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Fish Production
Pond Management Harvesting fish from your bass/bluegill pond is one of the most important aspects of managing it. Even so, most people have no idea of how many pounds of fish a pond should produce. If too many bass are removed, the bluegill will overpopulate and stunt. This is a common problem in small ponds. If there is no harvest, or too many bluegill are removed, a pond will tend to be "bass crowded". This situation is characterized by very large bluegill in the ½ - ¾ pound range, with no small bluegill and lots of small, one pound bass that are in poor condition. If you are unable to control the harvest, your other management efforts will be wasted.
Biomass & Harvest - Three Scenarios
Up to 50% of the total weight of fish can be harvested from a pond each year. More important than the total number or weight harvested is the ratio of bass to bluegill harvested. It takes about 5 pounds of bluegill to produce a pound of bass, so they should be harvested in the same ratio. Since this requires a lot of bluegill be removed, some managers recommend that any bluegill caught be removed. If they are too small or too numerous to eat, consider moving them to another pond.
Now that we know the correct ratio to harvest, we need to know the biomass or total weight of fish in the pond. An unmanaged pond will have a biomass of about 90 pounds of fish per acre. If the pond is "balanced" between the predators and prey, it will have 15 pounds of bass and 75 pounds of bluegill (5 times the weight of bass) per acre. A 50% harvest will yield 7 ½ pounds of bass and 37 ½ pounds of bluegill per year per acre. You can see how it is easy to over harvest bass. This also shows why it is somewhat difficult to harvest enough bluegill. You would have to take 100 bluegill averaging 6 ounces each to meet the goal.For a well-managed pond, the numbers are better. Liming and fertilizing will increase the biomass to 300- 400 pounds per acre. You can harvest up to 25-35 pounds of bass and 125-170 pounds of bluegill per acre per year. This is for a 50% harvest, and you should probably reduce that to 30-40% for a pond that is being fished for the first time in the second or third year after the initial stocking.
Now for the best case scenario - a limed, fertilized pond that is also fed will have a biomass of up to 900 pounds per acre. A 50% harvest will yield 75 pounds of bass and 375 pounds of bluegill per acre per year. This is ten times the production of an unmanaged pond. It also requires you to take 1000 bluegill weighing an average of 6 ounces out of the pond each year. Don't worry, bluegill this size are a ball to catch and a delight to eat.
 The numbers given here are only guidelines. When you catch fish out of a pond, look at them closely, especially the thickness across the back. If certain sized bluegill are thin and poor, you need to either harvest more of them, or feed more. If the bass are poor, you need to take a few out or quit harvesting bluegill of a size that the bass can eat. If the bass and bluegill are poor, you need to remove some of each in the 1 to 5 ratio, by weight. If you aren't fertilizing and feeding, you should start. You'll be amazed at the difference in your fish.
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