stocking ponds

[kstonich]

I recently purchased some property with a good size pond on it. It has bass ,hybrid bluegill and cats. The bass are a little big headed versus their body length not real bad but they need to eat more.. I did catch fish between 12" and 4lbs so I know they are reproducing.
I was looking at adding a crawdad population to the pond and minnows as nothing was ever added to the pond when first stocked. Has anyone here done this or have any contact info . I live in north central Kentucky.

[riverrat12]

I recently purchased some property with a good size pond on it. It has bass ,hybrid bluegill and cats. The bass are a little big headed versus their body length not real bad but they need to eat more.. I did catch fish between 12" and 4lbs so I know they are reproducing.
I was looking at adding a crawdad population to the pond and minnows as nothing was ever added to the pond when first stocked. Has anyone here done this or have any contact info . I live in north central Kentucky.

I would watch putting crawdads in a pond due to the fact they dig holes. I would go with fathead minnows or other fish options. Mister Whiskers\Ken Jacobs hits alot of Southern states around Ky. You can contact him @ (270) 842-2555. Chuck

[stripernut1]

I would watch putting crawdads in a pond due to the fact they dig holes. I would go with fathead minnows or other fish options. Mister Whiskers\Ken Jacobs hits alot of Southern states around Ky. You can contact him @ (270) 842-2555. Chuck

X2....watched crayfish repeatedly drain a buddy's attempt at a paylake...he finally drained it dry and spent almost $1000 on bentonite to try to seal the basin, it worked finally but the whole ordeal was an expensive headache.

[MadCaster]

It's all about population density. The less bass there are the bigger they will get, there will be more bluegill and thus more food per bass = bigger. Lots of bass eat young bluegill allowing the larger ones to get more food that would otherwise be eaten by the more numerous smaller gills = larger bluegill.
If you want larger bass and don't mind your bluegill being stunted go ahead and put minnows in there, the bass will leave the bluegill alone but their size will diminish over time. A stunted bluegill population can be very difficult to recover from however. The bass will get larger, yes. If you want large bluegill, then stock some more bass to lower their numbers. Bass won't get huge though but you might get some really hog sized bluegills. Sounds to me like your balance is pretty good with small to good sized bass and I'm assuming harvestable bluegill since you said hybrids. If you just want bigger fish in general buy a feeder with a timer. Your place in Crittenden by any chance?

[kstonich]

I read contradicting statements about the crawdads in ponds , one article would say how great they were while others mentioned the digging issue. That's why I posted here lots of knowledge.
I was worried about the crawdads and leaking this is my first real pond and don't want to screw it up.
OK next question I've heard that putting in tilapia in the spring adds allot of feed to the pond and die off come late fall.
Or would the recommendation be to pellet feed the pond.
I've only fished it one time for about an hour.I still need to catch some bluegill and see if here are cats still in it.
the owner would go out once a month with a bobber and worms catch some blue gill and small bass to eat.
I showed them a picture of the 4+ pound bass I caught out of it and the were shocked.
I guess more recon is needed.Thanks

[cast-a-way]

I think that there are two different species of crawdads. One that burrows and the type that we find in lakes, creeks,etc.
How big are the bluegill? I believe that most hybrids do not reproduce, thus there is a break in the food chain. You may want to add some type of regular bluegill for a reproducing forage base.

[R19]

Good pond management requires you to harvest fish. If the bass population has a large head in proportion to their body size then the are overpopulated. If most of your bluegill are small then you need to harvest them. I am not talking about just keeping a few bass and bluegill you need to aggressively thin down the crowd.

I went to a seminar once where a biologist from KDFW spoke about pond management. He repeatedly stressed that a pond is small so you have to manage it more aggressively than a lake impoundment. He said a pond that was 100% catch and release would be overpopulated in a short period...you need to catch and cook not catch and release.

[air1lch]

If you haven't already, I would take a look at the pond management information on KDFWR: http://fw.ky.gov/Fish/Pages/Managing...Farm-Pond.aspx I recall Indiana also had some good info on their DNR site.

[mybentrod]

I read contradicting statements about the crawdads in ponds , one article would say how great they were while others mentioned the digging issue. That's why I posted here lots of knowledge.
I was worried about the crawdads and leaking this is my first real pond and don't want to screw it up.
OK next question I've heard that putting in tilapia in the spring adds allot of feed to the pond and die off come late fall.
Or would the recommendation be to pellet feed the pond.
I've only fished it one time for about an hour.I still need to catch some bluegill and see if here are cats still in it.
the owner would go out once a month with a bobber and worms catch some blue gill and small bass to eat.
I showed them a picture of the 4+ pound bass I caught out of it and the were shocked.
I guess more recon is needed.Thanks

Im here to tell you, even though you can find someone to sell them to you, Talapia ARE ILLEGAL in ponds in KY. You can not have them in a open weather environment. They do well after April and last until late Oct. Water temp reaches 55 and they die.

Crawdads are EXTREMLY dangerous. I have 2 acre and a half ponds at my house and Rusty Crawfish are everywhere. IMPOSSIBLE TO GET RID OF! Per Fish and Wildlife.

[mybentrod]

I recently purchased some property with a good size pond on it. It has bass ,hybrid bluegill and cats. The bass are a little big headed versus their body length not real bad but they need to eat more.. I did catch fish between 12" and 4lbs so I know they are reproducing.
I was looking at adding a crawdad population to the pond and minnows as nothing was ever added to the pond when first stocked. Has anyone here done this or have any contact info . I live in north central Kentucky.

Go to www.pondboss.com and read on their forum. CRAZY amount of knowledge on pond management. I have owned mine since Sept of 14'. I never knew there was SO much to pond ownership and getting a good healthy water quality to grow bass big. Yeah, you can grow bass to be 2 and 3 lbs.....some even 5's to 6's. I want a trophy pond with 9's and 10+ lbs bass. To do that you need a good water quality to create a healthy environment for all things to grow. R19 is on it. Take care of the pond and forage. That will take care of growing your bass.

[kstonich]

I've done more recon ( fishing) have caught a wide variety of bass from 2-6 lbs, put out bobber and worms couldn't keep the bluegill off my hook 3" to 7 inches. The former owner never stocked bluegill so I assume someone else put them in. Since the first trip every bass I have caught has looked very healthy so I am going to assume for now that the pond has a healthy balance of forage for the bass. I'll spend the winter reading and learning how to take care of my new toy.