ABC's of Forage Fish - By Bob Lusk

Pond Management techniques on selecting, stocking, and managing your pond’s forage fish

This article details your pond’s relationship between predator and forage fish. Learn important pond management techniques on what forage fish species to select; appropriate stocking rates, and how to create forage fish spawning habitat to create a healthy, balanced fish population in your pond.

'Ambush' is the Wrong Word - By Ralph Manns

An important aspect of pond management is learning the feeding habits of your predator fish. This article discusses how largemouth bass stalk forage fish in farm ponds enabling the bass angler to refine fishing tactics and catch more bass.

Another Amazing Spring Thing - By Sherman Wyman

Spring is the time for pond management planning

Spring is a great time to begin pond management planning for your fishing pond: Stocking more fish, feeding your fish, evaluating and managing your fish populations through fishing your pond are all important aspects of pond management planning.

Big Bass in Small Ponds - By Bob Lusk

Big Trophy Bass Live Where They Are - By Bob Lusk

That Could be Your Fishing Pond

Applying pond management techniques can help improve your fishery. Here are three fishing ponds where pond owners used fish stocking, electro fishing and fish removal, and aquatic vegetation control to create incredible fisheries.

Bucket Biology. Stock Fish Ponds Properly - By Mark Cornwell

Why Grandpa Was Wrong

Dumping your bait bucket into your fishing pond can have unforeseen and often catastrophic consequences on your fishery. This article examines the risks of deviating from your pond management plans and the potential harm it causes to your fishing pond and fishery.

Catch and Release or Selective Harvest? - By Dr. Richard O Anderson

Whether the pond owner wants lunker bass or big bluegill, knowing when to employ catch and release and selective harvest on a fishing pond is crucial in order to meet established pond management goals.

Crayfish - Asset or Liability? - By Dr. Richard O. Anderson and Bob Lusk

Establishing a forage base is an important pond management strategy for any fishing pond manager. Crayfish might be a great addition to your fishing pond’s forage base - it all depends.

Dawn Of A New Season. Pond Management is About Timing - By Bob Lusk

Water temps, not dates, the real key

Fishing pond owners can create a solid pond management schedule by constantly checking their pond water temperatures. The following is a simple temperature "calendar" to bring pond management techniques to a sharper focus.

Fish Aging - How Old are Your Fish - By Dr. Dave Willis and Eric West

Why it's Part of the Answer to "How are My Fish Doing?"

Whether electro fishing is used to sample a fish community, or a pond manager monitors angler catches, fish population trends over time are an important source of information about your fishing pond. This information is vital to adjusting your pond management strategies to reach your fishing pond goals.

Fish Genetics: Hope or Hype? - By Bob Lusk

Raising Trophy Fish in your Pond Means Genetics are Important

Fish genetics can play an important role in achieving your pond management goals. The following examples of how genetics affected certain fishing ponds will help you adjust your pond management techniques.

Growing Trophy Largemouth Bass - By Mark Cornwell

Raising trophy bass in your fishing pond is a delicate combination of cover, structure, forage fish, water quality, water chemistry, aquatic plants, genetics, and variety of size ranges of all species of fish. Pond management techniques should be designed to address fish habitat, forage fish, genetics and selective harvest. Read here on how to achieve the proper balance in your fishing pond.

Harvest the Bounty - By Bob Lusk

How to know what to take, what to leave

Supplemental fish stocking and selective harvest of your fishing ponds can have positive consequences on your fishery. Discover the consequences of selective harvest and other pond management techniques applied to your fishing pond in this story.

Harvest Time - By Bob Lusk

Learn when to hold 'em, when to fillet 'em

Overcrowded bass is a pond management challenge in many fishing ponds. Selective harvest can help increase fish size and create balance in your fishery.

How Smart Are Bass - By Ralph Manns

For a bass to become a trophy bass it must have the right genetics, habitat, pond water quality, and forage fish availability. But how "smart" are lunker bass?

Hot Summer - Small Waters - By Bob Lusk

Mini-ponds are the easiest fishing ponds on the planet to manage and it all starts with some fundamental pond management knowledge on how the pond water works - especially during the summer.

In and Around the Pond: Looking For Trouble, Before It Starts - By Pond Boss Members

Pond owners should be vigilant looking for potential problems in their fisheries. Identify invasive aquatic vegetation or filamentous algae problems early so fishing pond owners can adjust their pond management strategies control it.

Just what IS a trophy bass? - By Norman A. Latona, Jr.

Fine-tune your fisheries management tactics on your fishing pond to grow trophy largemouth bass. Trophy bass fisheries management is all about managing age-class structure; managing forage fish availability; and controlling the genetic component.

Largemouth Bass Angling and Catchability - By Norman A. Latona, Jr.

