Wait… did I say they rarely produce big fish? Well, I could be very wrong on that! In fact, some of my biggest fish have come from small waters: an 8.8 pound bass (100 acre public lake), a 9.6 pound bass (private pond), a 3.1 pound crappie (9 acre pond) and numerous bluegill and redears a pound or more.
What did these “big fish” ponds have in common?
- Good water quality
- Bathometry
- Hard structure – both deep and shallow
- Vegetated structure
- Fertility
- Forage diversity
I like using examples to illustrate my points. In this case, the “Wedgewood Lake Revival” is a great case example.
Let’s prequel this story first. One of the joys of my youth was fishing the numerous farm ponds scattered across St. Martin Parish (county). As part of his job, my dad - who worked for the U.S. Agricultural Soil and Conservation Service (ASCS) - continually advised landowners with ponds on maintenance and productivity. Many of the landowners expressed their gratitude by extending frequent invitations to come fish. These ponds were incredible fisheries!
A few years after my wife and I were married, we moved into Wedgewood neighborhood in Baton Rouge. Just two blocks from our new home was a nine-acre lake, dug out to create an overpass and elevated roadway. It didn’t take long for me to discover that the lake’s finned inhabitants severely lacked in both quantity and quality.
I decided to take action. In addition to consulting my dad, I had another valuable resource to call upon right under my roof. My wife had a degree in zoology with an emphasis on fisheries. Between their expertise, and some great advise from one of my dad’s good friends over at LSU Extension Service, Larry DelaBretonne, I got a quick education and lots of great ideas.
A group of us approached the homeowners association with a comprehensive plan and a small budget request, and they approved. Each of the six characteristics mentioned above was evaluated, and action taken to address each.
1. Bathometry
An ideal lake has shallow areas for spawning and deep water to escape winter cold and late summer heat. Ridges and humps also help, but the important thing is sufficient depth. My dad used to advise landowners to have a sizeable maximum depth of at least 8 feet in their ponds.
WWL project: As mentioned, the lake was dug out to build an interstate. Most of the lake was 6 to 8 feet deep. There was an extensive flat on one corner of the lake between 2 and 5 feet deep, and an area with maximum depth around 14 feet. Being ideal, no action was necessary.
2. Water quality
If you have a pond that is constantly muddy, chances are it’s a poor lake for gamefish. White crappie seem to have less problem with such water. Even so, having a good clean water source is ideal. If you do have a pond that frequently muddies up, there’s a couple solutions for that. One is occasional liming (see fertility below). Another is adding a sediment trap just above where the main water source enters the pond.
WWL project: no problem as the lake was spring-fed. However, it did have a yellowish-brown color, an indication of very low pH / alkalinity. We address that later under “Fertility”.
3. Vegetated Structure
This is basically submerged grass or varieties of shore weeds that provide cover. You’ve probably heard the saying – “no grass, no bass” – and it’s not far off from the truth. Hydrilla and certain other weeds are highly beneficial to bass, sunfish and other centrachids… provided they don’t overrun a lake. Most biologists agree that around 30 percent coverage is ideal.
Not all vegetation is good. In fact, salvinia and alligator weed are the devil!
Hydrilla can overtake a lake – especially if the lake is shallow. I strongly recommend using triploid (sterile) grass carp as a solution. One carp per vegetated acre is enough. Although chemical spraying is advised by some state fisheries, the chemicals in those sprays have proven to be persistant and create far more problems than they solve.
WWL project: Wedgewood Lake was already in good shape. There was hydrilla and pondweed along the banks, and some patches in the flats.
4. Hard structure
Hard structure is sunken logs, brushpiles, trees, stumps, PVC piping, etc.. The best lakes have both vegetated and hard structure, with the hard structure found in all areas of the lake and at all depths. In addition, deep structure should have a vertical component. For example, a log flat on the bottom is not as attractive to fish as an upright or leaning tree.
Some folks use PVC piping set in concrete buckets as structure. While this is good, even better is scraping the PVC thoroughly so algae can more readily establish on the pipes.
WWL project: We collected a couple dozen discarded Christmas trees and about a dozen small sweetgum trees from nearby woods. We then set them into plastic flowerpots and poured concrete into the pots. This resulted in our sunken trees keeping a vertical orientation when we sunk them. The trees were then evenly distributed across the lake.
In addition, the developer of a lot in our neighborhood dumped several short tree trunks off the banks, giving us nearshore hard structure. Prior to dumping, all the limbs were cut back.
