Overstocked pond

[bjmuegg]

Alright guys my grandparents have two 4-5 acre ponds. Went fishing the other day and every cast and I mean every cast we caught bass. All were 10- 12 inches long and about half a pound. We need to take some out but don't know if I need to take some bluegill and crappie out as well. Crappie aren't overrun in it but the bluegill is. Is there a ratio that I need to keep track of or what. 

[Master Bait'r]

Non pro opinion:  I would fry up the bass with some lemon and leave everything else.

 

If you're catching dinks every cast, it could use a party cull IMO.  I am more of a BBQ and beer lover and less of a stocking expert fwiw tho haha

[Hog Basser]

Try the articles in this section: http://www.bassresource.com/lake-management/ 

I manage some ponds on our land and this has helped me immensely.  Also, the pond boss forums are chock full of information and experts on the subject.  

My opinion based on what I've researched: cull as many bass as possible from 10"-14", you will not run out of bass easily.  Crappie are debatable, in extra large ponds they are okay, but can hurt your forage fish population in something that size if you don't cull some.  Crappie spawn is erratic, so a problem may not present itself right away.  Leave the bluegill alone, you want them spawning.  What size are they?  It is odd to have a lot of bluegill and stunted bass, you may need to do a little research.  

Some experts recommend removing 15-20 lbs of bass per surface acre per year, but it can vary depending on your location and individual situation.  If you are really serious about managing the ponds, you may want to look at having an expert come out and do an electrofishing survey.  They can get a real idea of the health and size of all fish in the pond and even cull some right then if needed.  

I'm currently keeping records of all the fish I catch out of our ponds to determine the overall health of the fishery, this takes more time than electrofishing, but it's a lot of fun to get to go fishing.  

Good luck! 

[bjmuegg]

37 minutes ago, Hog Basser said:

Try the articles in this section: http://www.bassresource.com/lake-management/ 

I manage some ponds on our land and this has helped me immensely.  Also, the pond boss forums are chock full of information and experts on the subject.  

My opinion based on what I've researched: cull as many bass as possible from 10"-14", you will not run out of bass easily.  Crappie are debatable, in extra large ponds they are okay, but can hurt your forage fish population in something that size if you don't cull some.  Crappie spawn is erratic, so a problem may not present itself right away.  Leave the bluegill alone, you want them spawning.  What size are they?  It is odd to have a lot of bluegill and stunted bass, you may need to do a little research.  

Some experts recommend removing 15-20 lbs of bass per surface acre per year, but it can vary depending on your location and individual situation.  If you are really serious about managing the ponds, you may want to look at having an expert come out and do an electrofishing survey.  They can get a real idea of the health and size of all fish in the pond and even cull some right then if needed.  

I'm currently keeping records of all the fish I catch out of our ponds to determine the overall health of the fishery, this takes more time than electrofishing, but it's a lot of fun to get to go fishing.  

Good luck! 

That helps a lot! I was thinking about talking to someone to shock it but the bluegill are big slabs. Up to 1.5 pounds. I'll do some more research on this 

[Hog Basser]

5 minutes ago, bjmuegg said:

That helps a lot! I was thinking about talking to someone to shock it but the bluegill are big slabs. Up to 1.5 pounds. I'll do some more research on this 

Okay, that makes sense then.  Too big for the stunted bass to eat.  When they spawn, all the babies are being eaten by the stunted bass immediately and nothing is left.  I'd say definitely cull a lot of bass, probably more than the recommended amount above.  Hopefully, some of the baby bluegill will grow into the midsize range then and keep providing food throughout the year instead of being devoured immediately.  

[S. Sass]

We actually have a pond that the bluegill are big slabs as well and the bass are for the most part under 2lbs as well. Thanks for the info Hog Basser. 

[Hog Basser]

5 minutes ago, S. Sass said:

We actually have a pond that the bluegill are big slabs as well and the bass are for the most part under 2lbs as well. Thanks for the info Hog Basser. 

No problem, I mostly learned it from studying the info in the lake management section of this site.  A little bit of hands-on application as well.  Once you get the gist of it, it all becomes much more common sense.  Not all ponds are alike though, so do what's right for you and keep records of everything in case you ever need to employ an expert, this will get you to where you want to be a lot faster.  Most people preach catch & release, and understandably so on large public waters, but it's a whole different game in pond management.  

[N Florida Mike]

My 16 acre lake has been strange since we had a fish kill 5-6 years ago.All the bass over 2 pounds died and all the big bream.Now the bass fishing is about the same as it was before the kill,except the largest are only back up to 7 or so.Lots of fish all sizes.The bream are hard to understand.No slabs.Not too many hand sized fish even.Most of the fish are small, but there isn't as many as before.The bass are eating them I'm sure .Haven't caught any shiners at all in a long time.Not sure how to get the bream pop.back up besides a mass restocking.We used to catch 30-50 nice bream in an afternoon.Now you'd do good to get 10 in the same time frame and them just barely keepers.

[Buckeye Ron]

I once fished an old gravel pit that was loaded with bass. Very stunted bass. I stopped counting at 75 bass and actually got tired of catching them. Every one of them were so thin that they looked unnatural. The biggest of the day should have weighed over 10lb. The head on that bass was huge yet I don't think it weighed five pounds.

On that same outing I caught a Crappie on a plastic worm that was 14 inches long and just as paper thin as the bass. I talked to the owner afterwords and he was adamant that there would be no fish removed from his pond. Called them his pets. 

Over populated ponds can be very difficult to turn around,sometimes it's best to start over with a good management program. Best of luck in figuring this out.

[Bobby Scott]

Hello.. I noticed it that this was dated back in 2016 when this message was posted about your Overstock pond. We had the same problem as well in our private pond.. It had to be drained and started over from beginning. Also if you are comfortable with me catching a few, I would love to catch as many species as possible for you if you're comfortable with that. Just let me know and I wish you all the best.