# Strip pit management



## meathunter (Dec 21, 2015)

Hey folks, I recently bought a place that has an old strip pond on it. I have fished it a little and all I can catch is small bass and small bluegill so I'm guessing it is overpopulated. What would you recommend I do with it? The pit is around 25 ft deep across most of it but at both tips of it is a shallow flat, the sides of it drop very steeply away from shore.


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## meathunter (Dec 21, 2015)

Can anyone give me some advice? I am new to this. What could I do to turn this pond into a good fishing hole?


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## Salmonid (Apr 14, 2004)

correct, it does sound like stunted fish which happens when a pond is not managed and not fished hard for a several years, a healthy pond requires you to continually thin the herd, by taking LM Bass and some panfish every year. so there is more food for everyone, first thing is to start keeping everything you catch even if for fertilizer, some folks will return bigger fish but take as many 10-15" bass usually since there is nothing in the pond that can eat them unless you add more bigger predators. so give us some more details, like how many acres, and how old is the pit and what species are present and what sizes are the majority of the fish you do catch, all will help us determine a simple plan to get you started, there is no quick fix and no simple answer, for more info, be sure to check out the forums at pondboss.com, lots of folks on there with strip pits that have been managed for trophy fisheries.


I hope this helps a bit and congrats on buying a place with a lake, I had to build my own pond and love every minute of playing with my pet fish..LOL

Salmonid


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## meathunter (Dec 21, 2015)

The pit is 1.1 acre and roughly 30 years old, the only fish present that I am aware of are bass and bluegill. the bluegill are no more than 6" and the bass about the same. I will definitely start keeping the fish and will also look in to that forum. Anymore help will be greatly appreciated!


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## AtticaFish (Nov 23, 2008)

I've always assumed that stunted smaller lakes were a result of human interference and not allowing nature to do her thing....... majority of the bigger/keeper fish are removed and the numbers of smaller fish fill the void and do not allow room/food for there to be 'trophy' size fish. But if this pond has not been fished for a long period of time, nature has a chance to take back over eventually and there are possibly some bigger fish (bass) thriving that you just have not seen yet. If you have 25' of water, there is certainly some potential. I would not remove any bass until i fished it for a year or so and know better what the population is like. For all you know, those small bass could be the ONLY bass in there.

As for the bluegill...... either use them as fertilizer or learn how to carve out the shoulder meat of a 6" bluegill and have a fish nugget meal every once in a while. You can do it if you are patient and they taste damn good! There are no worries in over harvest of 6" bluegill. haha

I would be looking to stock/transplant some channel cats. They will help keep the population of the bluegill in check.

Would also want to throw in some sterile grass carp.... even if you do not have a weed problem. They are really cool to watch and are sure fun to catch if you can outsmart them. My little pond has 2 of them and they are giants well over 30".

Take with a grain of salt - i am far from an expert - just my 2 cents.


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## Skippy (Dec 2, 2009)

You mite want to call the ODNR and talk to one of there fish biologist. They mite give you a good starting point. You could add cover for some fish. Sink pine trees, old wooden pallets, whatever. Add a feed station for the gills. There really something to watch once they get used to it. They eat the pellets and the bigger fish will lay under them and pick off a few of the gills. I hope you really enjoy that pond. I know I really miss the one we had before moving. Your a lucky man.


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## meathunter (Dec 21, 2015)

Yes I am blessed and know it!! Thanks for the info guys I'll try to keep you updated and any more info would be great!


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## meathunter (Dec 21, 2015)

Would it mess the pond up anymore if I added hsb? Can lmb hsb and bg coexist?


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## Salmonid (Apr 14, 2004)

Yes no problems but youll have to aerate since they (hsb) are very needy of high oxygen. I even lost several during hot weather when i did aerate


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## Doboy (Oct 13, 2008)

meathunter said:


> Yes I am blessed and know it!! Thanks for the info guys I'll try to keep you updated and any more info would be great!


