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Newbie
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 12/15/2010 1:48:54 PM
Posts: 8,
Visits: 20
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| When I moved to Killearn Lakes in 1991, Lake Monkey Business had a lot of lily pads. Shortly thereafter the pads were all killed off and the homeowners' association (HOA) put grass carp in the lake. The result of the complete lack of vegetation was a general decline in fish population. This summer the lily pads have come back with a vengeance. I have great hopes that the bass population will recover now that they have a place to hide. The HOA has posted the lake as catch and release only which also ought to help the bass population recover. I fished Monday from 5:30 - 8:00 p.m. and caught five bass. All were caught on a SPRO Little John crankbait along the old creek channel. None of the bass were big, but they should provide some brood stock for future.
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Oldtimer
Group: Administrators
Last Login: 1/25/2012 1:19:12 PM
Posts: 330,
Visits: 1,080
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Sounds like a good outing. Hopefully the neighborhood lakes will come back strong with healthy bass in a year or two.
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Explorer
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 8/27/2008 11:22:55 AM
Posts: 20,
Visits: 28
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| I live on a 12-acre pond/lake in a residiential neighborhood also. There are 22 lots that encircle the lake and the 22 homeowners collectively own the lake and 10 acres below the dam. We have spent a small fortune this year on pond renovations, crushed limestone, fertilizer, aquatic herbicide, etc..... It has been a labor of love and money. I just hope that the pond returns to it's previous reputation as one of the best bass ponds in the county. We hired a fishery biologist that developed our plan for us, and I could share his name and number with anyone interested. He is an awesome knowledgable old fart and I could sit and talk with him for hours. We don't have a catch and release rule, nor do we have any limits - quantity or size, you don't have to possess a fishing license and you don't even have to wear a shirt or shoes. The only rule is you have to be invited by one of the 22 owners, and the owner must be present. oh yeah... and no gasoline motors. We had to start at the bottom of the food chain and correct the soil under the pond to a point that it could support healthy microbiology. This involved renovating the shallow parts of the pond to a minimum 3 foot depth. We then covered the entire bottom of the pond with a +-1" layer - 22 tons of crushed limestone. The limestone corrected the PH of the soil and provided a larger surface area to retain nitrogen. We are now in the phase of fertilization which is to increase the nitrogen level of the lake to a level that will support the growth of microorganisms - algea. The color of the water has changed from brown to a cool-looking green. Then we will introduce 15,000 threafin shad, which eat the algea, and a month or so later we put the bass in, which eat the shad. It is fun to be a part of the process, and I look forward to the day when I will not be embarassed to invite you guys to come and catch a mess of fish. I have some pictures I will try to dig up and post here of the good ole days when the pond was healthy. I would routinely catch 3 to 4 bass on the first 3 to 4 casts. It was truly a great bass pond -------- especially right before dark with an overcast sky.
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