How important is vegetated and hard structure? Extremely important! I compared LDWF samples of a lake that had four times the fertility (alkalinity) of the lake I live on. That particular lake is shallow, and is void of any grass or structure. The biomass of bass and sunfish in that lake was only slightly higher than my lake (which is loaded with grass and structure). Most of that other lake’s biomass is non-game species (catfish, carp, buffalo, freshwater drum). Something to consider.
5. Fertility
"Alkalinity is the limiting factor in aquatic biomass production."
This statement comes from my wife’s college aquaculture textbook. Alkalinity is the capacity of water to neutralize acids. This capacity is usually based on the water's content of calcium carbonate (CaC02).
In waters with low alkalinity, pH will be low and important elements like calcium and phosphate - building blocks for the food chain - are tied up in bottom soils. Certain aquatic insects, as well as grass shrimp, scuds, crawfish, may be rare. In addition, fish may exert energy trying to compensate their internal pH. This is energy taken from growth and reproduction.
Liming a lake not only increases the pH, it also releases calcium and phosphate to organisms. It also aids in the effectiveness of a fertilization program.
WWL project: Recall I mentioned that the lake color was yellowish-brown. I measured the CaCO2 level to be 18 mg/L. This borders on sterile.
To address this problem, we had 6 tons of agriculture lime delivered to the park in early January, and with the assistance of neighborhood residents, we spread the lime out in one weekend. The alkalinity soared to around 80 mg/L (moderate) by September of that year. It remained above 60 mg/L for the next several years despite above-average precipitation (flush effect). During that time, we saw a substantial increase in numbers and size of bass, bream, and crappie. Incidently, the color of the lake took on a greenish-clear color for many years after.
Success with a liming program requires the following:
- liming program must be done in winter. The solubility of CaC02 is inversely proportional to water temperature.
- the lime should be spread out and distributed in such a way to insure as much exposure to bottom sediments.
- any followup fertilization program (optional, using 8-8-8 or 12-12-12) should be done in Spring after the alkalinity has increased.
Ag lime is fairly inexpensive, about $50 per ton. Some sellers, such as co-ops, may charge extra for delivering.
6. Forage diversity
Liming will automatically result in an expansion of organisms – mostly crustaceans – to the food pyramid. Still, many pond managers have broken away from the historical bass-bluegill only scenario to include other prey fishes like threadfin shad.
During the 1990s, there was a popular outdoors show where the host went fishing in Florida for trophy sized bass using golden shiners on a hook. Golden shiners became the live bait rage across the country even though their native range was the eastern seaboard. As a result, these shiners became widespread due to “bucket dumping”.
I don’t recommend stocking golden shiners. But there’s no doubt in my mind they were responsible for the very large crappie we caught out of Wedgewood Lake. Both bass and crappie eat goldens like I eat chicken nuggets!
A great success!
Consider this: the first net seine we pulled on Wedgewood Lake yielded only one bass over 3 pounds, and few bluegill over 6 inches. Two years later, the sample seine yielded several bass 4 to 6 pounds, and a few dozen bluegill over 7 inches in size - some even over 8 inches. The lake also ended up producing four state record crappie, ranging from 3.30 lbs up to 4.13 lbs (this was when public waters were eligible). And I caught my largest bass on fly rod up to that time – almost 6 pounds!
Regulation
This should be the 7th characteristic of a great pond. Because without proper harvesting guidelines, even the best ponds can go whack in a hurry.
Eventually word got out that Wedgewood Lake was producing lots of nice bass and crappie. Because our park wasn’t gated, it was open to public access. Fishermen would come and line the banks and sometimes load up on stringers. While I never witnessed anybody breaking any game laws, realize that Louisiana’s very liberal regulations allow 10 bass and 50 crappie per day per angler. The lake just couldn’t sustain that level of harvesting.
We tried – to no avail – to have special regulations placed on the lake. While it didn’t get fished out, the result was an explosion in the threadfin shad and bluegill populations and we ended up with tons of smaller gills and few big ones. And few bass and crappie.
Now’s the time
Whether it’s a pond on your property, a friend or relative’s pond, or perhaps a small urban lake that your club wants to help improve, now is the time to take action. As mentioned, liming needs to be done when the water is cold, below 70 degrees, since solubility is higher in cold water. Sinking trees, logs, or other organic structure should also be done when water is colder and dissolved oxygen is higher. Use of PVC piping for structure can be done at any time, but I also like winter to do this.
