Help with typical sandhills farm pond?

[Brian]

We have a pond on our place that's about an acre and a half. Has a decent population of LMB, some might go to 4#.

It also has a huge population of "dink" bluegills, "dink" perch, and a few crappies here and there.... Lots of vegetation

We C&R all the bass...maybe one or two come home every year.


Any ideas on improving the overall size of the bluegills?

Maybe introduce a single, male northern?


- B

[laughingwatr]

I bought some fish from a guy last year and he told me that a pond will support either 10 or 15 lbs. of pike per acre. Any more than that and you may go backwards.

[Chad]

Brian,

Got any pictures of the pond?

If it were me, I wouldn't introduce the single male northern. If the habitat was suited for it, I might think about establishing a northern population though. The single might help, but 1 fish doesn't make a great management plan.

You said there was Lots of vegetation. What kind, how much exactly and where (is it all over)? How deep is the pond? I'm wondering if this is making predation difficult, and if vegetation control would be the more effective management tool.

Just some thoughts. Would like to get a visual for the pond...

Good luck!

[Shorty]

Control the vegetation! Here is a site to identify what you have. On a small pond manual removal of the vegation will reduce the nutrient load in the pond. Treating it with chemicals could be expensive and as the vegetion dies and breaks down the nutrient load will shift, this will likely bring about a very strong algae bloom in its place.

AQUAPLANT - A Pond Manager Diagnostics Tool


Do an evaluation to see if your stunted pan fish are eating most of your bass fry, if bass recruitment is low then consider stocking some additional 6-8" LMB.

[Chad]

Comments from Jeff Blaser, Private Waters Specialist, NGPC...

Hi Chad,
Can Brian provide more information? I need to know more about the body condition of the bass and the extent and duration of the aquatic vegetation. The aquatic vegetation may be so excessive the bass cannot effectively prey on the bluegill, perch, and crappie. I also need to know where the pond is located and watershed usage, how long the pond has been in existence, and what various water depths are present.