Bass Overpopulation HELP

Calif Bill wrote:

Tell that to the local slimeball developer that drained a pond. Was not the
first time he screwed up a natural wetland pond on land he owned. Cost him
close to $300,000 in fines. Plus his legal bills probably pushed that a
couple of times. You can not do whatever you like with your ponds.

That's apples and Oranges, a natural wetland is not a farm pond, a farm
pond is not natural, but made by a property owner, and yes you can catch
as many fish any size you want from them,, in all states. There are some
real winners here that think you can get and naturally maintain 500 10
lb bass is a one acre pond, it just does not work that way.


--
Rodney Long,
Inventor of the Long Shot "WIGGLE" rig, SpecTastic Thread
Boomerang Fishing Pro. ,Stand Out Hooks ,Stand Out Lures,
Mojo's Rock Hopper & Rig Saver weights, Decoy Activator
and the EZKnot http://www.ezknot.com

Who is comparing apples and oranges?

Rodney why did you change from private pond to farm pond?

Here in Georgia the OWNER of the property and immediate family are
exempt from needing a license. Creel limits and size limits still
apply.
Also the GA DNR will stock a private pond for free but you then have
to allow anyone with a license to fish.

And to clarify a farm pond is a private pond but a private pond is not
necessarily a farm pond.

On Tue, 22 Feb 2005 17:39:08 -0600, Rodney wrote:

Calif Bill wrote:

Tell that to the local slimeball developer that drained a pond. Was not the
first time he screwed up a natural wetland pond on land he owned. Cost him
close to $300,000 in fines. Plus his legal bills probably pushed that a
couple of times. You can not do whatever you like with your ponds.

That's apples and Oranges, a natural wetland is not a farm pond, a farm
pond is not natural, but made by a property owner, and yes you can catch
as many fish any size you want from them,, in all states. There are some
real winners here that think you can get and naturally maintain 500 10
lb bass is a one acre pond, it just does not work that way.

wrote:
Who is comparing apples and oranges?

Rodney why did you change from private pond to farm pond?

Here in Georgia the OWNER of the property and immediate family are
exempt from needing a license. Creel limits and size limits still
apply.

Please direct me to the Ga law stating this,,

Hay Ronnie, how about some help here ?

Small bodies of water need to be properly managed to produce even eating
size fish, many private ponds do not have enough fish removed, the DNR's
know this, thus no limits or size limits apply, if they did, then all
you would end up with is a bunch of little stunted fish in a pond, I
have fished these ponds many times before. nearly every cast producing
little 8 inch bass

Size limits and creel limits are worthless on a pond that gets fished 30
man hours a year (just an example) you would end up with a pond in a lot
of trouble in about 6 years.

Down here, to maintain a balanced pond there must be between 100 and 200
lbs of fish removed per acre , per year ( this number varies due to how
much you spend on fertilizer, food, and lime on the lake ) Now if your
the owner and your the only one who fishes the lake, that's taking a lot
of fish out, the DNR could care less if you over or under fish your
pond, it's "YOUR" pond, they are "your" fish as you paid to have them
stocked. Some ponds get so out of balance only draining them or
poisoning them and starting over is the only solution.

Why don't some of you guys do a "goggle" on pond management, it is not
the same as "lake" management. Your state spends a small fortune each
year checking fish populations in public waters, they adjust the size
and creel limits based on these "average" numbers, in some states each
public body of water has different size limits, and creel limits ( these
states are the ones that really have healthy fisheries )

Just like on some of our state parks, has signs everywhere for each
fishermen to KEEP the bass creel limit, (every size, even dinks) do not
practice C&R, until after you have the creel limit on your stringer or
in your live well, as these lakes are over populated with bass. I was
told that if the numbers did not drop, next season they were going to
remove the creel limit for a year on these lakes (these lakes average 50
acres each) to get the bass population under control.

You guys don't spend any time really fishing ponds, I fish them 2 to
three times a week, I own a little one as well (very small 75 foot
circle). One of my best friends is a fish biologist for a private
stocking fishery, (he teaches pond owners how to maintain their ponds,
as well as supplying them with the fish to maintain) and I have done
volentiery work for my state's DNR for over 30 years now, working with
both fish and game biologist. I work about 20 hours a year helping them
out, I do this just to learn, and because I just love shocking up "BIG"
fish :-)

I get to fish the lake that holds our present state record, it is a 33
acre "very private" lake that has one major rule, you keep, or throw on
the bank every bass that is under two lbs, even if you catch 100 in a
day. Every bass over 5 lbs must be C&R, the only exception is if you
break the record of 16/8. Three very rich men own this lake, they spend
about 20,000 dollars a year in maintaining it, including a yearly
census, they will adjust the keep and throw back sizes and numbers if
needed based on this census, last year it was everything under two lbs

Nearly every trip, you will catch HOGS (over 8 lbs) in that lake, and
you still catch many of them 1/2 to 5 lbers as these hogs lay a lot of
eggs each year. This lake is not fished much, as it's by special
invitation only

