Managing Ponds for Better Fishing

1
Managing Ponds for Better Fishing

• Michael Masser, Ph.D.
• Professor and Extension Fisheries Specialist
• Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences
• Texas AM University
• College Station, TXFebruary 25, 2003

2
Garden Analogy

• Pond construction site, tilling
• Stocking fish planting appropriate varieties
• Liming liming
• Fertilizing fertilizing
• Harvesting harvesting
• Weed control weed control
• Predator control pest control

3
Common Misunderstandings

• Clear water is productive/good
• Fish need rooted vegetation (cover/shade/habitat)
• Fish need deep water (cool/sanctuary)
• Crappie and Hybrid sunfish (bream) are OK to
  stock
• I need to add bass/fish to my pond ever few years

4
Reality Check v

• Fish are cold-blooded
• Temperature of their environment
• Low energy needs
• Do not have to grow (will stunt)
• Fish do not chew their food
• Basically swallow their food whole
• Mouth size determines prey size

5
(No Transcript)
6
What are we growing?
Herbivores?
7
What are we growing? Contd
Carnivores/Predators!
8
Critical Considerations

• Pond Construction
• Soil and Water Chemistry
• Liming and Fertilization
• Stocking
• Maintaining Balance
• Managing Aquatic Vegetation
• Enhancement measures

9
Pond Construction

• NRSC (Natural Resource
  Conservation Service)
• Watershed area - vegetation and soils
• Clay core dam to impervious soil
• Slopes (31 or 41)
• Standpipe drain
• Emergency spillway

10
Watershed Pond
11
(No Transcript)
12
Cattle
Erode banks Increase nutrients
13
Pond Renovation

• Lower water level
• Kill existing fish population
• Repair pond dam
• repair or add standpipe/siphon drain
• remove woody vegetation
• Deepen pond edges
• Add reefs/structure
• Restock

14
Rotenone
0.5 to 5 ppm
15
Soil and Water Chemistry

• Clay content - gt 30
• Soil pH - gt6.5
• No clay turbidity
• Water pH - 6.5 to 9.5
• Alkalinity - gt20 ppm
• Hardness - gt 50 ppm

16
Clay Turbidity
Agricultural lime 2-10 tons/ac
Gypsum 80-960 lbs/ac ft
Alum 30-120 lbs/ac ft
17
Liming - Agricultural lime
Alkalinity lt20 ppm - Agricultural lime increases
and stabilizes pH and algal blooms
18
Video Clip

• Liming Ponds

19
Pond Food Chain

• Plants - Detritus - Herbivores Carnivores
  (detritivores)
• Plants algae or macrophytes (rooted plants)

20
Pond Food Chain Contd

• Detritus decaying mater
• algae, bacteria, fungi, zooplankton, macrophytes
  etc.
• Herbivores zooplankton, mollusks, crustaceans,
  some insects, grass carp,

21
Pond Food Chain Contd

• Carnivores
• bluegill, redear, catfish, bass, etc.
• herons, egrets, pelicans, ospreys, etc.
• snapping turtles (Alligator snapper -protected)

22
Pond Food Chain Contd

• Carnivores
• diamond water snake, water moccasin, etc.
• otters, raccoons, etc.
• man

23
Fertilization

• Limiting nutrient in ponds
• Phosphorous - precipitates to pond bottom and is
  trapped in the mud...
• that is why rooted plants do so well, they have
  access to the phosphorous
• Nitrogen usually present (except in new ponds)

24
Fertilization Contd

• Fertilizers - high Phosphorous
• 20-20-5 granular
• 10-34-9 liquid
• 10-52-0 powered
• 10-50-0 time-release

25
Fertilizers
Liquid and granular - 20 to 36 Phosphorous
26
Fertilization Platform
27
Video Clip

• Liquid Fertilization

28
Ventrui siphon for liquid ferti- lizer application
29
Powdered and Time-released fertilizers
30
Planktonic algae green water
31
Zooplankton
Tiny floating insects and crustaceans
32
Invertebrates crawfish, insects, and worms.
33
Fertilizers

• Increase fish production by 4-6 times
• unfertilized 75-100 lbs/acre
• fertilized 250-600 lbs/acre
• Do not fertilize rooted vegetation
• Do not over-fertilize

