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Thread: Number of fish per acre

  1. #1
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    Default Number of fish per acre


    Does onyone know how may pounds of fish per acre should be taken from a small lake. Say 10 acres or so. I live in a subdivision with a private lake. The lake is full of crappie, catfish, bluegill, and bass. The crappie and catfish seem to be thriving. The bluegill and bass seem to be stunted. I think I am the only one who takes fish out of the lake. I don't dare tell any of my nieghbors how many fish I take a year, (about 150-200). I have started throwing structures into the lake. Again, I don't dare let anyone see me do this. They will think I am just throwing trash in the lake. My goal is to have a well balanced lake with great fishing opportunities for my kids. Any ideas?

  2. #2
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    try www.pondboss.com. Search the forum and I think you will find some answers.
    "Give me crappie, or give me death"

  3. #3
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    thats an interesting question i wish i knew the answer. i fishing a similar but larger lake. They say if your catching alot of small fish then the lake is underfished. would the same be true the opposite. ive now caught about 30 consecutive crappie over 9 inches most are about 11-13. in fact i havent caught a throwback yet. does this mean the lake is overfished? i never see anyone else out there but me and everyone who lives around the lake seems as if they couldn't care less about fishing it. good question maybe someone can help us. what size fish are you catching fatboy?

  4. #4
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    Default fish per acre

    Whether it be aquatic or terrestrial, a biome under natural conditions will have a distinct carrying capacity. The rate of which would be affected by many variables such as water quailty, ph, and predation. The food chain in a 10 acre lake is going to be adversely affected causing many species of fish to become "stunted". An analogy would be to a farmer putting 10 cows on 20 acres. Not gonna work. Would be interesting to see what the numbers are. It might just suprise us a little.

    Thats one reason why we are so glad to see the big schools of shad in our lakes.
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  5. #5
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    Default size of fish

    Hey Bama, I was just down there yesterday and caught about 15 crappie. I kept nine. I have a self imposed ten inch size restriction. When I first moved out here, about five years ago, I was catching HUGE bluegill. Now they seem to be getting smaller and smaller. The same goes with the bass.

  6. #6
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    where you fishin fatboy? i wonder what this is telling us about there size? i may be wrong but i thought if you were catching undersize fish that meant over population i may have it backwards.

  7. #7
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    fiddlefarter is offline Moderator Crappie Cover Forum * Crappie.com Supporter
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    You should keep all the crappie you catch. I'm going to post a link to some info from the TWRA's website on managing small bodies of water. I think that you see the benefit of managing the water and you might want to do more. This is a very good booklet.

    http://www.state.tn.us/twra/fish/pond/ponds.pdf
    Ya ain't holdin' your mouth right.

  8. #8
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    Thumbs up Keep'um All For Awhile

    My dad has a 5 acre lake on his farm and he messed up and put crappie in it. They over populated quickly and got stunted. Three years ago we started keeping everything we caught that was big enough to scale and eat. The really small ones went to the garden around his tomato plants for fertilizer. We also stocked some shinners in the lake. Now we are starting to catch some decent fish (10" to 12"). They are only gonna grow to the capasity of the food chain.
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  9. #9
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    Default stunted fish

    You have to catch so many pounds of of bream & bass out of the pond & all of the crappie you catch. A pond with crappie & bass will not work, they both compete for the same food & the crappies will win & take over & all the Bream & bass will be stunted.

    Diamond Jim

  10. #10
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    Default Stunted fish

    Hey Diamond Jim, You hit the nail on the head! The lake is full of crappie and catfish and the bass and bluegill are stunted. This is great for me right now, (good eats). however, will this last? The crappie and catfish seem to be taking over. Could this be a good thing?

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