A Sarpy County Farm Pond

[Chad]

This thread will be dedicated to the management of a farm pond in Sarpy County.

Feel free to post comments/suggestions, ask questions, etc.

This is a new management project, so many of the critical details are not yet available. We plan to update this thread as our work continues.

Pond Info

• Location: Sarpy County - that's all you get...
• Pond Managers: Teeg (Fish Recycler), Scott (SKershaw), and Chad
• Type: Embankment - dam construction completed in 1990
• Size: 5 acres
• Watershed: Approximately 120 acres
• Depth: Owner reports 3 pockets at 21' after construction (additional info pending)
• Buffer Zone from Field: Average of 70-75'
• Water Quality: Turbid under the ice. Jar test pending.
• Current State of the Fishery: Overpopulated with stunted bluegills. Owner reports a quality fishery just a few years ago, "We were catching big bass and nice crappie on almost every cast." Pond has always been catch and release.

Management Info

• Management Objective: To restore a balanced fishery
• Goal 1: Better Understand the Fish Population (Spring-Summer 2008)
• Goal 2: Better Understand the Aquatic Habitat of the Pond (Spring-Summer 2008)
• Goal 3: Draft a Comprehensive Plan for Pond Management to be Reviewed and Approved by the Owner, with Initial Implementation Scheduled for Late Summer or Early Fall, 2008

[Chad]

After drafting an initial management plan and having it approved by the land owner, our first activity is going to be a jar test.

Jeff Blaser, Private Waters Specialist and Rick Eades, Urban Fisheries Specialist do an excellent job of illustrating this test in their book Nebraska Pond Management.

Here's an excerpt.

To correct a muddy water problem, the cause has to first be determined. Take a sample of pond water in a clear glass jar and set it on a shelf. If after one week the water is fairly clear and mud has settled to the bottom, the main cause of the problem is likely due to either soil erosion, wave action in shallow water, livestock, or an overpopulation of carp, bullheads, or even channel catfish; however, if the mud remains suspended, the problem is soil chemistry. Often the problem is a combination of several factors. In some cases the soil particles will stay suspended indefinitely.

We would like to get this test complete with the ice still on to rule out several possible causes of turbidity right off the bat like wind and runoff.

So sometime in the next several days, Scott will head out to the pond, with an auger that Teeg installed the wrong blades on to make drilling more of a challenge.

Scott will drill... and drill... and drill. Then he'll drill for a while longer. Finally, muscles exhausted, nose running, heart pounding, he'll break though and catch his breath before collecting a sample near the damn. Then, he'll repeat at the other end.

Let us know how it goes, Scott.

[Mako]

Never managed a pond, but I would almost guess that the owner ended up with stunted bluegills because it was all catch and release? I would think that selective harvest is a huge part of managing something like a pond. You also mention that the pond also has bass and crappie. Does it have any cats? Maybe some more predators would help? Also, what was his definition of "big bass" and "nice crappie"?

Of course...



If you need somebody to help thin out the fish population, let me know.

[Chad]

Still not sure about the CC situation, Mako. In terms of "big bass" he said 3lbs were common. You may be on to something with the absence of any harvest. Assuming we can restore balance to the pond, we look forward to establishing correct harvest regs.

*********************
Scott and I went out to the pond this morning to conduct the jar test. We plan to keep a close eye on water quality over the next year. Here are a couple pics.

Scott Filling a Jug



One of the jars... doesn't look as turbid as I expected


And finally, check out the zooplankton swimming in my jar - or as aquaman called it "Groceries."
please hold your applause for the cinematography until the end.


Anyone know if that level of zooplankton is "normal" for this time of year?

[Tone2129]

We had this problem a few year ago with bass. I caught a Bass with a head that should have been on a 6lber, it weighed 3 lbs 9 oz. We then took 50 1-2 pound bass out of there for 3 seasons. Now every bass is about 2-3 pounds, and we catch numerous 4 and 5lbers.

If you need help taking blue gils out...I could do that service for you for free.

[Mako]

Originally Posted by Chad

One of the jars... doesn't look as turbid as I expected

Mmmmmm...SOBE Iced Tea!

[SKershaw]

I was there, that's not water or iced tea... Just kidding!

Here are so more water sample pictures...






I will be monitoring the water daily this week to see how the tubidity changes... may even get technical

Scott

[Tone2129]

If you were just there to collect water samples why is there a ice fishing rod in the bucket?

[Chad]

Originally Posted by Tone2129

If you were just there to collect water samples why is there a ice fishing rod in the bucket?

Did a little fishing too. I figure with all those small bluegill there must be a few lunker bass. Tried to jig one up to no avail.

I think the zooplankton in my jar are multiplying...

[OldBaldGuy]

I don't know anything about lake chemistry, but turbidity should be easy to measure. Once the water thaws, the turbs should float to the top...

