Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations Revitalizing a 2.75 acre farm pond

I have seen several similar threads, but with each situation being unique i wanted to go ahead and ask.

I have a 2.75 acre farm pond on our property. A little backstory. My grand dad had the pond dug probably 75-80 years ago. He loved this property and he really really loved to fish! It was last drained probably 25 years ago and stocked with bream and bass. Later carp and catfish were added. The problem we have, like many many others, is an over population and stunted bass population. It is our own fault for rarely taking any out. I have since built our house on the property and would really like to get this pond back in order with some healthy, large bass. In high school and in college i would help my dad in fertilizing the pond and installing fish feeds. Unfortunately, we gradually quit doing that, but i plan to start back.

I have read where, on average, you need to remove 20lbs of bass per acre. Yesterday i fished with a beetle spin and in 2 hours i caught 17 bass and 4 bream. The total bass weight was 9.75lbs and the bream was 1.75 lbs. All of the bass were long and lean. 3 of the 4 bream were nice sized. I did throw back 1 bass that looked "good".

I know from reading that draining the pond or rotenoning the pond would be ideal, but given the current situation i do not think it would be feasable, nor would i want to attempt it! The pond is jointly owned by my family and 2 of my dads sisters, It would be a nightmare going through with that. I really would want to do this myself, along with some help, by fishing the bass out.

What advice can you all give me? To me, 20lbs an acre seems a little light. I don't think that will put a dent in the bass. I did see what looked to be a 4-5lb bass hanging out just off the bank yesterday. That gives me some hope. I would really like to get things back on track because i know that is what he (my grand dad) would want. Thanks in advance.

I’ve never cared for formulas on how many to catch and cull. I prefer the idea of culling until you start to see results. But, I also like the idea of keeping a log.

The reason for rotenone and starting over is the ability to start a forage base prior to predators. That way they can both be managed. And, stocking bluegills with existing bass is adding snacks. A bass needs forage that is 1/4to 1/3 it’s size. It’s a matter of calories expended vs protein obtained.

Wishing you the best

I'm no expert on cull rates, but I would bet that 20lbs per acre, per year is a general rule of thumb for maintaining a LMB pond, not getting one back from being overpopulated. That will be up to you and your situation. Like Dave says...cull, record, and look for results. Relative Weights can be a great tool to use when culling. Basically, catch, measure, weigh, compare to a WR chart, & cull the most underweight-for-size fish. The puny ones are lacking in food. That tells you two things...you have too many of that size and too little forage for that size. Culling those fish reduces the numbers, leaves more food for the remainders. and try to promote forage for that size. Maybe by adding underwater brush piles that would help the smaller forage to escape and grow. There's a zillion variables, but that's were I'd start. Feeding the bream would also help build up your forage base and as the food goes from the bream and the bream get eaten...the bass benefit in the end.

On a side note: overpopulated LMB ponds can more easily lend themselves to trophy Bluegill ponds. Something to consider. Read a bit from the following thread. It may make since to try a grow some larger BG on your way to larger LMB.

https://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=189988#Post189988

I have the same problem just on a smaller scale. I have never took a bass out of my pond yet (12 years). Its loaded with runts. Just last night I was reading on here about clipping them. Since I don't eat fish very often I thought this was a good idea. I don't like the idea of just throwing them on the bank. So I figured clipping them and throwing them in as food for others was a better idea. It removes them ( at some point ). Its also feeds the others. Does someone have a good way of clipping them? I just took some scissors and took most of the fins off.

Thanks for the replies so far. We do have some preexisting structure we have added years ago. I usually throw our old Christmas trees in as well, but I do plan on adding some more structure in the near future. I am going to get a PH test of the water tomorrow and see what that tells me.

The 20#/surface acre/year is a loose rule of thumb to keep a pond from becoming bass stunted. To turn a pond around it's more like 30-35# per surface acre/year, and that needs to happen for a few years in a row until the bass are over 100% RW except right after spawning.

Thanks esshup. What is “RW”?

I had the hardness checked fir the water today. Came in at 10ppm with a recommended 1.5 tons of lime/acre.

RW = relative weight. There is a relative weight chart in the archives.

Relative weight. It's a way of measuring the length of a fish and seeing how much it "should" weigh, relative to its length.

Look here for RW learning...

https://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=160456#Post160456

Caught 11 more today. Total weight of 8 1/4 lbs. 5 bream at 2lbs total. Going after them in the AM too.

Will check out RW. Thanks for the info.

Caught 25 more bass yesterday with a total weight of 15.5 lbs. i did remember to check the RW of one. It was 12” long should weigh 0.8 lbs. it was roughly .45-.50 lbs.