One of my favorite city ponds has really gone downhill. I used to catch 4-5lb bass all the time.

The last few times I've gone, the smaller bass look normal, but any fish over 18" looks sick. They are very skinny and look malnourished.

My thoughts are that the food supply is out of whack. Families are always fishing for bluegill, and they don't catch as many nowadays.

Is there anything I can do to help?

Dump a pound or two of minnows every now and then. Some will be eaten, but some will repopulate.

Dumping a few minnows may make you feel good...but will do virtually nothing for the bass.

It takes 10 pounds of forage to add one pound of weight to a bass.

You stated the problem when you said "Families are always fishing for bluegill, and they don't catch as many nowadays." ... and I could add with almost certainty, they keep every bluegill they catch.

Since its a city pond, IMO you are just wasting your time trying to remedy the situation. The public will always catch and keep those bluegills and it will be next to impossible to rebuild the forage base.

Tilapia is one possibility. They can be difficult for the public to catch....but of course the public will resort to netting them. Tilapia will take pressure off the bluegills allowing them to replenish and also provide tons of forage for the bass.

Its problematic, the public generally takes out everything...and then wonders what happened to the fishing.

Sorry to say it, but you are pissing up a rope when it comes to public waters.

Thanks for the feedback.

Let's say, hypothetically, there was another pond nearby that was overrun with bluegill.

Would it be a good idea to get a casting net and move a few hundred from one pond to another?

Can you somehow limit "Families are always fishing for bluegill"?

Its worth a try...but if folks just come in and catch and eat, then about all you will accomplish is refining your cast net throwing.

I'd probably try it anyway.

Good luck.

That's a fluctuating variable.

Some years nobody goes after bluegill.
This year a lot of Indian families gave fishing a try. They mainly went after bluegill and catfish, the easy ones to catch.

They probably won't be back next year, but new families might.

If we could educate people about how much damage they can do to public waters, we might make a difference.

Until then, restocking bait fish might help slow down the damage they caused.

Meadowlark said it well. He is spot on.

Did you consider telling the family is keeping the fish about the sewage leaks that have been happening in that area into those ponds?

And that there have not been any studies done on the water to verify that those fish are safe to eat?

I haven't specifically mentioned sewage, but I've talked about how the fish aren't clean.

They don't care.

What about dumping a big bag of crawfish? I can't believe people perch at ponds! So many gross things in there.

I like this idea.
I've never bought crawfish. Where can I find them in the Irving area?

Honestly man IDK that a bag a crawfish will do anything at all. Its much more difficult than that to change up size structure in a pond. ESP public pond.

Save your money or just eat the crawfish.

Thanks for the feedback, and thanks for being blunt.

I just feel like I'm using the pond, and the least I could do is help it out a little bit.

The best thing one man can do and most cost effective is cover...add cover. Lots of brush. The more the better