#1 Too many unknowns. Do you own a snorkeling setup?
Get in there, swim around & check the amount & size of the fish. 
Take notes. How many stumps, fallen trees & type of structure are present?
Check for bait,,, minnows, crabs, snails. Any bottom suckers like carp, cats, Amurs.
Check out the bottom. Is there any sand or rocks visible? How thick is the muck?
Above all, what types of grass or weeds are present? Are they top to bottom,,, choking the lake?

Buckeyebowman & I know very well what a weed-choked stripmine lake will produce.
(To answer some of Bronzebackfinaddict's questions)
Our club waters (3 -150 acre+ lakes) are 25'-30' deep, 'crystal' clear, and were totally choked with cattail, coontail & stickgrass. The muck on the bottom was 2'-3' thick and building fast. We lost the crabs, snails, fresh water clams and most of the sandy shoreline for the panfish to bed in. Seemed like all of the bass & panfish were stunted.

I snorkeled just about every ft of shoreline, for years,, watching 'it' go down hill. The weeds, & the sludge it made, were killing our lakes.
So I acquired a 3" suction pump, 300ft of exhaust hose, and made a floating dock to put the pump on. I was attempting to pump out the black methane-filled sludge from the shallows. 
I was stopped in my tracks. The club's board said that I would silt up the water & ruin the lake's visibility! %$#@!????

So again,,,, About 12 years later, the club PAID a construction company about $20,000 to suction out 1 acre! (same pump, same hose, same idea as I had )
IT DIDN'T WORK WORTH A DAMN. The weeds all came back, & so did the muck. 
Just A bunch of money over the 'Dam'.

Then 'we' stocked 500 Amurs. WAY over-kill! They ate everything! No more weeds, no more cattails & not a blade of grass in the whole lake!!! Now, It looks like they are even eating the MUCK. ? 

*Now we have to stock like crazy,,,, and add a butt-load of non-decomposing structure. Steel, plastic, bricks & concrete.* 
We'll just have to watch and learn,,, see how a totally weed-free lake will survive.

IF you have a pond/ lake that's choked with weeds, I'd suggest draining, drying & dredging,,,,, refilling & restocking.
STARTING OVER,,,, with the right amount of amurs!


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## Doboy (Oct 13, 2008)

OBTW,,, I can't remember what kind of gas the decomposing grasses made. Is it methane?


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## percidaeben (Jan 15, 2010)

Doboy said:


> OBTW,,, I can't remember what kind of gas the decomposing grasses made. Is it methane?


Yes it is.


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## Mr. A (Apr 23, 2012)

I have a friend with a similar situation as the OP. He was given two options, cull the lake for a year and start regular stockings in springbandbfall. Or, cull as needed but introduce larger predator fish.

It came down to money I the end. He was cautioned not to stock as many HSB'S as the lake could technically handle because the competition between the LMK and HSB could easily over run the lakes ability to produce feeder fish for them and he'd be right back in the same spot with stunted fish.

I'll admit I am a bit envious of your pond/lake as it is a dream of mine to own one similar to that on day. Good luck with it and I hope you get things turned around without wasting too much time or money. Get a professional opinion and go from there....


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## ohiotuber (Apr 15, 2004)

meathunter said:


> Hey folks, I recently bought a place that has an old strip pond on it. I have fished it a little and all I can catch is small bass and small bluegill so I'm guessing it is overpopulated. What would you recommend I do with it? The pit is around 25 ft deep across most of it but at both tips of it is a shallow flat, the sides of it drop very steeply away from shore.


A friend & I fished such a spot years ago. It was small, probably 1/2 to 3/4 acre. We kept a rough count of over 1400 fish taken out. Size increase on 'gills the next year was over 2" on average (6" from 4")) & saw some 7 inchers on the beds. We fished it hard that year too, but the owner moved & new owner stopped fishing, so no tracking after that 1st & 2nd year. Basically, the rule I have always lived by is to take ALL 'gills out that are under 8". Release those over 8". The ponds i have fished over 4 years yield a LOT of Fish Ohio 'gills (9"+).
Hope this helps a little.

Mike


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