I only get to fish this lake one or two times a year :-(

Another thing about this lake, 8 years ago they stocked it with some
hybrid, non reproducing cat fish (which no one fishes for) talk about
having a ball in the evening, 30 to 40 lbers every cast, from the pier,
as they have a timed catfish feeder on that pier, those we keep just
one, and C&R the rest, after two hours, your arms are so sore, you just
have to quit
--
Rodney Long,
Inventor of the Long Shot "WIGGLE" rig, SpecTastic Thread
Boomerang Fishing Pro. ,Stand Out Hooks ,Stand Out Lures,
Mojo's Rock Hopper & Rig Saver weights, Decoy Activator
and the EZKnot http://www.ezknot.com

I stand corrected.

It now states you do not need a license to fish a private pond.
It now limits immediate family on land owners or immediate family.
There used to be no distinction between landowner and private pond.

I still found no exemption for creel or size limits.

On Tue, 22 Feb 2005 23:31:03 -0600, Rodney wrote:

wrote:
Who is comparing apples and oranges?

Rodney why did you change from private pond to farm pond?

Here in Georgia the OWNER of the property and immediate family are
exempt from needing a license. Creel limits and size limits still
apply.

Please direct me to the Ga law stating this,,

Hay Ronnie, how about some help here ?

Small bodies of water need to be properly managed to produce even eating
size fish, many private ponds do not have enough fish removed, the DNR's
know this, thus no limits or size limits apply, if they did, then all
you would end up with is a bunch of little stunted fish in a pond, I
have fished these ponds many times before. nearly every cast producing
little 8 inch bass

Size limits and creel limits are worthless on a pond that gets fished 30
man hours a year (just an example) you would end up with a pond in a lot
of trouble in about 6 years.

Down here, to maintain a balanced pond there must be between 100 and 200
lbs of fish removed per acre , per year ( this number varies due to how
much you spend on fertilizer, food, and lime on the lake ) Now if your
the owner and your the only one who fishes the lake, that's taking a lot
of fish out, the DNR could care less if you over or under fish your
pond, it's "YOUR" pond, they are "your" fish as you paid to have them
stocked. Some ponds get so out of balance only draining them or
poisoning them and starting over is the only solution.

Why don't some of you guys do a "goggle" on pond management, it is not
the same as "lake" management. Your state spends a small fortune each
year checking fish populations in public waters, they adjust the size
and creel limits based on these "average" numbers, in some states each
public body of water has different size limits, and creel limits ( these
states are the ones that really have healthy fisheries )

Just like on some of our state parks, has signs everywhere for each
fishermen to KEEP the bass creel limit, (every size, even dinks) do not
practice C&R, until after you have the creel limit on your stringer or
in your live well, as these lakes are over populated with bass. I was
told that if the numbers did not drop, next season they were going to
remove the creel limit for a year on these lakes (these lakes average 50
acres each) to get the bass population under control.

You guys don't spend any time really fishing ponds, I fish them 2 to
three times a week, I own a little one as well (very small 75 foot
circle). One of my best friends is a fish biologist for a private
stocking fishery, (he teaches pond owners how to maintain their ponds,
as well as supplying them with the fish to maintain) and I have done
volentiery work for my state's DNR for over 30 years now, working with
both fish and game biologist. I work about 20 hours a year helping them
out, I do this just to learn, and because I just love shocking up "BIG"
fish :-)

I get to fish the lake that holds our present state record, it is a 33
acre "very private" lake that has one major rule, you keep, or throw on
the bank every bass that is under two lbs, even if you catch 100 in a
day. Every bass over 5 lbs must be C&R, the only exception is if you
break the record of 16/8. Three very rich men own this lake, they spend
about 20,000 dollars a year in maintaining it, including a yearly
census, they will adjust the keep and throw back sizes and numbers if
needed based on this census, last year it was everything under two lbs

Nearly every trip, you will catch HOGS (over 8 lbs) in that lake, and
you still catch many of them 1/2 to 5 lbers as these hogs lay a lot of
eggs each year. This lake is not fished much, as it's by special
invitation only

I only get to fish this lake one or two times a year :-(

Another thing about this lake, 8 years ago they stocked it with some
hybrid, non reproducing cat fish (which no one fishes for) talk about
having a ball in the evening, 30 to 40 lbers every cast, from the pier,
as they have a timed catfish feeder on that pier, those we keep just
one, and C&R the rest, after two hours, your arms are so sore, you just
have to quit

I live on an 8 acre lake in south TX. There are 30 home-owners who have
access and only those 30.

I'm one of the few who fishes it at all. My grandson and I pulled 9 bass
from it Monday evening in one paddle around the lake.... took about an hour.
He came back and caught 4 more bass, while standing on my shoreline, an hour
later. All on spinner-baits or beetle-spins. What Rodney says is true. The
lake is full of 1 to 2 lb bass. I haven't caught a 4 or 5 lb'er in years,
since no one takes the fish out.
RichG TX
--
RichG manager, Carolina Skiff Owners Group on MSN
http://groups.msn.com/CarolinaSkiffOwners
..

wrote:

Also the GA DNR will stock a private pond for free but you then have
to allow anyone with a license to fish.

