Pond Boss

Seine Hauls are samples of small fish in your pond made with a Minnow Seine. This technique of population analysis was first highly touted by Professor Homer Swingle (Patron Saint of Pond Bosses) at Auburn U. a half century ago. Although it is an older technique, it can still be very useful, and is recommended by many of the State DNR/University Pond Management handbooks available online.

You anchor one end of the seine just offshore and sweep the other end of the seine from one side of the shore to the other, trying to trap as many fish and as little sediment as possible. You really have to have two people to do this. It is generally recommended that you do your seine hauls a month or two after your bass spawn, so that the fingerling bass, BG, etc. are small enough to be caught and viewed (I have caught fish only up to about 3" - 4" in length). It lets you check on the presence, number, and status of fingerlings and small forage fish in your pond, both desired and unwanted (bullheads, carp, etc).

A minnow seine can of course also be used to capture many fingerlings to help reduce overpopulations or to obtain fingerlings to transfer to other ponds.