Recreational & Fishing Ponds

What do fish need?

Water quality, food, and habitat. These are the three main parts of enhancing a population so that it can reach a higher level of production. Monitoring fish growth and adjusting the harvesting and management going forward creates long term success and the true benefits of a managed private fishery.

Water Quality

Hardness and alkalinity can be tested with a water sample and if needed, enhanced with liming with the addition of agricultural lime. Aeration is likely one of the most significant improvements you can make for increased production. Aeration increases oxygen levels, but it also removes harmful gasses that can build up due to decay of organic material. Aeration also contributes to mixing and uniform distribution of temperature, nutrients, and pH. It stimulates a healthy, balanced productivity. The mixing aspect and the increase in oxygen in deeper areas will provide fish with a consistent environment and access to the full water column and all of the habitat throughout the pond or lake.

Habitat

Fish need a variety of habitat for feeding, resting, protection, and spawning. Largemouth bass and bluegill both enjoy orienting near vertical structure. Logs, trees, brush, root structures, and Christmas trees are all commonly used to enhance structure for bass and bluegill to orient near. This serves to bring predator and prey in healthy interaction, which benefits both populations and your fishery.

Artificial, manufactured fish structures can be employed to serve the same purpose. Benefits to deploying artificial structures include easy deployment and large, three dimensional structure that does not easily catch a hook when fishing. Then there is the consideration for spawning and juvenile fish. Gravel beds in 2-5 feet of depth and complex smaller structure nearby can serve to protect and enhance spawning and juvenile fish survival.

Management

Sampling of the fish population and keeping records including length and weight is vital to knowing the progress of your fishery. Tagging with individually numbered tags can allow for individual fish monitoring as they grow into trophy fish.