[Chad]

[suddawg]

Myself and TA2D had the same problem with a farm pond that we fish in Nemaha County. It's roughly the same size as the one you're talking about, and it had stunted Crappie out the wazzou. Decent sized Gills, but dink LMB. I had fished this pond 10+ years ago and there was really good LMB and Channel Cats in there.

We spoke with the farmer who said he didn't want Crappie in there at all, and do what we needed to get them out. So we thought about different plans of attack.

We came to the conclusion that putting large predation fish (Flatheads, Large LMB, etc.) could possibly do more damage then good. We were scared that the predation fish would consume a good portion of Crappie, but also the existing LMB and Gills.

Finally we just decided to harvest all the Crappies that we could catch, which turned out to be almost 300 (9-11 inches.)

We went back and did some ice fishing a couple months ago, and now we're catching Crappies that are between 12-14 inches, and the LMB are starting to get consistently bigger, albeit still only around 6-8 inches. Plus Catfishsteve caught a real nice chunk Gill out of it also.

So I believe harvesting a good deal of the stunted fish will work quite effectively.

SudDawg

[packster]

I have been fishing a sandpit for years and helping to keep the number of fish managed.

One thing I have found that there is no set rules as to what needs to be done. I mean if you plan to help one species of fish something will change with the others. I guess what I am trying to say is that to have a quality fishery with decent fish of all species the game plan will have to change yearly or sometimes even more frequently. Selective harvest is the best way to combat some issues while others are to install slots or C&R programs.

[vrentropy]

This topic came up a time or two a while back over on the Fly Anglers OnLine, Your Complete Internet Flyfishing Resource. board. One of the guys on there lives over in Iowa, south of Des Moines a ways, (if I remember) and he is privileged to have permission to manage some ponds close to him. He has a certain philosophy that he uses that seems to work for him.

A snippet of the article is:

Now to the fishing part. I don't keep any of the bass I catch, with a few exceptions. Every once in a while I will catch a bass that I tear the gill plates up in landing it. If it is bleeding badly then I will keep it. This happens two to three times a year. The rest I leave in the pond to control the pan fish. I also try to get the landowner to put a slot limit on the bass that can be taken out. I usually look at from 12 to 16 inches can be taken out, but they also have to take 7 lbs of panfish out for every pound of bass they take.
I have several ponds where we have been doing this for several years. All of these ponds have nice sized panfish in them and you have a good chance of catching a 4 to 6 lb bass anytime you are in the pond. The biggest thing is that bass this size live on eating small panfish. They help keep the numbers down, so the rest of the fish can grow faster.
I do not throw any bluegills or crappie back into the pond, with a few exceptions. Any gill I catch over 11 inches long goes back into the pond. There is just too much research in print that indicates that large gills keep small ones from spawning. I want to keep the large genetics in the pond. Also there is some research out that there may be two strains of bluegills. One will not grow over about 6 inches and the other will grow much larger. By keeping the smaller ones, and releasing the larger ones, I think I am tipping the balance in favor of the larger size gills. This seems to be happening in the ponds that I have been following.

The full article is located here: My Catch and Release Philosophy, Fly Angler's OnLine Pan Fish Part 365

At the bottom of the article there is a link back to the Archive of Panfish Articles, and there is a lot of good info there.

Hope that helps some.

I would LOVE to read the proposal that you put together on what you plan to do to manage the pond. Good Luck with it! I hope it becomes a phenomenal fishery!

[Chad]

Thanks entropy!

Great post! 7 to 1 is even more aggressive panfish control than the 5 to 1 ratio I have read... interesting.

[vrentropy]

Originally Posted by Chad

Thanks entropy!

Great post! 7 to 1 is even more aggressive panfish control than the 5 to 1 ratio I have read... interesting.

Well, he IS an optometrist, not a fish biologist.

I am sure that if you e-mailed him with questions, comments, or whatever, he would e-mail you back. Both Scott and I have e-mailed him multiple times. He is an awesome guy and always ready and willing to help.

Oh, so am I if you are in need of any. Heck, I'd ever run a hand auger if need be.

[Chad]

5 days since starting the jar test. No change in the yellow tint. The zooplankton multiplied. I believe the "stuff" on the bottom of the jar are dead zooplankton, but could be wrong. Some pretty healthy water, if not a little yellow. Anyone know the common causes of yellow water? How's that for a softball?

Scott, how are your samples looking?

[Mako]

Originally Posted by Chad

Anyone know the common causes of yellow water? How's that for a softball?

Maybe algae? I don't know what I'm talking about but that's what causes a lot of discolored water right? Maybe I just fish Pawnee too much.

[Mako]

Originally Posted by Mako

Maybe algae? I don't know what I'm talking about but that's what causes a lot of discolored water right? Maybe I just fish Pawnee too much.

Originally Posted by Daryl B

Daryl B.

P.S. Feel free to share this message if you wish.l

w00h00 maybe I do have an idea of what I'm talking about.

[LiquidSteel]

Originally Posted by Chad

Anyone know if that level of zooplankton is "normal" for this time of year?

Sea Monkeys live year round.