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Pond Balance

Stocking a new pond is easy.  Much more difficult is trying to figure out what to do with an older pond with an established fish population.  A basic understanding of what is being caught can help keep track and identify problems with the fish population. 

One method to evaluate the bass and bream population is to fish for both large and small bluegill and bass and keep track of what you are able to catch. Then, look at Table 1 to see if your pond is in balance or if corrections need to be made.  You should keep accurate records of your fishing effort (time), success (fish caught), and harvest (fish kept) for every time you fish the pond.

A much more effective evaluation technique is to capture some of the young fish using a seine. The best time to do this is in mid-May to late June after the bass and bluegill have spawned.  Using a 20-foot seine (4 to 5 feet deep with 1/4 to 3/8 inch mesh), make three to five semi-circular passes in shallow areas of the pond and record what you catch. Allow the seine to arch so that the fish cannot easily swim around it.  The fish caught in the seine hauls provide information on the reproductive success of the fish in the pond and also help determine if there are unwanted species present. Look at the fish in the seine, and match your catch to Table 1 to find out what kind of fish population you have.

Lightweight seines suitable for checking ponds cost only about $25.  If catfish are desired and are not being caught, stock more fish.  In ponds with existing bass populations, make sure to stock catfish fingerlings at least 8 inches in length. Keeping records of the number of catfish stocked and caught help determine if and when additional stockings are needed. Catfish may spawn

Table 1:  Fish population status based on seine and angler catch data.  
Population Status
 Seine Data
 Angler Catch Data
Balanced population
 Many recently hatched bluegill less than 2 inches; some intermediate size bluegill (2-4 inches); some recently hatched largemouth bass.
Largemouth bass and bluegill of various sizes.
Bluegill crowded
 No or very few recently hatched bluegill; many intermediate size bluegill; no recently hatched largemouth bass.
 Largemouth bass catch low and only larger fish (15 inches or larger); few harvestable bluegill (6 inches and larger).
Bass crowded
 Many recently hatched bluegill; very few to no intermediate size bluegill; very few to no recently hatched largemouth bass.
 Largemouth bass numerous but small (12 inches or less) and often thin; bluegill few but large and robust.

Balanced Population

When everything is in balance, the bluegill are providing all of the food that the bass need, and the bass are controlling the bluegill population.  Ponds that are in balance have bluegill and bass present in all of the possible sizes from newly hatched to large adult.  Seine hauls in a balanced pond should contain many recently hatched bluegill (less than 2 inches), some intermediate size bluegill (2" to 4") and some recently hatched largemouth bass (1" to 4").  These ponds provide great fishing.  Monitor the fish in a balanced pond using a seine each summer to check for adequate reproduction and through angler catch information throughout the year.  If the pond is in balance, then no corrective measures are needed; just follow the harvesting directions in the All-Purpose Option section.

Bluegill Crowded

If you remove too many of the larger bass from a pond, too few predators will remain to control the bream population and they will overpopulate the pond. The overcrowded bream are unable to find enough food and they don’t grow well. The small bass that are left in the pond are unable to compete with the bream for food, so the bass are unable to grow to a size large enough to eat the bream that are present in such high numbers.  Most of the baby bass are eaten when they are tiny so there are few small bass in the pond. Rarely, a bass manages to get large enough to eat the stunted bluegills.  When that happens, the bass grows quickly.  Bluegill crowded ponds are characterized by a large population of stunted bluegill (2" – 4") with very few of harvestable size.  The bass population consists primarily of a very few large individuals.

Successful bass and bluegill reproduction is greatly reduced.  Summer seine hauls have very few, if any, newly hatched bass or bluegill.  Ponds that are overcrowded with bluegill are difficult to correct. However, there are four potential methods of correcting this situation.
  • Harvest as many bluegill of all sizes as possible.  The number needed to reduce the effects of the overcrowded situation may not be possible through fishing alone.  Most pond owners will not be able to catch and remove enough of the very small 2" to 4" bluegill.
  • Lower the water level in the pond to about one-half the original volume.  This concentrates the bluegill so that the bass can more readily eat them.  This is best done in late summer or early fall. Allow the pond to refill before the following spring.
  • Stock 20 to 30 adult (8" to 12") largemouth bass per acre.  These adult fish will eat and help reduce the overcrowded bluegill population.
  • The methods described above are often successful in fixing an out-of-balance pond.  However, they do require some work and dedication, and improvements may be slow to happen or may not happen at all.  An alternative to the methods above is a complete renovation that includes draining and killing all of the fish in the pond.  Once the pond has refilled, start over with stocking.  This may be the best choice in cases where large numbers of unwanted species are in the pond or corrective measures do not improve the size structure of the population and return the pond to balance.
Bass Crowded

When there are too many bass in the pond, they eat most of the bream before the bream reach 2 to 4 inches in length.  When this happens, there is not enough food for the medium-sized bass and they can’t grow to larger sizes.  The only bream present are the newly hatched fish that have not been eaten yet and a few large adults that have somehow escaped the bass and reached a size too large for the bass to eat.  Ponds that are bass crowded have large numbers of small (12 inches or less) and thin bass and a small population of large bluegill.  This is a desirable situation if you prefer to catch large bluegill.  However, if bass are the desired species, then ponds in this condition would benefit from an increased annual harvest of bass. In a single year, remove approximately 35 pounds of bass (12 inches or less) per acre.  This reduces the competition for food among the remaining bass resulting in increased growth in following years.