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Best way to increase fish size?

sweaver
My in laws have a great little pond, 3 acres or so in size. It has bass. bream, and catfish in it. It has always had good sized cats but the bass and bream never seem to get very big. I've never caught a bream I would consider a keeper. Can someone give me advice on what can be done to get them bigger? Someone told me to lime and fertilize the pond to increase the plant live which would in turn give them more to eat. Any advice?

Thanks.
Shane
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Comments

8 comments

Date Votes
  • mrbruce
    Your best bet is to keep fishing those guys out of it that are on the small size.
    To many little ones will have a effect on the growth rate.....
    If the pond has been around a while it should be self sustaining.
    Lime and fertilizer will create a lot of problems you don't want to deal with...
    Fish don't eat many plants the fertilizer will grow.....
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  • Hoosier71
    He is correct about the lime and fertilizer. There may be times to use it though. If you can see over 18" or your PH levels are out of wack you might try a good fertilizer or Lime.

    I had the same problem with my pond. I actually had a bad flood (indiana) and lost alot of my fish. I would only get one size of bluegill which ment the lil ones were getting ate up way to fast and my bass were really thin and not growing. I am anxious to see if my fish loss helps in size. Won't really be able to tell till next spring. If not I am going to fertilize and lime. My pond is pretty clear and gets alot of foilage from the trees.
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  • asop
    mrbruce is right on. Take all the little ones out and don't use chemicals. May take a few years but the increase in food availabilty for the ones you left in should be a real positive effect. Good Luck
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  • nashflash
    I thought all we had to do was lie to make the size of our fish bigger ! [:D]
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  • BOBBYWINS
    No,no,nash!

    When takin' a picture,just hold the fish as far as you can in front of you(towards the camera).[;)]

    Works every time!

    [:D][:D]

    BW
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  • cussedemgun
    sweaver,

    Google your state's agriculture extention service

    "your state" dept. of agriculture extention service

    contact your local extention agent & he will have a wealth of info. specific to your area & it's species. one of gov. services seldom used by the general public but very valuable once you learn how to access their info. bank. OH, & it's generally free for the asking.

    Jim
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  • bwri642
    yes call your state fish n wildlife. I'm in KY we had the farmponds checked by KY fish biologist(these guys are much nicer than the rabbit sheriff LOL). They responded with what to treat the water with as well as how many and what kinds of fish to stock/remove.
    Good luck
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  • ljwrench
    quote:Originally posted by cussedemgun
    sweaver,

    Google your state's agriculture extention service

    "your state" dept. of agriculture extention service

    contact your local extention agent & he will have a wealth of info. specific to your area & it's species. one of gov. services seldom used by the general public but very valuable once you learn how to access their info. bank. OH, & it's generally free for the asking.

    Jim


    That's what my F.I.L. did when he stocked his 1/2 acre pond. They told him how many of each fish to put in and how to take care of it. I've caught some huge blugills out of there and the bass are getting nice. Can't wait for spring.
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