Fisheries biologists have shown largemouth bass exposed to high levels of fishing pressure become more difficult to catch in your fishing pond. Read about various fishing techniques to help the fishing pond owner overcome this fisheries management challenge.

Largemouth Bass in Ponds - by Dr. Dave Willis with Bob Lusk

Abundance and Electrofishing

Electrofishing is one tool in the fishing pond owner’s pond management tool kit. Electrofishing can help decide whether or not to feed your fish, add forage fish or harvest predators, or to adjust the habitat for different species or size ranges of fish.

Overfishing Can Result in Bass Over-Harvest - By Ralph Manns

Don’t take too many bass from your pond

Bass can be overharvested, especially from smaller ponds. Be careful not to take too many of the wrong size bass and to practice catch and release.

Raising Trophy Bass - By Bob Lusk

If raising trophy bass is a fishing pond owner’s goal, one must focus on a solid pond management strategy. The following is an excerpt from "Raising Trophy Bass," the new POND BOSS handbook.

Selective Harvest or Catch and Release? - By Bob Lusk

Pro tips on setting effective bag limits

This article helps people with farm ponds or fishing ponds understand the rules of fish harvest. Pond stocking is important, but pond fishing is more important, especially if pond managers understand the rules of catch and release and selective fish harvest.

Selective Harvest, Ray Scott-Style - By Bob Lusk

Fishing pond owners looking to raise trophy bass often overlook two critical tools of pond management: Selective harvest of predator fish and diversification of forage fish.

Skinny Fish, Big Reason - By Bob Lusk

A fishing pond owner can execute a pond management plan to perfection and still be faced with challenges that threaten the health of his fishery. As fishing pond manager always be willing to think outside the box to provide solutions for your fishing pond.

Small Ponds with a Big Purpose - How Small is too Small? - By Kevin Yokum

If managed properly, small ponds can generate results just like a mega-pond.

Fishing pond owners can create trophy fisheries even in small ponds if applying the right pond management strategies. Study up on these pond management guidelines for creating small pond trophy fisheries for largemouth and smallmouth bass, musky, catfish, and trout.

Springtime and Spawning - By Dave Willis

Fishing pond managers should be aware of the spawning habits of their fish population in order develop a solid fishery management plan.

Stocking Adult Bass - By Shan O'Gorman

Stocking Shad for Bass - By Sherman Wyman

Diversification of a fishing pond’s forage fish is a key element of a successful pond management strategy. Read here to learn how supplemental forage fish stockings of Threadfin Shad helped diversify the forage base and grow trophy Bluegill and Largemouth Bass.

Stocking Strategies To Create Fish Populations In Harmony - By Bob Lusk

Fisheries management is like a puzzle. This article helps put the pieces together by discussing fish stocking strategies to create harmony in your fishing ponds fish populations.

Stomach Pumping - By Mark Cornwell

What are your fish eating?

An important element of fishery management is learning what your fish are eating. Fishing pond owners can learn to lavage their fish and examine their stomach contents.

The Cure For Skinny Fish - By Bob Lusk

Selective harvest tips to reduce competition

This full length articles will describe the necessary steps to building and maintaining a successful pond. Key ideas of harvesting, catch and release, and pounds per acre.

The Fish Garden - Plant, Grow, Harvest - By Bob Lusk

How to be a smart pond manager, and the story of determination that resulted in a perfect pond, year after year.

The Opposite of Texas - By Mark Cornwell

Fishing in Upsate New York has it's big advantages, this is the story of a clear pond with a different mix of all the right fish.

The Proper Care and Handling of Fish - By Bob Lusk

This article provides the perfect guidelines to catching, handling, and releasing fish from a pond.

Thin Bass A Challenge - By Bob Lusk

This articles examines the balance of fish populations in your pond, and how to successfully grow bigger fish that a below the standard weight posted by the American Fisheries Society.

Threadfin Shad - By Bob Lusk

This articles talks about the benefits of using thread fin shads to grow bigger bass, and help derisify a healthy diet.

Trade-Offs in Pond Management - By Bob Lusk

This article gives you an indebt look at the inter-relationship between largemouth bass and bluegills in pond water.

Trophy Bass Require Extra Prey - By Norman A. Latona, Jr.

This article describes the necessary steps to take when growing trophy bass in your fish pond with an in-depth look to growing bass larger than 14 inch.

Weed The Garden Customize Your Bag Limits - By Bob Lusk

Catch and release may actually be hurting the size of your fish. In this article we look at what can good can come from keeping a limited number of bass each season.

Which Fish To Stock in your small Pond - By Bob Lusk

Want to grow more fish in your small pond? Here is a short look at a few key ideas that can get your pond over 500 fish.

Why Feed Your Fish - By Bob Lusk

Tips to set off a feeding frenzy in your fish pond

This articles explores the circle of life beneath the depths of your fish pond. Find out how to grow bigger fish by simply using the food chain.