We have some friends who built a small 1/2 to 3/4 acre pond 8 years ago. They had it stocked with about 125 tiger bass. Since having it stocked they haven't kept a single Fish. Needless to say it's overpopulated. My son and I caught 20 this weekend and none of them were over a lb. my question is how many should we keep out of this pond to get the numbers down to where the fish will grow to a decent size?

Pond Management: Managing Fish Populations

The purpose of fish management is to provide good fishing. Pond owners must decide what they want from their pond and tailor their management to meet their goal(s). Ponds less than 1 acre in size are difficult to manage for bass and sunfish. For ponds larger than 1 acre, a largemouth bass/bluegill fishery is the most popular option for Virginia ponds. Other options for ponds larger than 1 acre may include managing for trophy bass, trophy bluegill or trout. Consult your local fisheries biologist to discuss them.

Harvesting

All ponds have a maximum weight of fish the pond can support. In unfertilized ponds, you should be able to harvest up to 40 pounds of adult bluegill (about 120 fish) and 10 pounds of adult bass (about 8 to 10 fish) per acre per year. In fertilized ponds, you can harvest 160 pounds of bluegill (600 to 700 fish) and 35 to 40 pounds of bass (30 to 35 fish) per acre per year.

In new or reclaimed ponds, do not allow bass harvest for at least 2 years after stocking to let the bass mature and reproduce. Bass are easy to catch, and in small ponds it is possible to harvest 70-80% of the bass in 1 weekend of fishing. Harvest 5 to 10 pounds of bass per acre per year. Restricting bass harvest will help keep the fish population balanced (the proper ratio of predator and prey fish). In a balanced pond, 40-60% of the bass should be 12 inches or longer, while 20-40% of the bluegill should be 6 inches or longer. A good rule of thumb for maintaining balanced bass/bluegill populations is to remove at least 4 to 5 pounds of bluegill for each pound of bass removed. Keep all bluegill caught. Most over-population problems are caused by small bluegill, and returning them only adds to the problem.

Removing too many bass usually causes bluegills to become overpopulated and stunted. Overpopulated ponds are full of 3 to 5 inch bluegills that are thin and slow growing. Management options to correct this problem include:
1.winter water level drawdowns to increase bass predation on bluegills;
2.stocking additional predators;
3.draining the pond and re-stocking;
4.applying rotenone (fish toxicant) to kill a portion of the population;
5.seining to remove excess stunted bluegills.

Catfish and trout can be harvested without limits in ponds because their populations are maintained by stocking, not reproduction.

Record Keeping

Keep accurate records of numbers and sizes of fish caught; see this example form for keeping catch records. These records will help you evaluate the status of your fish populations (see Table 5). Fish population balance can also be checked using a 15 foot long minnow seine 4 to 6 feet deep with ¼-inch mesh. Seine 3 to 4 shallow areas of the pond in June or July. The areas seined must be clear of brush and weeds. Table 6 will help you evaluate fish population balance using seine data.

its probably impossible to give a great guess without having someone come look at it. But what we have found on our 5 acre pond is you usually need to take out alot more than you think. We have taken 100-200 lbs out every year and it finally took a huge application of lime, shad and more bream being added to finally get our weights looking decent. The more we take out the more we catch it seems. You should be able to go to American sport fish website or a similar company and get some general guidelines.

5 acre pond? you holdin out on me? where has this place been