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Pond problems and a challenge...

2K views 18 replies 9 participants last post by  Opry99er 
#1 ·
Alot has changed at my sister's pond in the 2 years since I last fished it.

Moss and algae have taken over half the pond, making that half completely unfishable. Aquatic vegetation has choked out much of the pond's clear sand and rock bottom.

There is another, perhaps larger, problem as well. There is now a massive predator/prey imbalance causing a big problem for the health of the pond. The gills are mostly stunted and there are more of them than the pond can sustain and the bass are seemingly non-existent. Where we used to be able to see catfish cruising under the south treeline, all that is visible now is muddy, greenish muck and loads of tiny gills.

My brother in law gave me a directive: Catch and kill as many bluegill as you can!!!

So tonight, I took Buck to my sister's and we grabbed my twin nieces, Cora and Madison, a shovel, and 4 fishing rods.

Water was murky and brownish green, water temp was roughly 70 degrees. Turns out we didn't need 4 rods because the only fishable area of shoreline was only large enough for two anglers.

Ended up only using my UL, and we all took turns catching fish.

Between 7:15 and 8:00, I dug worms, baited hooks, and took fish off the line for my son and nieces. The gills were mostly all small with big bug eyes, with the exception of one large and very pregnant female Buck caught. After digging worms, we fished for a total of about a half hour, 8 fish landed. The girls (while they love to go down to the pond and fish) had no idea how to consistently hook up. Their rods are bulky, old, and have 5 year old line that is knotted and brittle. They marveled at my UL rod and hyper-sensitive stick bobber.

They had no real concept of setting the hook and had relied previously on the fish taking the bait and setting the hook in they'd gills or deeper. By the time they had each missed 4 or 5 fish each, they caught on quickly. Each kid caught 2, except Buck who caught just one and was content to watch his girl cousins catch fish and squirm when I made them hold the fish for pictures. Besides.... He caught the nice 7.5"er and knew, somehow, that it wouldn't be beaten.

We kept all 8, per my brother and sister's request and I fileted them up a few minutes ago.

I have a bunch of great pix. But can't seem to get anything to upload anywhere right now. I will try to find some WiFi tomorrow to post pix.

We have our work cut out for us, clearing a chunk of the gill population out of there... If we are successful, they will treat for the algae and moss this winter and restock predators in the Spring. If we fail, he will drain the pond and start all over with all new fish next year.

Pix coming when I can get to the internet.
 
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#3 ·































So here are a few pix. The pix of the girls with crappy looks on their faces are when they were trying to cast the junk rods with junk line and couldn't get past the moss and weeds. The smiling fish pix were from later, after they ditched the rods and started having FUN!!!
 
#5 ·
Find someone to electrofish it for you. Scoop up everything that floats up. Leave the bigger fish and make fertilizer out of the rest. Adding a few grass carp will help with algae and moss but keep them in check. You could also make a grapling hook and throw it out a few times and clear some of the moss out. Checking the PH levels and adding fom "good" vegitation like lilly pads will also help. And if theres not an active creek flowing though it you'll need an areator, algae and moss thrive in stagnant water.
 
#7 ·
It is fed by a seasonal spring. Not flowing right now, but should be flowing in the next week or two, if the pattern holds.

Sister's pond is about 3/4 of an acre. Very small.

Grapling hook sounds like a great idea. If it were my pond, I'd put grass carp in there, but all I can do is make the suggestion. I think he is set on draining it, adding some artificial breeding tubes for the cats, and going with redear sunfish instead of gills.

As to the "throwing a frog" suggestion, its a good one. There are more frogs there now than I've ever seen there. Might hook a good bass or two, if they're still in there.

Right now I'm focused on pulling as many gills out as I can. And I'm sold on building a grapling hook.

Thanks all. :)
 
#17 ·
It is full of big bass, but we didn't catch one. I've GOT to get internet at my house. As is, I have to drive 15 minutes to the library in order to use WiFi.

I'll try to get out there before this evening. Currently, I can utilize text on this site, but pix don't show up, and I cannot upload pix to either Facebook or photobucket. Slow connection times out on me.
 
#18 ·
It is full of big bass, but we didn't catch one. I've GOT to get internet at my house. As is, I have to drive 15 minutes to the library in order to use WiFi.

I'll try to get out there before this evening. Currently, I can utilize text on this site, but pix don't show up, and I cannot upload pix to either Facebook or photobucket. Slow connection times out on me.
Opry, cut down the resolution on your pics so they're smaller (if you haven't already) then try uploading them. Depending on your phone, you could also make it a wi-fi access point and use your computer to connect to it. Still the same connection speed, but may work if you can get them to your computer and edit the pics down to an even smaller size than your phone takes them.
 
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