SRAC Publication No. 480

SouthernRegionalAquacultureCenter

December 1993

Fee-Fishing Ponds

Management of Food

Michael P. Masser, Charles

Fish and Water Quality

E. Cichra and Ronnie J. Gilbert

Fee-fishing operations, popularthroughout the Southeast, can be aviable business opportunity thatblends marketing, recreation andaquaculture. Articles often appearin the popular press about individ-ual fee-fishing establishments, butfew scientific studies have lookedat their operation or management.Therefore, this fact sheet, and oth-ers in this series, rely heavily onpersonal observations and commu-nications with fee-fishing opera-tors and Extension specialists, andnot strictly on scientific experimen-tation.

Proper management of fee-fishingponds is extremely important notonly to the health and matchabilityof the fish, but also to the corre-sponding economic success of thebusiness. Many fee-fishing opera-tors do not understand the basicsof fisheries management, andtherefore, suffer reduced profitabil-ity or financial losses. This publica-tion suggests guidelines for man-agement of the water and the fishto improve fish health, reduce fishmortality and increase anglercatch rates, thereby increasingoverall profitability y of fee-fishingoperations.

Species selectionThe initial management decision isto determine the type and sourceof fish to be stocked. Farm-raised

fish are superior to wild-caughtfish because farm-raised fish-areusually available in consistentquantities, are already conditionedto crowded pond environmentsand will consume formulatedfeeds. For sources of farm-raisedfish contact your county Extensionoffice, State Fisheries ExtensionSpecialist, local Soil ConservationService office, or state game andfish agency. The majority of fee-fishing operations in the Southeaststock farm-raised catfish or somecombination of catfish with otherwarmwater species. It is best to re-move existing fish populations

Loading, hauling and stocking is al-ways stressful on fish.

from a pond when converting itinto a food fish fee-fishing pond.

Farm-raised catfish are popular be-cause of their availability, catch-ability, hardiness and desirabilityas a food fish. There are severalkinds or species of catfish includ-ing channel, blue, white, flathead,hybrid catfish and bullheads.Channel catfish are the predomi-nant farm-raised species and are,therefore, the most readily avail-able and most commonly-stockedspecies. Farm-raised blue catfish,white catfish and channel x bluecatfish hybrids, where available,are also good for stocking into fee-fishing ponds. Flathead catfishand bullheads are seldom farm-raised and are generally undesir-able for stocking into fee-fishingponds. Bullheads can rapidly over-populate a pond, while flatheadsbecome large predators on otherfish in the pond.

Fee-fishing operations in areaswith a coldwater source (i.e.,mountain streams or largesprings) stock rainbow trout. Thebiggest problem with trout is localavailability. Farm-raised rainbowtrout are available in several south-eastern states, predominantlyNorth Carolina, but also Georgia,Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia,West Virginia, Arkansas and Mis-souri. A few fee-fishing operationsstock rainbow trout only in the

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winter. Winter stocking of rain-bow trout allows the fee-fishing es-tablishment to operate when cat-fish are no longer actively biting.Rainbow trout do well understatic pond conditions when watertemperatures are below 65°F.

Rainbow trout should not bestocked until pond temperaturesare consistently below this tem-perature. If rainbow trout arestocked on top of existing catfishpopulations, anglers will catch fewcatfish because of the aggressivefeeding behavior of the trout andbecause catfish feed less activelywhen water temperature is low.Rainbow trout need to be removedbefore the water warms to 70°F inthe spring or they will die. Unlessotherwise stated, the following in-formation details the use of warm-water species, e.g., channel catfish.

Hauling and stockingThe handling and water qualitychanges, caused by seining, load-ing, hauling and stocking, stressfish. Most fee-fishing operators donot produce their own fish andhave little control over the seining,loading and hauling of fish theypurchase. Operators should workwith reputable producers and live-haulers that are experienced inproviding fish to fee-fishing opera-tions. Operators should purchasefish that have been denied feed forat least 1 to 2 days prior to trans-port during warm weather or 3 to4 days prior to transport during

cold weather. For more informa-tion on live-hauling proceduressee SRAC Publication Numbers390, 391, 392 and 393, on Transpor-tation of Warmwater Fish.

Reducing stress during unloadingand stocking is one key step to suc-cessful fee-fishing management.Fish should also be observed forsigns of low dissolved oxygenstress, parasites and diseases.Signs of low dissolved oxygen caninclude:

■ dead fish,

■ fish gasping at the surface, and

■ pale skin/gill coloration.

Signs of parasites and diseases caninclude:

■ skin or fin sores and discolora-tions,

■ erratic swimming,

■ staying or gasping at the sur-face, and

■ discolored or eroded gills.

