# managing a 3.5 acre pond



## kasting king (Aug 17, 2006)

Well I have a buddy who has a 3.5 acre pond that needs some direction. The pond has deep areas (27' in spots) as well as shallow flats with pleanty of christmas trees and tree tops for cover. Pleanty of cattails and tree tops along the shores also.


The pond has white crappie, large mouth bass, channel cats, a couple flat heads that were close to 30# a few years ago when we put them in, bluegills, pumpkin seed sunfish, we stocked a bunch of yellow perch a few years back but only 1 report of catching a few, a couple smallmouth bass, along with a few walleyes.

15 years ago we would catch a ton of bass with the average being 1.5 lbs. Bluegills were also much bigger/healthier too. Catfish (only had channels then) were caught more frequent and crappie as well as walleye and smallmouth were just introduced then.

Now the fishing is very different. Tons of bass mostly 10" to 14" with a pig being 2.5lbs and those are VERY few and far between. Bluegills are ALL small (tons of them) and crappies are pleantiful during the spring months but all gone during the rest of the year. 

I am not sure what action I need to take here. The pond belongs to a good friend of mine and I can do what ever I choose (not like I could hurt it any) to bring the good fishing back. 

I feel like I need to keep all crappies and all lm bass in the 8 to 12" range for starters but not sure what next. I would like to add a muskie or 2 as well as start a feeding plan untill I can get the lake turned around. I can start feeding minnows or shad or even start feeding pelletized fish food.

Not sure where to go? Andrew


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## JoeFish (Apr 2, 2011)

I am far from expert in this subject, but I suggest you start by reading this: http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/wildlife/Home/fishing/pond/managementoptions/tabid/6229/Default.aspx

posted using Outdoor Hub Campfire


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## F1504X4 (Mar 23, 2008)

I'm not a professional but going by your description it sounds like it may be over populated or needs more forage fish. 3.5 acres is a good size pond and can handle a lot of fish, especially with the depths you described. I would probably cull out the 10-13" bass and some gills. I would be hesitant to introduce any musky or any other fish from another lake. I'm looking forward to some other responses you get!


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## kasting king (Aug 17, 2006)

Thanks guys. The dnr site is a great read for sure and gives me a good starting point. I also feel the pond is over populated.......by the dnr chart I need to pull 1000 gills out per year plus the bass.


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## [email protected] (Dec 22, 2006)

How is the fertility of the water? Management starts with the water.

Is it possible that the pond has a lot of nutrient hungry weeds that are cutting out the bottom of the foodchain?


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## sherman51 (Apr 12, 2011)

i,ve fished ponds all my life and i can tell you your pond is way over populated. if you dont keep the fish for yourself start letting a few people fish the pond that wants the fish. having to many fish in a pond will stunt there groth and can even cause them to get sick and die out.


youve got to get about half of those gills and bass out of there one way or the other. maby even more than half.

me and my nephew fished this pond in tenn. i stood in one spot and caught 13 bass from about 1 pound to 2 pounds and a couple of nice gills just using rubber worms. my nephew picked another spot and caught 15 that were about 3/4 pounds to 2 pounds. this pond is way overstocked but the owner wont hardley let anyone fish it. he,s doing more harm than good not letting it be fished but you cant tell him that. he dont want to hear it.
sherman


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## Luns (Feb 10, 2010)

Ive been managing my pond for this being the third year. I used to have what seems the same problem your having with stunted growth of fish. I think the first thing you need to do is come up with a plan on what you really want out of this pond. With mine, i wanted the biggest bass possible. While ive made post and some disagree with some things i have done, it has worked for me and i still feel for my needs, its the best way without cost.

So, with that said, here are some of the main things i did, and continue to do....

I to this day am a firm believer in genetics. With that said, one of the things i like to do is bring my portable livewell with me when im fishing other places. If i catch a bass over 4-5lbs i transplant that fish into my pond in hopes its genetics will thrive in my water. I have never noticed any fish kill, not to say it hasnt happened, but none to my knowledge. I have also noticed a lot more big fish swimming that i never saw before.

Another thing has been mentioned but i agree. All of the smaller bass, so anything 2lbs and under, i will either eye them or will measure and weigh them and either cull them out or throw them back if they make the recommended weight/length ratio. I never touch bluegil, but do take out all crappie.

Another thing i do is add structure. Every year our town has christmas tree pickup. Instead of letting the trees get chipped up, i go around with my truck and pick them up to take back to my pond. Ive been adding 20 each year since i started.

Another thing i do is add crawfish. I wont get into detail, but thats all i do as far as adding forage.

One last bit of advice, if you want to add weight to a species in there, i wouldnt keep adding predator fish in there (musky) 

All these things can be done without really have to spend any money, which is why i like it. Some will agree some will think im crazy, either way it works for me and the proof is in the pudding. Hope this gives you a little help


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## rustyfish (Apr 27, 2004)

Catch the fatheads and eat them. They are not a good choice for a pond. Don't think they don't or can't eat any single fish in that pond.

Channel cats normal life span is 14 years but as long as 25. Many of your cats may have died. they have a hard time spawning in farm ponds without help. Not saying they can't but its hard. What is the smallest cat you are catching (any 6-10 inches)? And they don't have to be huge to be old. Farm raised stocked channel cats can have poor genetics just because the survival chances are so much better than in the wild. Two stocked channel cats could weigh many pounds different and be brothers.

How many 5-7 inch bass do you see or catch?
3.5 acre is a very large pond, how hard have you fished it. Small bass should be plenty and easy to catch. Large bass should be few and hard to catch, that is a balanced pond. With that many small gills it is very possible that large bass are not hungry, inactive, hard to find. The reason I point to this is that there should be a pyramid of fish size in the pond. For example, 1- 5# bass, 2- 4#, 3- 3#, 4- 2#, 5- 1#, 6-.5# bass. Once again just an example, not how many bass should be in your pond and the ratio is off. Once a fish disapears from the peramid a smaller fish moves up (reason for selective harvest). There is no reason there are only .5# and 1# bass in the pond if they have the food to eat. There is nothing stopping them from becoming large bass.

Keep any white crappie you catch. They reproduce fast, stunt easy and are not aggressive feeders but they are active feeders. They eat in cold temps when most fish shut down. I feel they are a poor choice for ponds. The small crappie compete with your small bass, channel cats, and your gills. The large compete with your bass. And I personally feel that the flatheads and large bass would choose gills or small bass over the crappie as prey. 

The only other thing I can think of is: If too many adult predator fish were added in a short period years ago then it could flip the table. They eat all the medium fish, then the small fish. Then they are hungry, hungry fish don't spawn well and eat the babies anyway. So eventually these large fish start to die and your pond starts over. What small bass and bluegill and crappie survived were able to grow up and start reproducing with few fish above them on the food chain. So for a while you would have large groups of fish about the same size. No clue if it applies here, just an idea.

Sorry so long, just figured I would go over every idea i had from past pond visits. Nothing I said (other than flathead are bad pond fish) is fact and none of this may be true for your pond. I would try targeting large gills and large bass a little harder. Not trying to insult your knowledge or abilities. Just some ideas. Good luck.


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