Thread: Bass Management in Ponds/Small Lakes

well- you can do few things first instead of throwing some back eat some put you some cat fish in and in a couple years you will reap the benefits

Sounds to me like it needs to be drained, seined, refilled. restocked (properly), and then managed (properly). NC wildlife does seminars on pond managements at various locations around the state. Check there web-site for more information. If a pond isn't managed right all you end up with is a whole lot of little fish.

CULL, CULL, CULL and don't throw nothing back. I would also recommend some flat heads and blue catfish would help clean it up too.
Go down there from time to time and throw a cast net whenever you need baitfish... and if you have to... feed the fireants and coons with 'em.
I had a very similar issue when a friend ask me to help him get his pond under control. You can also set fish traps and keep a check on them too.
Take what is usable and get rid of the rest. It will take at least a year or two no matter how hard you go about it.

Ok, thanks. It is a pond in a neighborhood, not my own, so draining is out of the idea here. BUT, I will start feeding the coons and fire ants. Every blue cat we catch from now on I will carry home in a cooler full of water and throw them in the pond. It will be nice being able to catch some cats there after a while.

Growing up as a kid I used to fish a small farm pond. It had the biggest bream in it that I have ever seen. The old man died and someone else bought the farm. They let no one fish. The pond became overrun with small bream and bass. Years later we were able to fish again. Catching only small fish sucked. We started pitching them up on the bank. After a few Summers of doing this the size of the fish started to improve. We turned in some blue cats caught from a local lake.

The last year we fished it we found out that a neighbor had put out some set lines and caught the majority of the catfish. They were huge. It has been 15-20 years since I fished that pond. I pass it from time to time and it has grown up badly. I bet the fish is overstocked and the majority of them are small.

Some fish need to come out each year. If not you have a bunch of small fish.

Darin

i have the same problem with the pond in my back yard. it used to be a regular thing to catch 6-8 lb bass. i have joined the 10 lb club a few times with pictures to prove it. no doubt in my mind this pond held a state record or 2. had some decent crappie in them too. then all of a sudden we would catch nothing but 10-14 inch bass and the big fish were gone just like that.
a Biologist came and did a survey on the lake and said that fish need to be harvested yearly to sustain large fish. i do not remember exactly what the ratio was maby someone can help me out, but if i recall perhaps 500 lbs per acre?!?! one thing the biologist said was the WORST thing you can do to a pond is add shad (especially gizzard shad) to it....and indeed there were some put in there, so it all added up.
even though its in my back yard, i havent fished it in a while. it just doesnt appeal to me. does your pond have shad?

the pond in my backyard is roughly 5+/- acres.

no shad of my knowledge. But it does have literally thousands of baby bream. I fished there this afternoon and caught a bass. And ya know where he went. Into the storm drain. A half hour later some dudes came and told me I cant fish there because its private property. So.... Next time....:rolleyes: i will ride my bike instead of having my bud park on the side of the streetDoh

There is a pond close to my house. A church ownes it. My Aunt goes there but I don't. It is a short 4-wheeler ride from my house to the pond. I never asked permission to fish it. I just do. My kids go to vacation bible school there every Summer.

I have had people to drive up and fish beside me like they knew me. No one ever said a word. I never took a fish out of there either. Always catch and release. It was a great bass lake. It was easy to catch 15-20 bass in a hour just walking around the pond fishing as you go.

Anyway the lawn care guy put fertlizer arond the pond just before a huge rain. Well they had a fish kill because of the fertlizer. The largest bass was around 8 lbs. I bet after a few years there are uch bigger fish.

Any thoughts?

Darin