Pond Management

Chapter 21
Ponds or Small
Impoundments
 <2.5 hectares or 6
acres
 Usually privately
owned
 Various uses
 Some especially for
fish production
 Others for
irrigation, livestock
watering
North American Ponds
Fish Management Goal
 Provide annual crops
of harvestable-size
fish (within constraints
of pond fertility)
 Sustained or
improved fishing
 Favorable cost/benefit
ratio
 High catch rates,
above-average sizes
Fish Management Goal
 Problem - private
ownership

 Owner responsible
for implementing
management
practices
Fish Management Goal
 Lack of
understanding or
unwillingness to do
what is necessary
 Leads to
unbalanced fish
populations and
poor fishing
 Dependence on Stocking
 Artificial habitats
almost entirely
dependent on
stocking
 Warmwater
 Southern -
bass/bluegill
 Northern - bass/other
 Coldwater - trout
 Stocking/Management
Options
 Provide good
fishery quickly

 Meet needs of
pond owner

 Relate to physical,
monetary limits
 All-Purpose Option
 Good bass, bluegill
fishing (maybe also
catfish)

 Often use slot limit

for bass
 Harvest Quota Option
 Remove set
number or biomass
of bass

 Stop harvest once

quota is reached
 Panfish Option
 Focus only on
panfish - usually
bluegill

 Single-species fish
community
 Big Bass Option
 Maximum size limit
for bass (larger fish
must be returned)

 Lots of little bluegill

(children fishery)
 Catfish-Only Option
 Most often used
only in muddy or
small ponds

 Single-species fish
community
 Bass-Only Option
 Focus only on bass
(usually
largemouth)

 Single-species fish
community
 Trout Option
 Rainbow trout

 Coldwater pond -
usually spring-fed
 Stocking Rates for
Fingerlings
Species Number per hectare

Largemouth bass 250

Bluegill 2,500

Channel catfish 500 (single), 250 (multi)

Trout 600 (west), 1,500 (east)

Growth Management
 Predators
 Harvest
 Spawning
 Supplemental feed
 Fertilization
 Liming
 Balance?
 Can balance be expected?

 Artificial system - low stability

 Some Targets
 Relative weight -
Wr

 Wr of all species
should be close to
100
 Some Targets
 Proportional stock
density
 Quality/stock X 100
 Largemouth bass -
40-60%
 Bluegill - 20-40%
Size to Stock
 Some Targets
 Biomass index
 F:C ratio
 F = forage fish
 C = carnivore
 3.0-6.0
 Managing Old Ponds
 Do nothing

 Corrective stocking
- usually predator

 Reclamation
 Managing New Ponds
 Use
 Size - area, depth
 Drain
 Fish cover
 Underwater
structure
 Macrophytes