Farm pond question for Craig

I have a 2.5 acre farm pond that is over run with 12" bass. My question is what can I do to get this thing back in balance? I'd be fine with killing the pond out and restocking if that's what it takes, is this even legal in Kansas?? As far as I know the only species in the pond are bass, catfish, and possibly some species of bluegill. The pond is spring feed from a large waterway and filters the dirt out quite well and stays clear most of the year unless of course we have 3"+ rains. The entire pond is surrounded by cattails and there is vegetation in the pond (I believe it's referred to as bushy pond weed). The pond was originally 16' deep when put it in 30 years ago. I'm guessing it is around 8' - 12' now, I was planning on taking my depth finder out on the ice to find out this weekend. My goal is to produce trophy sized fish. My main concern is around crappie and bass. Readear sunfish, native bluegill, hybrid bluegill, hybrid bass, catfish, whatever type of bait fish would be welcome too if needed. Thanks in advance for your response.

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Originally Posted by crappie_hunter15

I have a 2.5 acre farm pond that is over run with 12" bass. My question is what can I do to get this thing back in balance? I'd be fine with killing the pond out and restocking if that's what it takes, is this even legal in Kansas?? As far as I know the only species in the pond are bass, catfish, and possibly some species of bluegill. The pond is spring feed from a large waterway and filters the dirt out quite well and stays clear most of the year unless of course we have 3"+ rains. The entire pond is surrounded by cattails and there is vegetation in the pond (I believe it's referred to as bushy pond weed). The pond was originally 16' deep when put it in 30 years ago. I'm guessing it is around 8' - 12' now, I was planning on taking my depth finder out on the ice to find out this weekend. My goal is to produce trophy sized fish. My main concern is around crappie and bass. Readear sunfish, native bluegill, hybrid bluegill, hybrid bass, catfish, whatever type of bait fish would be welcome too if needed. Thanks in advance for your response.

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crappie_hunter15,

There are several possibilities why your pond may be over run with small bass. Underfishing can be just as bad as overfishing for a pond. Left unchecked, bass populations will increase to densities that inhibit good growth rates and most of the fish will remain small (stunt). Too much vegetation in a pond can also be a problem for the bass as it provides too much escape cover for prey and reduces the ability of the bass to catch a meal. Lack of sufficient food will also cause poor bass growth rates. You mention that the pond has "bass, catfish, and possibly some species of bluegill". For new pond stockings four species of fish are recommended. These are largemouth bass, channel catfish, bluegill and fathead minnows to jumpstart the forage base. If you are not sure about what sunfish/bluegill are in the pond you need to find out. "Full blooded" bluegill are recommended for Kansas ponds as they provide reliable, long term forage for the largemouth bass. Many pond owners want "hybrid bluegill" and some fish dealers are good at 'pushing' these fish to pondowners. The problem with hybrid sunfish is over time they will decrease in density and not provide adequate prey. Hybrid sunfish can be used to compliment the sunfish population in a pond but full blooded bluegill should be present. Other sunfish may compete directly with young bass and reduce growth rates. Green sunfish are common in Kansas ponds and they can actually become the top predator and suppress bass growth. Having all green sunfish and no bluegill would possibly explain the current condition of your bass.

Once you figure out what fish you are dealing with and the status of your vegetation you can begin to look at selective harvest or supplementally stocking species (bluegill) that may be missing from the pond. You need to have a good balance of bass and bluegill before you even consider stocking other species in to the mix. The addition of crappie too early can cause serious problems. If the bass population is not 'strong' enough to adequately prey upon young of the year crappie then the crappie will quickly overpopulate and hurt the rest of the species in the pond through competition. If you decide to stock crappie only stock black crappie as they are less prone to overpopulate. It is difficult to manage for trophy bass AND trophy crappie. For trophy bass management a pond owner needs to create a bass population with a low density of large bass which requires selective harvest of the 'medium' and 'small' bass so that the larger fish continue to have the resources to continue to grow.

A pond can't support HIGH density of LARGE individuals as there just isn't enough forage to feed all those big fish. Kansas farm ponds can produce approximately 300 lbs of fish per acre, you as a pond manager must decide what the species and size composition of the 300 lbs will be.

Big bass like to eat big meals. Having big bass that are capable of eating crappie >8 inches doesn't do well in producing trophy crappie. In order to produce trophy crappie the bass population must be managed for high density small and medium sized bass (up to 13-14 inches). The bass will need to be 'intentionally stockpiled' to create many smaller hungry mouths that prefer to eat SMALL crappie instead of BIG crappie. By controlling the recruitment of young of the year crappie to the adult population the remaining crappie will be allowed to grow in to larger sizes (trophy sizes). Once the crappie reach ~6inches the smaller bass won't be able to eat them and can grow larger with little competition from other crappie in the 'low density' population.

I'm getting pretty wordy here but in short, take inventory of the fish species present and get an idea of their density. A few trips with rod and reel, ruler, and recording catch and length data will give you an idea of what you are dealing with. If you have adequate forage and all your bass or small then you will need to remove the most common size to allow those remaining fish to grow larger. Catfish can be harvested as desired. Channel catfish usually require supplemental stocking in small Kansas ponds as the bass will limit catfish recruitment. Keep notes on catfish catch rates. When catch rates get too low it's time to restock.

Here's a link to pond management on the KDWPT website. POND MANAGEMENT IN KANSAS You can also contact your local district fisheries biologist for more info.

Craig thank you very much for the detailed response.

this was a good read! I was told one time a simple way to think of it is pretend you filled a shoe box with water. You could fit 2 large bass in that shoe box or you could put 10 small bass in that shoe box. So basically you only have enough room for a certain amount of fish so you have to decide what is right for you and if you want 2 big bass in your shoe box you have to remove (eat....mmm......yummy) the rest to help keep the population in check.

So kind of on this subject. Heard a guy talking about stocking some wipers to try and prey on the small crappie in his ponds. Would wipers be able to check the crappie in a small impoundment. I know they usually like open water it seems like.

Stripers would not survive in a pond but correct me if I'm wrong.

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Originally Posted by zummy

So kind of on this subject. Heard a guy talking about stocking some wipers to try and prey on the small crappie in his ponds. Would wipers be able to check the crappie in a small impoundment. I know they usually like open water it seems like.

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A friend of mine has a cousin with a good sized pond that has quite a few wipers in it that do quite well.

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Originally Posted by zummy

So kind of on this subject. Heard a guy talking about stocking some wipers to try and prey on the small crappie in his ponds. Would wipers be able to check the crappie in a small impoundment. I know they usually like open water it seems like.

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Zummy,

Sorry for the delay in my reply...was out of the office for a little R&R! ;^)

Wipers (hyrbid striped bass) can survive in smaller waters quite well. While they may eat some small crappie, I wouldn't totally rely on them to get the crappie population back under control...the largemouth bass would be better at doing this in a small water setting. Wipers prefer gizzard shad for forage and normally do poorly without them unless special management efforts are in place.

I have learned something. Thanks