone. So what I basically need to do is remove a very large quantity of fish in general. Is there any way I could leave some of the crappie. I had read somewhere that HSB work well in controlling the number of crappie offspring? anyway what would you say the most immediate problem is catfish, crappie, or should I try to remove both asap?
thanks
John

I think you should remove all types of fish any way you can. I believe its in the best interest of your pond.

John, keep every crappie you catch. You will never remove them all the ones that remain will grow much bigger. HSB may help reduce crappie overpopulation, but you will need to take an active role in it. Your hungry stunted LMB will do a better job of controlling them than all the other fish in my opinion.

I would look into aeration for your pond. You are packing a lot of biomass into a small body of water, aeration will reduce the risk the pond has a major fish kill.

I would remove as many of the CC you can catch. There will be a few that will slip through and they will be the ones that reach trophy size.