Observe the fish in the haulingtank. Remove a few fish from thetank (particularly any that look oract unnatural) and check themclosely. Look at the gills. If gills ofseveral fish are pale, eroded orbloody, the fish are probablyeither sick or highly stressed. Ifsigns of disease are visible, fishshould be treated in the haulingtank or placed into a holding tankor small pond where they can beisolated from other fish and

Routine oxygen testing is an important management tool.

treated (see SRAC PublicationNumber 410, Calculating Treat-ments for Ponds and Tanks).

As many as 3 to 5 percent of trans- ported fish will commonly diewithin a few days from haulingand stocking stress. Higher lossesare indicative of fish that were al-ready diseased or were hauledand handled poorly. Prior agree-ment of acceptable fish mortalityrates and compensation for deadfish should be made before anyfish are ordered from the supplier.Discuss mortality problems withthe fish producer or live-haulerand work together to reduce fu-ture losses.

When purchasing live fish, the con-cept of “caveat emptor” (buyer be-ware) cannot be over-stressed. It isimportant for the operator to estab-lish the point at which the fish be-come his/her property. Generally,the health of the fish is the respon-sibility of the producer or live-hauler until they are stocked intothe fee-fishing pond. Determine ifthe producer/ live-hauler willstand behind his/her product inthe event of a major fish loss that occurs within a few days of stock-ing and can be attributed to a veri-fiable disease.

Fish should be acclimated or con-ditioned to the pond water beforebeing placed into the pond. It is agood idea to exchange water be-tween the pond and the haulingtank prior to stocking. A slow ex-change of water acclimates or tem-pers the fish to the new water con-ditions. Check the temperatureand pH of both the pond and thehauling tank water. Most fish cangenerally tolerate a sudden changein temperature of up to 5°F and inpH of up to 2 units. Some water ex-change/ adjustment period is bene-ficial even if the hauling tankwater and pond water are veryclose to the same temperature andpH. A good rule-of-thumb is totemper fish at least 20 minutes foreach 10°F difference in water tern-perature and/or for each unit ofpH difference. Tempering is moreimportant when moving fish from cold hauling water into warm

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pond water (e.g., in summer) andwhen moving fish from hard orbrackish water into soft freshwater. Always watch the fishclosely during the tempering proc-ess and keep the hauling tank wellaerated.

Stocking density andfrequencyStocking densities for fee-fishingponds can vary from 1,000 to10,000 pounds or more of fish persurface acre. Usually, fee-fishingoperations which charge a singleentrance fee (“ticket-lakes”) in anall-you-can-catch system arestocked at 1,000 to 2,500 pounds offish per acre. Operations thatcharge by the weight of fish thatare caught (“fishout” or “by-the-pound” ponds) are usuallystocked at higher densities underthe assumption that more fish inthe pond will result in highercatch rates. Most “fishout” pondsare stocked at 4,000 to 6,000pounds of fish per acre.

However, recent research resultswith channel catfish at the Univer-sity of Georgia suggest that anglercatch rates are not related to pondstocking density. Catch rates werenot significantly different in fee-fishing ponds initially stocked at2,000 or 4,000 pounds of channelcatfish per acre. Catch rates didnot decline as densities declined.Regardless of stocking density,catch rates were high (8 to 10 fishper angler hour) when ponds wereinitially opened for fishing and de-clined to an average of 1 to 2 fishper angler hour after a few weeksof fishing.

Fish tend to be shy and elusivecreatures. Healthy fish, when firststocked into ponds, tend to swimaround the pond as though theyare adjusting or orienting them-selves, This behavior continues forseveral days, during which timethe fish are easily caught, and fish-ing success is usually high, Afterthis period, the fish that remaintend to move around less, possiblyestablishing territories, and aremore difficult to catch. These fish

are referred to as being “hook-shy”. Many experienced fee-fish-ing operators believe that fishingsuccess is increased when small tomoderate amounts of fish arestocked frequently, rather thanstocking large numbers of fish atless frequent intervals.

Managing fish inventory“Hook-shy” fish are not easilycaught and tend to accumulate inthe pond, reducing the remainingcarrying capacity of the pond andfishing success. Good recordkeep-ing on the weight of fish removedwill suggest how many fish can berestocked without over-loadingthe pond, and will give a fairly ac-curate account of the weight of“hook-shy” fish remaining in thepond. As many as 30 to 40 percentof the fish in a pond can be un-matchable or “hook-shy.”

“Hook-shy” fish can be seined fromponds and held in live wells for saleto customers.

