Advice on Fishing Pond/Lake

[TBone]

A couple of years ago I bought a few acres out in the country that borders a little springfed lake (about 8-9 acres). The lake is about 15 years old and about 5-30 feet deep with no structure. I haven't seen any evidence of minnows or other baitfish for larger fish to feed on. I have caught a few very small bream but really haven't fished for them. Three of us own property adjoining the lake but none of us are serious fishermen. What little time I've spent fishing out there I have found that it is apparently full of very small bass. They bite like crazy. I finally caught one that weighed about 2-3 pounds but I've probably caught 100 small ones from 1/4 lb to 3/4 lb. They appear to be healthy, just very small. I haven't seen any evidence of large bass in the entire lake. The other day I decided to keep a few of the larger ones for supper. They were around 1/2 - 3/4 lb. When I cleaned them most of them had eggs, apparently getting ready to spawn. Is this normal for bass this small to have eggs? Do ya'll think we've got an overstock problem, do we need to introduce some baitfish or provide some structure? Thanks.

 

[MossRoad]

From how it was explained to my by our DNR many years ago when I helped with a fish kill/restock program in Boy Scouts, a body of water can only support so many pounds of fish based on the nutrients available, stuff like that. So, let's say your pond can support 1000 pounds of fish.

1 - 1000lb fish
10 - 100lb fish
100 - 10lb fish
1000 - 1lb fish
10,000 - .10lb fish

Or some combination of all of them.

Make sense?

Adding baitfish to your pond won't do anything right now, I'd think, as there are already plenty of small fish. And you should be throwing any fish of size right back into that pond, and keeping any small fish that you catch. Even with that, you'd have to fish it pretty aggressively to get a large number of small fish out of there, especially it being 8-9 acres.

I'd contact your local Department of Natural Resources, County Extension Agent, etc... and talk to a state biologist. Many states have FREE services to help you get a picture of your pond's health and ways to manage it.

Nice looking place, by the way.

 

[the old grind]

If all shorelines are bare as shown in the pic you may be lacking baitfish cover and a wildlife 'buffer' to encourage diversity in & around the pond/lake. I have a lot of shoreline (>2k ft) for 3+ ac of water, as much as if all three ac were separate ponds. With bushy and brushy surroundings shore maintenance becomes a year-round job, though. I only have a few places one can walk to shore to fish or to launch a canoe.

Not that everyone should, but I encourage patches of cattails in areas where they do best. (Muskrats keep them from getting out of hand and are usually shot after a day or two of scouting their swimming routes) I bought this place post sand/gravel pit, and shores were bare. For a few years I planted fathead minnows but the 'tails prospered & that became unnecessary after a few more.

Channel cats were my main predators, some introduced by Don's truckers over several decades. I used to scare away Herons, not wanting them to steal bass that the cats out-competed. Reducing catfish numbers helped, and the birds seem to prefer 8' - 12' largemouths which helps keep their numbers in check. There are plenty of shallow areas for them to hunt. Biggest bass caught last year was >3 lb and thrown back. Bass season is 'closed' for spawning In the Spring for a reason like with many species. (coyotes, etc)

Something I learned but never did is to wrap old Christmas with chicken wire and drop them into mid-depth areas as structure. Varying depths along shore can be good to have and shallows need to be appreciated vs kept 'cleared' like swimming beaches. There will be an occasional perch or crappie seen or caught but neither can spawn here. (from goose poop?) Bass and bream will spawn just about anywhere. Balancing populations includes much trial and error for best fishing. Doing fine after 20 years here as of this month.

 

[oosik]

I have a ten acre lake on my property. 80 feet deep. Half is open water - half has cattails. The five acres of cattails is where all the "food" grows for my bass. Water depth in the cattails -12' up to 3' at the outlet. I have all sizes of bass - up to six pounds.

View off my front porch.

 

[MossRoad]

the birds seem to prefer 8' - 12' largemouths

Those ARE some big birds!

Never heard of goose poop preventing fish spawn.

Nice looking pond!

 

[the old grind]

Geese no prevent spawning, their poop brings in odd eggs. Explains clams too if not brought in on bird feet. 'Coons find & open 'em.

Turkeys were run out of the nabe this year by locally-denning coyotes. I took out the alpha female weeks ago, just looking for stragglers to revisit. Bad enough with 'coons raiding nests as they do. btw, Ms dead 'yote is about to thaw & I'll have to bury her soon-ish.

Don had lowered the yard by several feet and sold it off before digging below ground water in dry years, moved over as he hit the clay layer that provides the 'high' water table. Avg depth is ~6' and deeps spots another 4' or so. Peninsula seen on the left in pic is underwater at present.

Oosik, that's how a pond or lake shoud look, varied terrain and growth near/into the water.

 

[oosik]

I sure enjoy the lake. I most enjoy sitting on the cliffs and watching the schools of bass swim past. It can be a dangerous lake if folks don't understand. Right at the cliff/water interface it's 40 feet deep. It only gets shallow at each end where the cattails are. There is NO shore line down the length where the cliffs are on both sides. The cliffs average 35-40 feet high.

ANY AND ALL children who visit MUST wear a life vest when they venture out of my house. They must be accompanied by a parent who will watch over them. A few parents have objected - I make NO exceptions. It's either my way or the highway.

More than 40 years out here and absolutely no accidents.

 

[the old grind]

I was the only two oopsies here in 20 yrs. One as I stood in the canoe over 5' of water trying to reattach a drag-line bucket bridle. It was May and the water was c-c-cold when I tipped and went in. Son was right there and gave me a tailgate ride to the house for a quick hot shower.

The other was when beaching the canoe. I'd been scouting muskrat entrances to trap and had for some reason taken my shiny 9-shot 'dispatcher'. Why I picked the spot makes no sense and as the bow touched shore I half stood clumsily. Over we went, me on my dupa and the .22 pistol to the bottom in knee deep water. Shook the water off the gun, blew more off with compressed air, and like nothing happened.

Kids that hesitate to wear jackets are usually more young than compliant and two adults can pick them and walk towards the dock declaring it's time to show their swimming prowess. Helps to mention not letting the weeds tangle their feet. With no idea how deep anywhere or what lies out there it always seems to work. I have jackets to fit kids that can walk and on up in size.

 

[JethroB]

And remind the boys that snapping turtles play marbles for keeps.

 

[oosik]

I only have Painted turtles - but lots of them.