Your Pond
Good fish management begins with an understanding of your pond's physical, chemical, and biological features. These three features determine the quality of fishing your pond can produce and the kinds of problems you may encounter.
Physical Features
If you are planning to construct a pond, contact the local Natural Resources Conservation Service (U.S. Department of Agriculture) office at the county seat. The NRCS can provide the technical engineering advice you need to properly design and construct a pond. But remember, there may be some legal aspects of pond construction that you should consider. Contact your county surveyor, planning commission, or the Indiana Department of Natural Resources prior to pond construction to obtain any necessary permits. The NRCS office can also help in making sure your pond meets the legal qualifications. Since you are interested in managing the pond for fishing, several factors should be considered when planning a new pond.
Fish ponds should be at least one surface acre in size. Ponds smaller than one acre seldom support a satisfactory fish population over many years. They usually require much more intensive fish management and may not justify the costs. Fishing ponds should have a drain line so the pond can be completely drained. The additional construction cost will result in dollars saved over the years. A pond that can be drained is more easily and economically managed for good fishing. Water-level drawdowns can be effective in controlling overabundant small fish. Because few ponds provide high quality fishing indefinitely, it may become necessary to eliminate a poor fish population.
Some pond owners believe that a deep pond provides better habitat (living space) for fish. This is seldom true. Most deep ponds in Indiana don't contain enough oxygen for fish in water greater than 15 feet deep during the summer. Only during the spring and fall months, when the water temperatures are changing, does the pond water circulate enough to supply oxygen to the deeper holes. Under ice and snow cover in winter, oxygen concentrations in the deep water drop again.
Certain ponds, especially gravel pits, may contain sufficient oxygen at depths where water temperatures are cool (less than 70 degrees F). These ponds can be managed for trout fishing. Most ponds, however will support only "warm water" fish like bass, bluegill and channel catfish.
To ensure good water quality in your pond, do not allow livestock to wade in it. They trample the banks and muddy the water. If you need to water livestock at the pond, fence in a small area along the bank. Don't allow runoff from a barnyard or feedlot into the pond. Runoff from these sources adds excessive nutrients to the water and can produce obnoxious weed problems and cause fish kills. Avoid letting agricultural fertilizers and pesticides into the pond. Avoid plowing near the pond and reduce areas where soil erosion carries silt into the pond.
Once you have a pond, it is important to know the exact acreage, maximum depth, average depth, and water volume. This information becomes useful in calculating the amount of herbicide needed for weed control and the number of fish needed for stocking.
Chemical Features
The amount of oxygen dissolved in your pond's water is the most important chemical feature. Without oxygen, fish simply suffocate. If oxygen levels drop low, fish become stressed. Stress can then trigger secondary problems, such as poor growth, poor reproduction and diseases. So it is vitally important to maintain adequate amounts of oxygen in the water.
The amount of oxygen needed depends on the kinds of fish in the pond. Bass, bluegill and channel catfish require more than five parts per million (ppm) of oxygen. When oxygen is less than five ppm, fish may show signs of stress. Fish kills can occur when oxygen is less than three ppm. Oxygen levels below one ppm are catastrophic.
Some fish species survive low oxygen concentrations better than others. Unfortunately, these are usually undesirable species, such as common carp and bullheads. If your pond undergoes periods of low oxygen concentrations (hot cloudy days in August or during mid-winter snow storms), game fish will likely die and be replaced by undesirable fish.
To measure the amount of oxygen in your pond, a small chemical kit (sold by Hach Chemical Company) can be purchased. It is a relatively simple test using pre-measured chemical powders.
Another chemical feature of your pond is pH or acidity. Indiana ponds usually have a pH of 7.5 to 9.0. Fish do well within this pH range. Recent evidence indicates that normal rainfall is becoming increasingly acidic from industrial pollutants in many areas east of Indiana. At present, Indiana's soils are able to buffer acid rain before it enters lakes and ponds. However, there may be periods immediately after the spring thaw that your pond can receive an increase in acidic runoff, but it is unlikely fish will be affected.
Biological Features
A pond is like the land around it. There is a limit to what it can produce. While a certain field can produce 100 bushels of corn per acre or a pasture can support two cows per acre, a pond also has a limit to the pounds of fish it can support. Just like the land, the upper limit or "carrying capacity" of a pond is influenced by fertility (nutrients available), climate and the type of crop being grown.
In a detailed study of 14 Indiana ponds, the total weight of fish ranged from 109 to 703 pounds per acre. The average pond supported 320 pounds of fish per acre. This "standing crop" consisted of 224 pounds of bluegill, 36 pounds of largemouth bass, and 60 pounds of miscellaneous fish per acre.
A standing crop of 320 pounds might consist of 320 one-pound fish, or any combination totaling 320 pounds. The important fact is that each pond has a limit to the pounds of fish that it can sustain. The pond owner who understands the concept of carrying capacity will be better able to manage and use the fish crop that the pond produces.
Stocking Your Pond
After you have a properly constructed pond and a basic understanding of its features, it is time to stock your pond. You must consider what kinds of fish you want, how many and what size of fish you need to stock, when and how to stock, and potential stocking problems. Proper stocking can make a world of difference in fishing quality in years to come.
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