34
Fertilization ?

• Commitment of time - March to November/December
• Reduces clarity - green water
• Increases invertebrate biomass
• Increases biomass of fish
• Increases oxygen fluctuations
• Cost - 35 - 120 per acre

35
Secchi Disk
18-24 inches good bloom
gt24 inches fertilize
12-15 inches to dense
lt12 inches oxygen depletion
36
Algae-microscopic plants
Constant rain of detritus
Eaten by zooplankton
No place for prey to hide
Does not interfere with fishing
37
Rooted vegetation
Slow to decompose
To dense
Prey avoidance
Oxygen deletion
Stunted populations
38
(No Transcript)
39
Alternative to fertilization
artificial feeding
40
Artificial Feeding

• Feed consumed by bluegill and catfish
• increases biomass, condition, and reproduction

41
Artificial Feeding Contd

• Guidelines
• no more than 15 lbs/acre/day without aeration
• no more than 35 lbs/acre/day with emergency
  aeration
• use automatic feeders and feed 4 to 6 times per
  day

42
Stocking

• Fertilized
• 100 largemouth bass (2-4 inches)
• 1000 sunfish
• 1000 bluegill or
• 800 bluegill and 200 redear
• 100 catfish

43
Stocking Contd

• Unfertilized
• 50 largemouth bass
• 500 bluegill or 400 bluegill 100 redear

44
Catfish?

• Will you fish for them?
• Catfish reduce food available to bass and sunfish
• will not reproduce successfully in bass and
  sunfish pond!

45
Catfish? Contd

• Stock 50 per acre if not fertilizing or feeding
• 100 - 200 per acre if fertilizing or occasional
  feeding (1-2/week)

46
Stocking Catfish Only Ponds

• Fertilized - 100 to 200 per acre
• fathead minnows - 5 to 15 pounds per acre

47
Stocking Catfish Only Ponds Contd

• Feeding - 200 to 500 per acre
• fathead minnows - 5 to 15 lbs/acre
• commercial feeds
• lt 15 pounds per acre per day
• lt 35 pounds per acre per day with
  aeration

48
Largemouth Bass
Number one freshwater sportfish
Natural reproducing population
8-10 lbs of prey (forage) 1 lb of bass
49
Forage species
Bluegill
Fathead minnows
Shad gizzard threadfin
50
Other Species

• Compete for food/prey
• Affect spawning - eat eggs
• Prey on young bass

51
Unwanted Species

• Crappie - high reproduction and
  competitor/predator
• Shiner minnows - eat eggs and fast
• Gizzard shad - become to large, competitor
• Bullheads/mud cats - competitor/predator

52
Unwanted SpeciesContd

• Common carp - eat eggs and competitor
• Green sunfish - competitor/predator
• Hybrid sunfish - low reproduction (no prey)
  and production of green sunfish

53
Crappie - reproduction
54
Stocking Times

• Bluegill - fall (October - December)
• Fathead minnows - fall to spring (Oct - May)
• Catfish - fall to spring (Oct - May)
• Largemouth bass - spring (May - June)
• Grass carp - fall to spring (Oct - May)

55
Maintaining Balance

• Predator prey - 5-61 (lbs)
• seining (spring and fall)
• catch records
• Bass
• size and condition
• Bluegill
• size and condition
• Catfish (no reproduction)

56
(No Transcript)
57
Bass Condition
Enlarged tail and eye
Skinny body
Stunted Bass
58
Bluegill nests
59
Seine Sampling
60
Young-of-the-year bass
61
Bluegill Reproduction
Various sizes
62
Evaluation of Sampling

• Seine Data -
• small intermediate bluegill YOY bass
• Catch Data -
• bass and bluegill of various sizes
• Conclusion
• population in balance

63
Evaluation of Sampling Contd

• Seine Data -
• few intermediate bluegills and no YOY bass
• Catch Data -
• numerous small bass
• few large bluegill
• Conclusion
• bass-crowded or stunted

64
Managing Aquatic Vegetation

• Integrated Pest Management Approach
• Prevention
• Mechanical
• Biological
• Chemical

65
Prevention

• Fertilization - prevents rooted plants from
  establishing by shading the bottom and creates a
  strong food chain

66
Prevention Contd

• Dyes - shades like fertilization but no food
  chain enhancement (Aquashade)
• Barrier mats - shades bottom, expensive, and
  reduces invertebrates in food chain.