I found this statement interesting since I have lived in Georgia all my
life and do some research on fishing fairly often. I had never heard this.

I just called the Ft Valley DNR Fisheries office - they now charge a
small fee for fish and you have to pick them up at the hatchery, and
there are no stings attached. You do not have to allow anybody to fish
your pond. The fisheries tech I talked with said that was never a
requirement, even when the fish were free.

wrote:
I stand corrected.

It now states you do not need a license to fish a private pond.
It now limits immediate family on land owners or immediate family.
There used to be no distinction between landowner and private pond.

I still found no exemption for creel or size limits.

Most states have their creel and size limits stated under "public"
waters, or taken from public waters, this statement separates the the
two, any phone call, to any state DNR, and just ask them, they will tell
you that all private ponds are excempt from the size and creel limits,
it's up to the owner to control his fish populations, the state's public
water limits can not be applied to small private ponds, if a pond is
fished a lot it's possible that the states creel limits could actually
be too high for it. Of course few are over fished, so the states limits
are much too low for the few fishing man days that they get fished.

Just make a phone call to your states NDR and ask them

--
Rodney Long,
Inventor of the Long Shot "WIGGLE" rig, SpecTastic Thread
Boomerang Fishing Pro. ,Stand Out Hooks ,Stand Out Lures,
Mojo's Rock Hopper & Rig Saver weights, Decoy Activator
and the EZKnot http://www.ezknot.com

I've been told by NY's DEC that most private waters are subject to the
regulations.

"Rodney" wrote in message
...
wrote:
I stand corrected.

It now states you do not need a license to fish a private pond.
It now limits immediate family on land owners or immediate family.
There used to be no distinction between landowner and private pond.

I still found no exemption for creel or size limits.

Most states have their creel and size limits stated under "public"
waters, or taken from public waters, this statement separates the the
two, any phone call, to any state DNR, and just ask them, they will tell
you that all private ponds are excempt from the size and creel limits,
it's up to the owner to control his fish populations, the state's public
water limits can not be applied to small private ponds, if a pond is
fished a lot it's possible that the states creel limits could actually
be too high for it. Of course few are over fished, so the states limits
are much too low for the few fishing man days that they get fished.

Just make a phone call to your states NDR and ask them

--
Rodney Long,
Inventor of the Long Shot "WIGGLE" rig, SpecTastic Thread
Boomerang Fishing Pro. ,Stand Out Hooks ,Stand Out Lures,
Mojo's Rock Hopper & Rig Saver weights, Decoy Activator
and the EZKnot http://www.ezknot.com

wrote:
I stand corrected.

It now states you do not need a license to fish a private pond.
It now limits immediate family on land owners or immediate family.
There used to be no distinction between landowner and private pond.

I still found no exemption for creel or size limits.

I called back to check on this - just got a return call from Jimmy
Evans, state fisheries biologist
here in Georgia. If the pond is wholly on your land and fish can not
swim upstream and cross a
property line, or go downstream and cross a property line, the owner
does not have any creel
limits on catching fish out of it. Most man-made ponds fit that
description - there are some mill
ponds on bigger streams where the water flows over the dam at all times
so fish can go over it,
and where the stream upstream of the pond is big enough for fish to swim up.

Here in Georgia we do still have some property rights. If you own a
manmade pond, whether you
call it a farm pond or a private pond, you can take as many fish out of
it as you want. You can
even drain it and kill them all.

Most of our bodies of water are man-made - we call natural wetlands
"swamps" here and there
are rules to protect them - seems mostly to protect mosquitoes, but
those are the laws.

Marty wrote:
I've been told by NY's DEC that most private waters are subject to the
regulations.

That is only if the pond owner does not get a private pond permit, (he
does not want to properly manage his private pond) if you have the
permit, (to do what you want with your own property) you are exempt from
all season, size and creel limits .

Remember this thread was about a person trying to control "His" fish
population, in "His" pond. One person, who thinks he knows everything,
told him he could not throw away dinks, or keep more than the dayly
limits, this is the same person that believes in total catch and release
of bass in private ponds will not cause them to become over populated,
and them to be stunted (at least that is what he posted, then called me
an idiot, for correcting him)

You crazy guys in NY make people get permits for everything, I bet if
they thought they could get away it it. NY would require you to have a
permit to make love to your wife . or have a camp fire.
--
Rodney Long,
Inventor of the Long Shot "WIGGLE" rig, SpecTastic Thread
Boomerang Fishing Pro. ,Stand Out Hooks ,Stand Out Lures,
Mojo's Rock Hopper & Rig Saver weights, Decoy Activator
and the EZKnot http://www.ezknot.com