RANCHING Wildlife
Proper Management Ensures Good Quality Sport-Fisheries in Ponds
By Michael Porter, Noble Foundation wildlife and fi sheries consultant
P
OND OWNERS OR MANAGERS CAN MANAGE THEIR PONDS TO develop and maintain good quality fi sheries. Con-
sistently successful sport-fi sh management in ponds addresses the physical or structural attributes of a pond, water quality, plant community, fi sh stocking, fi sh harvest, monitoring and records. Permanent water is the most important physical
aspect of a pond pertaining to fi sh management. A pond needs to have adequate depth, soil and watershed size to maintain permanent water during extended droughts. In south-central Oklahoma, seven feet is the shallowest maximum depth suitable for fi shponds with adequate watershed size and without seepage problems. Other structural aspects of ponds, such as overfl ow pipe, drainpipe, fencing and sloped pond edges, are important because they help minimize or correct problems, but a pond manager can obtain successful results without these features as long as the associated preventable problems are not severe. Ideally, water in a sport-fi sh pond would have a green-
ish color that restricts visibility in the range of 12 to 30 inches. The greenish color is caused by phytoplankton, which is the base of the food chain. It feeds zooplank- ton, which feeds invertebrates and fi sh fry, which feeds small fi sh, which feeds large fi sh, which feeds us. Yet, successful fi sheries can be obtained in clear water when adequate aquatic plants are present. Water should not be polluted with soil, organic wastes or pesticides. Muddy water limits fi sh growth and production. In my opinion, the presence of some aquatic plants
is desirable in sport-fi sh ponds. Plants provide fi sh habi- tat structure, invertebrate substrate (grow fi sh food) and maintain better water quality (facilitate removal of soil, organic wastes and pesticides). However, when submersed and immersed, aquatic plants dominate more than 25 percent of a pond, fi shing becomes dif- fi cult and the plants might affect predator-prey balance. Appropriate species and numbers of fi sh should be
stocked to develop quality-sized fi sh and appropriate predator-prey balance. A common stocking rate utiliz- ing one- to three-inch fi ngerlings, in ponds larger than 0.5 acre without fi sh, is 100 largemouth bass per acre,
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500 bluegill per acre and 100 channel catfi sh per acre. However, the appropriate species and numbers of fi sh to stock depend upon a pond’s surface area, its goals, its productivity, the species and sizes of fi sh present and the sizes being stocked. When stocked correctly, most sport-fi sh species suitable for ponds, such as largemouth bass, bluegill and redear sunfi sh, do not need restocking when fi sh are harvested and the pond is managed properly. However, catfi sh are an excep- tion. Harvested channel catfi sh and catfi sh that die of natural causes should be replaced to maintain catfi sh fi sheries in ponds with abundant bass. Largemouth bass harvest management is the most
important aspect of fi sh harvest. Improper bass harvest is one of the most common causes of poor-quality fi sher- ies. Most ponds do not have adequate numbers of large bass (longer than 15 inches) to justify their removal. Too many large bass can be taken out of a pond in a short period of time relatively easily. Removal of several small bass can be appropriate or necessary in ponds with overabundant bass or excellent bass recruitment when adequate prey such as bluegill is present. Important aspects of sport-fi sh pond monitoring
include records of fi shing effort, fi sh catches and fi sh harvests. Fish surveys, such as seining, hook and line fi shing or electrofi shing, provide additional information about fi sheries, especially unknown fi sheries. Important records to maintain include measured surface area, fi sh stocking details (species, sizes, numbers, dates and sources), fi sh harvests, catch per unit of effort (if collected), fi sh survey data (if performed) and water analyses (if performed). Space does not allow many pond management details
to be addressed here. If you have questions, feel free to contact one of the wildlife and fi sheries consultants at the Noble Foundation.
May 2016 The Cattleman 63
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