small pond needs help

[duane boulter]

i have a pond in the field across from my house filled with thousands of little gills 2-4 inchers whats the best way to manage this for larger ones

[Tony Livingston]

Hi Duane, welcome to BBG! Managing an existing pond for big Bluegill can present many challenges, especially when a stunted population is already present. Often, killing off the pond and starting fresh is advised, but every situation is different, and there may be other means available to you, depending upon the time and resources you have available.

Have you been over at PondBoss yet? If not, you would be well advised do drop by and introduce yourself. Have a clear picture of what you want out of your pond ready, as well as the particulars: species present, pond size and depth, resources, etc. Check here:http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php

Not trying to steer you somewhere else, just wanting to make every option available to you. Some of us here at BBG do manage ponds for ourselves and others, so you may find an option that suits you right here. Welcome to BBG!

[duane boulter]

thanks for the help. idont own the property but am allowed to take care of the pond.my kids love catching the little ones. would the introduction of a couple small bass help? pond is aprox 150' x 75' deepest point is 8'

[Tony Livingston]

I'm sure that adding Bass would  be a start, but I'd be willing to bet that it will take more than a couple. Do you ever catch larger BG out of this pond? Say, over 7"? I'm curious as to whether or not the BG are small because they're overcrowded, or if they have become stunted, and are maturing at a smaller physical size. If that be the case, then your job is harder...in essence, you're fighting genetics as well as overcrowding.

[Walt Foreman]

Tony's right, Duane - you'd be better off poisoning the pond and starting over.  It would only take about $100 worth of rotenone to treat a pond that size, and you'd be about three to four years ahead of what it would take to turn it around simply by stocking bass.  

If rotenone isn't an option, you would need to stock at least thirty largemouth 10" or better.  Once you have the bass in there, feeding a high-protein food, ideally on a daily basis with an automatic feeder, will get the bluegill to growing, though they aren't going to grow much until they're thinned out.  If you can stock fifty largemouth 10" or better, that would be ideal, as they'll thin out the bluegill quicker.  Don't keep any bass, ever, or, if you have the authority, allow anyone else to keep bass either.  Once the bluegill start turning around, don't keep any over 8".  Once you have them greatly thinned, adding a few large bluegill, 8"+, from a lake or pond that regularly produces very big bluegill, will help the genetics - but DON'T do this until the largemouth you stock have gotten the small bluegill under control to the extent that bluegill under 5" are no longer common.

Are you fairly certain the pond has some water 8' deep?  If it's shallower than that, you could be at serious risk of winterkill.  Once you have the bass in there, do your best to keep snow off a portion of the ice in wintertime to allow sunlight to penetrate so there's less chance of a winter kill from oxygen depletion.  Installing a bottom-diffuser aerator would be ideal but I don't know how much you want to spend on the pond.

[duane boulter]

i have seen a few larger fish in this pond but getting past the small ones is the problem