half acre pond

[45-70.gov]

i  just   bought  a half acre  pond
don't know  much  about  water  life
i am  in north east florida
lots of small fish [3 to 6 inches]
a few  big cat  fish...one is about  16  inches
i  but 2 doezen  koi  in there but they  are about  gone after 2 weeks  seen  only  4 now
what  could  be eating  them....the  cat fish?
it  is very clear water  about 12 to  15  feet deep  with  steep sides

what  would you  do with a pond  like this??

[Graybeard]

How big were the Koi and why the heck did you do that? 

What are the 3"-6" fish? Bream, bass or catfish or something else?

In a pond that small you prolly should only have bream and bass. Mine is 3/4 acre and that's that the state fisheries biologist told me. Yeah I added catfish as well.

It's kinda hard to start with a pond that already has fish and do much with it from what the biologist told me. They will not even provide fish for an established pond unless you agree to poison what's in it out. Mine was brand new just built with no other ponds up flow from it. They provided me 750 bream and 75 bass to stock it.

If the fish are bream, bass or catfish I'd likely not try to kill them but you need to catch a bunch and don't return them to the water. Even if not big enough to eat they need to come out. I was told I should remove 100 pounds of fish per year from mine. I've fallen way short and my fish are already a bit stunted as a result.

[45-70.gov]

i  think they are  brim
but  some are a little different than others
one  had a mouth big enough for my thumb plus some
you  can catch  them as  fast as you can get your hook back in the water
minnows  by the thousands

the  cats  are real dark  with white bellies

[Graybeard]

It sounds like you need some bass to help control all the little bream for you. If you can catch some 4 pound or larger ones to toss in personally I think that would be good. I wish I had some in the 4-8 pound range in my pond to help with the over population of small fish but the drought this year might take care of that. My pond is a good 4'+ low right now. I don't expect all the fish in it to survive.

I've got catfish around 3 pounds in size and I've seen a couple bass I believe will go 3 or more but we've not caught any that size so they may have just looked larger swimming around than they are. I think this is my pond's third summer since it was dug.

[45-70.gov]

this   pond..all.like others  around  here  is down 3 to 4 feet
judgeing  by  the  bank  and  ariel  photos

i am considering  diving  it  it  just to see what  is down there
was  wondering  if it would be wise  to take a water  sample to the health department  first?
or  just  dive it  and  not   worry?
don't  want  ameabitic  meningitis...a  danger  in  warm  ponds

we  did  light   up  the bottom at night  once in  the kayaks
didn't  see  much.....those  cats  are real skittish too

[Ruskin]

Have you thought you might have warmouth perch.  The ones with the big mouth.

[45-70.gov]

Have you thought you might have warmouth perch.  The ones with the big mouth.

that  is what  some one  said  when  i described  that one fish  i cought
how  big do they get and  will they eat the  koi??

[pastorp]

I don't know what koi are but warmouths are pretty aggressive. They eat good as well. Where are you located? We have family near Madison & Gainesville. 

Regards,

[rdmallory]

Catfish will eat anything up to and including other catfish just about there size. My dad has caught one before on a bank pole and had another one try to swallow it while it was on the hook.
Both were 4-5 lb cats.

Doug

[SHOOTALL]

 The large mouth bream might be shell crackers . You might watch the pond from a distance for egales and hawks etc eating the fish. Then there might be evidence of otters or such. If the pond has good flow thru it with alot of oxygen being introduced may a dive if it is still and low I would not swim or dive in it . Testing in one spot might not be a test of whats in all the pond.