Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Trophic Status is this a viable strategy?

Water quality is the first step, but not the only step. Fish habitat and cover is another critical part of the puzzle, and so is fish harvest. I can show you ponds that according to water chemistry have everything needed to be a trophy fishery, but are bathtubs when it comes to fish habitat and don't have the fish harvest that they should have. They struggle to grow fish with good RW's even with supplemental feeding programs. Some fish are over 100 RW, but those are the smaller fish. once the bass get past 12" the RW's suffer.

Granted this next example is only one pond, so sample size is poor, but this pond has ample fish habitat from shallow water to the deepest water and the water quality is there. The panfish population is going gangbusters, and the owner is great about keeping harvest records AND he is not shy about harvesting what is needed to be harvested. We are working on adding better SMB genetics this year to get them to grow better. This is NOT a LMB pond. He is feeding the fish Optimal Bluegill/Bass food. There is a reproducing population of Golden Shiners in the pond. The HSB are growing fast, doubling in size from the previous year. Yellow Perch are showing growth of 2" per year, some are at the 14" mark now - we culled about 100 last winter between 9"-11", returning the bigger ones to the pond. Bluegill (which weren't in the stocking plan but must have been mixed in with the RES that were stocked) are now starting to surpass the HBG for size/weight - 10" and a pound. Some of the Hybrid Crappie are 14" after being stocked 2 years ago as 3.5"- 4" fish. Some are still in the 9"-10" range though, so there were some definite shooters in the bunch.