Question For Experienced Pond Fishermen Or People With Ponds

[DocNsanE]

Hi,

 

 I'm looking for properties on a lake, or a river, or a pond so that I can fish right from my back/front yard.

 

One of the places I spotted has a pond on it. Here's a picture of the pond:

 

I have no experience with ponds and I am having a hard time understanding how ponds can sustain fish if ponds are still, stagnant water. In your experience, how likely is it that this pond has any fish in it? If there's no current, how does the water remain oxygenated? Is that entirely dependent on any aquatic vegetation? Wouldn't a stagnant pond like this be a heavenly breeding ground for mosquitoes and other annoying insects?

 

I appreciate any information or opinions you may have. I quite like this place but I am not interested in buying a property if I can't fish on it, especially if the only thing it's good for is breeding those little biting scoundrels.

 

Cheers!

 

[HoosierHawgs]

Never have owned one, but have been researching on digging my own when I'm older. I would ask the landowner if he'd let you fish, and see if you catch anything. If not, you can have it drained (obviously this would kill anything in it) and then stock it with fry of different species (bass, bluegill, and channel cats aee a great stocking mix). It would take a few years to see results, but it would be worth the wait IMO.

[Bladesmith,]

I own 3 ponds. 2 small (approx 30 ft dia.) 1 larger about 1/2 acre. All 3 hold fish although the smaller ones have only perch and catfish. Larger one has a good population of bass, catfish, and perch of several varieties. Water is oxygenated by rain and wind. You are way north of me so I'm not sure what conditions you will have to contend with. Small fish eat mosquito larva.

[DocNsanE]

Would you have to stock the fish yourself? Can fish be found naturally in a pond? Or since there's no way in or out, that just wouldn't happen?

[HoosierHawgs]

Have a private hatchery stock it. Will cost $$ but its worth the money to do it right. Have them stock 500 bluegill, 100 bass, and 100 channel catfish fry per acre. According to DNR this is the ratio with the best success for both sport fishing and keeping a few fish for the table.

[Penguino]

If that pond isn't man made, then it probably has fish. I exclusively fish ponds, both natural and man made, and usually there is always bass in them. If you really want to test it out, just throw some bread crumbs on the top of the water. If you seen any minnows or sunfish jump out then there probably is fish.

[DocNsanE]

If that pond isn't man made, then it probably has fish. I exclusively fish ponds, both natural and man made, and usually there is always bass in them. If you really want to test it out, just throw some bread crumbs on the top of the water. If you seen any minnows or sunfish jump out then there probably is fish.

Thanks! It looks like a good habitat for bass at first glance, but it's incredibly difficult to tell. Maybe when I go visit with my real estate agent I'll throw a Ned Rig into the pond and see what happens

 

It's encouraging to know that natural ponds can have fish in them, and from the sound of it, it's even probable. This is counter intuitive to me.

[Senko lover]

Most natural ponds have fish in them. I'd test it out with some nightcrawlers, always a good way to test for fish.

[the reel ess]

If it doesn't have that ugly red mucky oily look, it's not stagnant. If beavers made it, it probably has no gamefish in it. But as mentioned before, you can stock it. It is a beautiful pond. Looks like a postcard from Canada.

[DocNsanE]

Thanks everyone for your time in answering my questions! Sounds like the odds of water being stagnant are fairly low based on the picture, also sounds like the odds of it having game fish is at least moderate to good. I'll book a visit with my realtor and we'll see what it looks like in person.

[Ozark_Basser]

Wind will oxygenate the water as well.

Since you live in Canada, i would worry about the entire pond freezing over in winter. How deep is it?

[DocNsanE]

Wind will oxygenate the water as well.

Since you live in Canada, i would worry about the entire pond freezing over in winter. How deep is it?

 

That's a good point, I have no clue how deep it is. The pond definitely does freeze in the winter, as per this picture.

[Ozark_Basser]

Even if it is fairly deep fish kills are more likely to happen in water with a very thick sheet of ice.

Thick ice causes less light penetration which is used in photosynthesis for algae and phytoplankton which produce oxygen. Respiration from fish can outweigh photosynthesis using up all the oxygen. This is how fish kills occur for you guys up north a lot of times over winter.

I'd take a stroll around the pond to see if I could spot any bass though.

[HoosierHawgs]

If it freezes over a good way to prevent fish kills is to shovel excess snow off the ice... Only do this if it is safe though

[Josh Crye]

it looks like a great pond!  I have a pond on my property that I bought 2 years ago.  its supposed to hold water, but there is a leak that will get fixed in the next couple of years.  not sure on total depth, but It drains down probably 8 feet by the end of summer.  it freeze over a few times in winter, and was froze all of December and January.  the fish all managed to survive, there is some decent bass and blue gill in it. 

 

if that pond doesn't have fish, stock it!   

[DocNsanE]

I'm hoping to visit the property tomorrow evening. Will try to bring a spinning rod along and throw a wacky rig or something for a couple of minutes... just to see...

 

I have no clue how much it would cost to stock a pond, but the pond is bordered by 2 other properties that I can tell... maybe I could get together with the other owners and work out a deal.

[DocNsanE]

For anyone who was curious, I visited this property last night.

 

The pond was gorgeous, it actually had a little bit of current to it and I was told there was little stream that fed into it on the other side of the pond. The water was clear, looked to be about 8 feet deep from what I could see. I was told it had catfish and perch.

 

However the house itself did disappoint a little and didn't meet our requirements.

 

It was still an insightful experience and I just wanted to thank all of you who took a few minutes go offer some advice and share your experiences.

[HoosierHawgs]

No problem. Good luck in your search! If you ever want a good read on ponds look up the thread titled "The $25,000 Question"

[the reel ess]

Hey, if the pond is nice enough, the house could be worked on.

[DocNsanE]

Hey, if the pond is nice enough, the house could be worked on.

The thought did cross my mind

 

but some things like available space and support beams that seem to be cracking up like they are about to give are just beyond what I want to deal with.

 

I'm still looking for a house on a lake, a river or a pond though, might not find it this year, but eventually I will, and my wife is behind me on this one. So one day, I know I'll get to live the dream.