Greetings, my name is Rick and I live just outside of Winters, CA on an old walnut ranch. I have been here for 20 years. About 15 years ago I enlarged a small seasonal pond on my property. It is now about 7' deep and about 1/4 acre. I have never had anything in it but Gambusia. I usually let it dry out when the pond weeds get too bad. But now my little boy, 9 years old, has gone nuts for fishing. I have thrown some blue gill and smb in there over the last couple years and they survived until the pond was drained for cleaning. Now I would like to get a permanent population. Our local fish are BG, smb, lmb and the Sacramento perch minnow (squaw fish). So I just cleaned the pond this spring and mosquito abatement threw in some type of very aggressive Gambusia that is about 30% larger than previous populations. I am now reading that people are calling Gambusia "damnbusia" and that they do more harm than good and that BG will keep the mosquitos down just as well. I want to get a population of BG and/or bass that my boy can fish. I will drain the pond it I have to but prefer not. Can I just keep adding DB and SMB and LMB that we catch or will the Gambusia overpopulation stop their reproduction? Right now there are only 4 BG and 4 smb and 1 lmb in there, all under 6 inches and about a gazillion Gambusia. I mean the Gambusia attack me when I get in the pond. Anyhow, that is why I am here. Oh, the pond is well fed all summer and runoff fed in the winter. I have no power out there, no aeration or pumps, etc. Bottom is mud, willows and oaks grow around it and cattails, etc., grow in it. There are no features on the bottom no rubble or anything else. There were hundreds of tree frogs but I think the Gambusia ate all the tadpoles this time. Thanks, Rick
