Wildlife Department offers tips for Pond management

To manage a pond for producing sustained good fishing, you need to know two things – the current makeup of the fish population and how you would like it changed.

There are two main ways to check the status of a pond’s fish population – by seining the shoreline in early summer and by monitoring what is being caught by anglers. A typical seine haul should contain several fry and fewer intermediate-sized bluegill (two to three inches) and a few bass fingerlings (one to three inches).

Now, let’s turn our attention to the use of angling results for fish population assessment. To effectively manage a pond for good fishing, you should keep a record of fish caught from the pond including the time it took to catch each one and the size and body condition of each. Other observations about the pond such as watercolor, aquatic plants, etc., also can be helpful.

For these records to be most useful, anglers should fish fairly regularly during the year and use a variety of lures and baits to seek different types and sizes of fish.

Balanced bass-bluegill pond is the most desirable management scheme for the vast majority of pond owners because it supports the widest variety of sportfish, allows catch and harvest of greater quantities of fish, and is the easiest to keep in balance.

In a balanced pond:

· Bass range in size from eight to 15 inches or more; their body condition is good, i.e. they are not skinny.

· Bluegill and other sunfish are four to eight inches long or longer; their body condition is good.

· Channel catfish, if present, range in size from six to 18 inches; they are fairly robust.

· Crappie, if present, are five to 10 inches long or longer; all are in good body condition.

· A reasonable catch rate would be two fish or more per hour for the species being sought.

In an overcrowded bass pond:

· Bass are very abundant, and few if any are over 12 inches long; they generally are thin but might have good body condition.

· Bluegill and other sunfish are somewhat less abundant but most are well over six inches long; their body condition is excellent.

· Channel catfish, if present, are scarce, and very few are less than eight inches in length.

· Crappie, if present, are mostly nine inches long or longer and are robust.

Avoid Crappie — Stocking crappie in ponds is not recommended, but they are good to eat and some people want them anyway. However, good crappie fishing in ponds is usually a short-term occurrence.

Typically the fishery is supported by a few large individuals stocked as adults or by the initial spawn from stocked adults. In most instances, stocking crappie in ponds results in an overcrowded crappie population and overall poor fishing for all species. If the pond lacks sufficient bass to reduce the numbers of young crappie, they quickly overpopulate and become stunted or slow-growing. This situation is difficult to remedy; the best solution is to renovate the pond with rotenone or drain and restock at recommended stocking rates.

Fertilization — Fertilization can increase fish poundage by as much as three fold in some ponds. A properly managed fertilization program should increase both numbers and average size of fish caught. However, applying fertilizer to a pond already rich in nutrients can be harmful and may even cause a fish kill.

The quantity of phytoplankton produced must be closely monitored for a successful fertilization program. Do not fertilize ponds used for swimming.

Most ponds located in properly managed watersheds have enough natural fertility to produce a well-balanced fish community. In general, don’t fertilize a pond that is being fed, since the by products of feeding will supply plenty of nutrients.

For additional tips on how to manage your farm pond go to wildlifedepartment.com/ lands-and-minerals/pond-management.