Many operators fish a pond untilfew fish are being caught, theneither drain or seine the pond to re-move the remaining fish. Thesefish can then be restocked intoother ponds or sold as live or proc-essed fish. Ideally, in an inten-sively-managed operation, non-bit-ers are removed regularly andoffered for sale either as live orprocessed fish, and the ponds re-stocked with new fish, Several fee-fishing operators have reportedsome success in moving “hook-shy” fish to other fee-fishingponds. Moving these fish to otherponds seems to reduce their “shy-

ness,” at least for a short period oftime. Even ponds that can beseined should be drained everythree or four years to remove un-seinable fish.

FeedingFish in fee-fishing ponds shouldbe fed. Research has shown that acomplete feed of at least 26 per-cent protein should be used. Feed-ing helps to keep fish healthy andprevents substantial weight loss.Many operators like to feed asmuch as possible and still main-tain good water quality. At highstocking densities, this will not bemuch more than a maintenancediet or ration.

A maintenance ration will keepthe fish healthy, but still hungry,so they will continue to bite. Amaintenance ration is around 1/2to 1 percent of the body weight ofthe fish. Feed the maintenance ra-tion every day or at least threetimes per week when water temperatures mandate feeding. Table1 gives an estimated maintenanceration for feeding 1,000 pounds offish. If good inventory records arekept, then maintenance feedingrates can be accurately calculated,If records are not available, an ef-fort should still be made to pro-vide a maintenance level of feed tothe fish.

Winter feeding is also important.Fish that are not fed throughoutthe winter will lose weight andhave higher disease and mortalityrates. Most diseases and resultingfish losses will not appear until thewater warms in the spring andmay be due to the consequence ofnot following a winter feedingschedule. With proper winter feed-ing, fish will usually grow 5 to 25percent, are healthier and start bit-ing earlier in the spring. Table 2gives a practical winter feedingschedule for catfish.

Feed age and storage conditionsare also important as vitamin andmineral quality of feed deterio-rates with time. This deteriorationis accelerated by high tempera-tures and moisture. Store feed in a

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Table 1. Feeding schedule to maintain the health of fish in a fee-fishing operation. Fish are fed 3 times per week.

Water Temperature % of Total Fish Pounds of Feed perOF Weight to Feed 1,000 Pounds of Fish

Warmwater fish70-75 0.5 576-89 1.0 10above 89 0.5 5

Coldwater fish45-55 0.5 556-60 0.7 761-65 1.0 10above 65 0.5 5

Table 2. Winter feeding schedule for catfish in fee-fishing operations.Feed should be 26% protein or higher.

Temperature % of Total Fish Feeding Frequency°F Weight to Feed

45-50 0.5 once/week51-55 1.0 twice/week56-60 1.0 every other day61-65 1.5 every other day66-70 2.1 every other day

cool, dry place. Never use feedthat is moldy, clumped or discol-ored. Note the date the feed wasmanufactured and never use feedthat is 90 days past its productiondate.

Water quality

Good quality water is essential inany successful aquaculture ven-ture. In the case of fee-fishing op-erations, water quality manage-ment must include not only thewater in the pond(s), but thechange in water quality from thehauling system to the pond. Sinceponds can have different waterquality, each one must be ob-served, tested and managed indi-vidually. Fee-fishing operatorsshould seek additional informa-tion on water quality from theircounty Extension office or StateFisheries Extension Specialist, andrefer to SRAC water quality videos(Water Quality Dynamics, Introduc-tion to Water Quality Testing andProcedures for Water Quality Man-agement).

Water quality management factorsto be considered in fee-fishingpond(s) include: dissolved oxy-gen, pH, alkalinity, ammonia andnitrite. Chemical test kits or metersare available commercially to testthese water quality components. Itis highly recommended that fee-fishing operations have these kitsor meters to assess water qualityon a regular basis.

Oxygen

Once healthy fish are stocked intoa fee-fishing-pond, the most impor-tant water quality factor is dis-solved oxygen. Low dissolved oxy-

gen stress is fairly common in fee-fishing ponds and is a commoncause of many disease outbreaks.

All living things consume oxygen in the process of respiration. In thepond, fish, insects, worms, bacte-ria and plants (at night) consumeoxygen.

Oxygen dissolves into water, thus,the term “dissolved oxygen.”Oxygen dissolves into static pondsby diffusion from the air and fromaquatic plants. Unfortunately, oxy-gen is not very soluble in water.So little oxygen dissolves in waterthat it must be measured in partsper million (ppm) or milligramsper liter (mg/L). The atmospherecontains about 20 percent oxygenor 200,000 ppm, yet pond waterseldom contains as much as 20mg/L. The amount of oxygen thatwill dissolve in water depends onthe temperature and salinity of thewater and the barometric pres-sure. If pure water is allowed to situndisturbed, oxygen will diffuseinto it until no more will dissolveat that temperature, salinity andpressure. This is called the satura-tion point (Table 3). Note that aswater temperatures increase, theoxygen saturation level decreases.Therefore, low dissolved oxygenproblems are more common inwarm weather.

