Lake Management Question

[PoultryMan]

The family lake was drained, dug back out, and restocked two years ago. My father in law stocked bluegill, bass, and fathead minnows.

He installed two feeders and has been the fish steady for a while. Every time I walk down, I see fish everywhere. When the feeders go off, the water boils.

Today I was the first time I fished the pond in two years. I bring down my ultralight with a little panther martin.

In an hour of fishing, I probably caught 15 CREEK CHUBS and 3 bluegill.

We never had a creek chub problem before we drained the lake. Now, they are hammering my lure every single time it hits the water.

I did not catch a bass and was shocked to only catch 3 bluegill.

Is there a way to solve this problem and how did it become a problem to begin with?

Thanks!

 

[crackerdave]

Drain,kill,restock.

Maybe raise gators.Feed em chickens.

 

[Batjack]

When the bass get big enough... the chubs will go away.

 

[paulito]

Too many "what ifs" to say for sure. could have an otter but i doubt that if the water boils when the feeder goes off. fish (especially the bluegill) can get trained to the feeder making them a bit more "finicky" to catch on artificials.

If he stocked with fingerlings two years ago he should have a pretty healthy fishery by now. That assumes he stocked at the correct rates. Only way to know for sure would be to electrofish it and see. wrong time of year to do that effectively right now, need to wait until the fall or next spring. That said, a single one hour fishing trip does not define a pond. My good buddy has 3 nice ponds on his property in Bama that he has managed pretty well in the past. Some days you can go down and kill it other days......not so much.

The chubs could have been in with the minnows he stocked. I wouldn't worry about them either as the bass should end up feeding them out. if not, there may be issues with your bass population. Remember that in smaller impoundments you have to harvest to keep them in balance and quality. general guideline is 12-15 pounds of bass per acre per year.

Hope this helps

 

[basshappy]

@PoultryMan Couple questions:
- what size is pond - surface area and average depth?
- what are the weeds like?
- was structure place in pond?
- how was the stocking done - bluegills and minnows year 1, bass yeat 2? Or all 3 same time?
- what ratio of bluegill to bass were stocked? How many pounds of minnows?
- any uninvited fishers - people or animals (birds, otters, etc)?
- how many times did you fish the pond for bluegill or bass? What lures or bait did you use?
- what is water temperature?


Without knowing more specific details best we can do is throw general info your way. If you know some of these answers we might be able to be more specific or exact.

 

[Mexican Squealer]

I’d sling a cast net in the feeding frenzy.
Not science by any stretch but might give you more answers

 

[Big7]

After 2 years, I'd say something is up with the Bass. You either have to many and they got stunted or you don't have enough to eat the Chubs. 2 year old Bass will be about 12 inches.

DNR came to a lake I used to fish and threw a cast net in several places around the lake and counted all the fish.

He then told the owner what to do. He was one of those that wouldn't let you keep a Bass unless it was big enough to mount.

The DNR Biologist told him to take out as many bass as possible for a while. His Son, one of my buddies at the time, threw them in the woods and I kept every one I caught to eat.

The lake has been fully recovered for years now and he will let you keep Bass under 16 inches or a trophy to mount.
Me and his son parted ways over money so I don't fish there anymore even though I have permission from his Dad, who is a good friend.