I live in a gated community of condos and townhomes and they have a "community pond" in the back of our property. It holds bass as I've started fishing it and caught multiple bass in the 1.5-2.5 pound range, with one being right at 4 pounds. I've never seen another resident fish it, and according to the office they don't do any "game management" to cultivate the fishing.

So with that being said...what advise could you give on things that I could "inexpensively" do to help the current fish continue to get bigger and produce even more fish? I've thought of finding a bait shop and buying a bunch of minnows and dumping in it. Not sure if there's catfish as I only bass fish. Never once caught a crappie, I don't think there's a single carp or gar (never seen either anyways). Also, there's a ton of turtles, so do I need to try and clear them out or do they not affect the fish? Advice is appreciated!

cheapest and most enjoyable solution to helping the fish get bigger in a pond is to remove most of the small fish

Hey Hotrod,

You've asked a simple question that deserves a really complex answer. This is a huge topic. The first thing you can do in the meantime is start keeping everything you catch below 14 inches to thin the ranks. Bass are such prolific creatures that they are surely surviving on their own offspring if no active management is occurring. There are some somewhat simple things you can do assuming you wouldn't be violating any rules of your gated community which might deserve some due diligence on your part.

Get those little guys out of there is step number one, assuming larger fish is your goal.

Have fun with it,

Jackson

This may help you out. Page 14 begins the discussion on harvest/removal. There are some other great and critical components to pond management that may prove useful as well.

http://sdafs.org/tcafs/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/tcafs_pond_manual_2005.pdf

Great Link J_Norman, Thanks for sharing

Hotrod, before you start removing Bass under 14"s, check the law, and the classification on that pond. Is it public waters or private? If it's public, do not keep fish under 14"s. Just because it is a gated community, that doesn't mean it's private waters.

Thanks guys! I was mainly interested in determining if there's enough food and if not how to increase to amount of food for whatever fish is in there. I have no use to keep fish really. I'm not gonna cook them or anything but I understand the concept of "thinning the herd". I'll def check before I were to start keeping fish though. I'd assume the it belongs to the city cause I'm assuming it was made from one the canals that runs through Las Colinas and was dammed off to make a pond when the community was built. But I'd def check before getting into trouble.

And what about all the turtles? Do I need to "off" some/all of these darn turtles?

Maybe go and catch a bunch of bluegill and stick em in there... I imagine those would make a good food source for some bigger bass

Set a "slot" for it. Just to produce bigger fish, and if you decrease the little guys that reduces competition for forage. Also the turtles eat minnows, shad, or other baitfish you might put in. It couldn't hurt taking 25% or so out. A few ponds I fish have very few bass, and only little ones at that, but it has decent bluegill, longear fish.
If you want to see if it has any catfish throw a worm and let it sit on bottom for a while. It'll help you see what all is competing for food in that pond

Last question...how would you thin the turtle population? I cant exactly sit out there with a .22 or a 9MM capping turtles! Should I try to hook them with a top water lure and then kill them with a knife? It sounds terrible I'm sure but there are a ton of these suckers on the water.

All of these things have worked with our 3 ponds on the farm and we have some big bass in all of them.

Turtle traps are available. I would remove as many as possible.

Second as mentioned by: ColoradoTransplant

Find you another private pond to fish and kill two birds with one shot. Keep all the bass you can over 14" and release them in the community pond; checking regulations first.
Then catch all the Blue Gill you can and release them also.

Don't know what size it is? If it is about 4 acres then 10 good size bass is all you need to bring in each year to change up the gene pool. Then about 50 Blue Gill each year will do it.

Do not buy minnows. You may wind up with carp in the lake. But you can place a small order for shad to be released for a food source. You will probably have to go to the source to pick up the order if it is small; say a couple of hundred. Another source if you don't want to purchase bait, is to find a stripper guide that throws a net for bait. Make arrangements to meet him at the lake and learn a new technique for your future bait catching trips.

Work you up a large ice chest for the back of your truck with a pump and spray bar for transporting these fish. Cool the water down a little with ice as you transport. You will have fun doing this and watching your efforts unfold. Don't try to make it all happen at once. Take your time and bring in fish from different lakes, one limit at a time.