My pond has a severely stunted bass population. I have been working to cull the small ones (under 12 inches). I normally just toss them over the bank when I catch them but my wife and kids get upset about it and say i should find a way to put them out of their misery quickly. What is everyone’s thoughts?
I have a 1.25 acre pond in North Carolina that’s been neglected for many years and is in major need of muck and vegetation removal. I’ve attempted multiple DIY types of things with zero success. I don’t have thousands of dollars to spend for a complete dredging and renovation. What are my options??
EDIT - To give a little more clarification I am going to copy and paste below a comment from me that gives a little more detail to the situation.
Cultural-Wasabi137 OP • Now
This is almost identical to my ponds situation! Mine probably has a max depth of around 6-7 and an average of probably 2-3. It was never a deep pond even in its prime but definitely not this shallow.
My family (starting with my grandmother) has owned this property since 1984. My dad put a house on the property the year atter I was born
(1986) so i was raised there and spent many days on the banks of the pond. As I said it was maintained via chemicals and whatever other means necessary my entire childhood and up until I joined the military at the age of 18. After that, due to a mixture of circumstances the maintenance stopped. I am now back living within driving distance of home and within a year or retiring from the military and moving back to the property into the house my grandmother left me when she passed a few years ago. I have been working on clearing the banks and things of that nature when I get the time over the last year or two but my main goal is to get the pond back into the shape it was 25 years ago. I don't envision a pristine landscape with sparkling blue water and sandy beaches as has been inferred, just a pond that's enjoyable for myself, my kids, my nieces and nephews, and some day my grandkids to spend summer days on the banks fishing without worrying about every cast being caught up in vegetation or muck.
Also, note that it seems to still have a healthy bluegill population and a severely stunted largemouth population that I started culling and also adding a few bigger ones (1.5-3lb) that I’ve caught in other places over the last year or two.