67
Barrier mats
68
Mechanical Control

• Frequent cutting
• removal of cut vegetation
• Only cuts does not eliminate
• Expensive

69
Hand Mechanical Cutters
If you like mowing your yard, your going to love
mowing your pond!
70
Biological Control

• Bacteria, fungi, and insects - experimental (not
  available)
• Grass carp - requires permits in some states
  (diploid versus triploid)
• consume most submerged vegetation
• effect control for 5-7 years
• Tilapia may require permits (die at 55oF)
• consume duckweeds and filamentous algae

71
Grass Carp
72
Tilapia
73
Managing Aquatic Vegetation

• First critical step.
• Identification
• algae
• floating
• submerged
• shoreline/emergent

74
Aquatic Plant Management Considerations

• What plant am I treating?
• What will work on that plant?
• What are the environmental consequences of the
  treatment?
• What water use restrictions on to be considered?
  (if a herbicide)
• What will be the cost of treatment?

75
Algae

• Planktonic - microscopic floating
• Filamentous - stringy or hair-like
• Macro-algaes
• chara
• nitella

76
(No Transcript)
77
Blue-green algae
78
(No Transcript)
79
Microscopic view of filamentous algae
80
(No Transcript)
81
Floating Plants

• Watermeal
• Mosquito fern (azolla)
• Salvinia
• common and giant
• Water lettuce
• Water hyacinth
• Duckweeds

82
Duckweed
83
Azolla
84
Giant Salvinia
Can double in size in 4 to 10 days No sexual
reproduction - only vegetative growth Can form
layers up to 3 feet deep
85
(No Transcript)
86
Water lettuce
87
Water Hyacinth
88
Submerged Plants

• Coontail
• Eelgrass
• Egeria
• Elodea
• Fanwort
• Hydrilla
• Bushy Pondweed
• Parrotfeather

• Curly-leaf Pondweed
• Illinois Pondweed
• Sago Pondweed
• Variable-leaf Pondweed
• Eurasian Watermilfoil
• Variable-leaf Watermilfoil

89
Coontail
90
Eelgrass
91
Elodea
Anacharis
92
Hydrilla
93
(No Transcript)
94
Emergent Plants

• Smartweed
• Southern watergrass
• Torpedograss
• Waterleaf
• Waterlilies
• Water Pennywort
• Water Primrose
• Water Shield
• Willow

• Alligator Weed
• Arrowhead
• Buttonbush
• Cattail
• Common Reed
• Horsetail
• Lizards-tail
• Pickerelweed
• Rushes Sedges

95
Alligatorweed
96
Arrowhead
97
Cattail
98
American Lotus
99
Sedges and Rushes
rushes are round and sedges have edges
100
Willow
101
(No Transcript)
102
(No Transcript)
103
(No Transcript)
104
(No Transcript)
105
(No Transcript)
106
(No Transcript)
107
(No Transcript)
108
Enhancement?

• Artificial reefs
• Water lilies in tubs
• Sand beds for bluegill
• Gravel beds for bass
• Aerator
• Automatic feeder
• Wood duck boxes

109
Artificial reefs
110
Potential Problems

• Dissolved oxygen depletions
• heavy algae blooms or high coverage of rooted
  submerged plants
• decomposing plants, manure, feed
• turnover

111
Potential Problems Contd

• Diseases - rarely kill many fish in recreational
  ponds unless over-stocked
• Predators - cormorants, pelicans, otters, wading
  birds, turtles, alligators, snakes.

112
Dissolved Oxygen
Most problems at night in the summer!
113
Oxygen depletion
3 ppm fish restless lt2 ppm _at_ 3 hours - large
fish die lt1 ppm _at_ 3 hours - small fish
die Predators - birds, otters, and man
114
Bird Predators

• All migratory birds including cormorants, herons,
  egrets, pelicans, etc. are protected by federal
  laws!
• Possibility exists to get cormorants de-listed by
  the USFWS
• call or write your congressmen, USFWS, and state
  DNR, Game Fish etc.

115
Snakes and Turtles

• Snakes
• do not eat many fish!
• mow to edge of pond (reduce cover around pond)
• Turtles
• do not eat many fish!
• trap or shoot to remove

116
Enjoy