Ponds can become supersaturatedwith dissolved oxygen throughthe action of aquatic plants. Micro-scopic aquatic plants, called algae,produce most of the oxygen inponds through the process of pho-tosynthesis, which occurs duringthe daylight hours. Production of

Table 3. Volubility of dissolved oxygen in fresh water at standard sealevel pressure.

D.O. D.O.°C °F mg/L (ppm) °C °F mg/L (ppm)

10 50.0 10.92 24 75.2 8.2512 53.6 10.43 26 78.8 7.9914 57.2 9.98 28 82.4 7.7516 60.8 9.56 30 86.0 7.5318 64.4 9.18 32 89.6 7.3220 68.0 8.84 34 93.2 7.1322 71.6 8.53 36 96.8 6.95

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Midnight 6 a.m. noon 9 p.m. Midnight

Time of Day

Figure 1. Typical daily oxygen cycle in warmwater ponds.

excess oxygen in the daytime, fol-lowed by high consumption ofoxygen at night (i.e., respiration),causes oxygen concentrations tocycle up and down daily (Figure1). Lowest oxygen concentrationstypically occur near sunrise.

Fortunately, under normal circum-stances more oxygen is producedby plants via photosynthesis thanis consumed through respirationby all plant and animal life in thepond. Problems appear when dis-solved oxygen concentrationsdrop below critical levels in thepond. In many trout, catfish andeven carp ponds, with substantialwater inflow, the primary sourceof oxygen is the dissolved oxygenin the inflowing water.

Dissolved oxygen below 4 mg/Lgenerally causes stress to warmwa-ter fish. This stress reduces thefish’s feeding behavior and lowersresistance to disease. Coldwaterfish generally start to stress at dis-solved oxygen concentrationsbelow 6 mg/L. Dissolved oxygenshould be checked whenever aproblem is believed to exist, suchas when pond water changes coloror when fish show signs of stress.

Dissolved oxygen can be checkedeither with a chemical test kit oran electronic oxygen meter. Chemi-cal tests are inexpensive, but are te-dious and take as long as 20minutes to conduct. Chemical testscan be used if only two or threeponds are to be checked. Elec-tronic oxygen meters are relativelyexpensive, but are a must if ponds

need to be checked frequently be-cause of high fish densities or ifseveral ponds must be managed atthe same time.

Oxygen depletions can occur be-cause of high respiration rates,rapid dilution of oxygen (duringpond turnover), and/or chemicaldepletion of dissolved oxygen.High respiration rates can occurwhen fish are stocked at too high adensity, an algae bloom becomestoo dense, or high bacterial decom-position rates exist. From a practi-cal management standpoint, thismeans that fish should not be over-stocked in the pond. Fish densitiesin some existing intensively man-aged fee-fishing ponds do exceed10,000 pounds per acre, in warm-water ponds with some nightlyaeration, but no continuous waterexchange. But the maximum den-sity normally should not exceed6,000 pounds per surface acre.

Algae blooms turn the pond watervarious shades of green, greenish-blue or greenish-brown. If algaeblooms become too dense (e.g.,“pea-soup” green), they can causeoxygen depletions at night duringovercast weather conditions, or asthey die. Algae blooms increase indensity in response to increasednutrients from fertilization andfeeding. Most fee-fishing pondsshould not be fertilized if the fishare fed. If feeding alone does notsustain an algae bloom, then checkthe alkalinity of the pond. If alka-linity is above 20 mg/L, then thepond could be lightly fertilized in

early spring to develop a bloom.Be careful, do not overfertilize!

A summer pond “turnover” cancause an oxygen depletion. Turn-overs are caused by cold windsand/or intense, cold rains whichbreak up temperature stratifica-tion (layers) in deep ponds. Thedeep, cooler layers of the pond areusually devoid of oxygen. Afterthe upper water layer (with oxy-gen) mixes with the deeper waterlayer (no oxygen) during a turn-over, the pond may have criticallylow dissolved oxygen concentra-tions. Pond destratifiers, mechani-cal devices which keep the pondwell mixed, have been used to pre-vent stratification and, therefore,turnovers. Aeration and/or flush-ing with well-oxygenated waterare the only management optionsavailable after a turnover has oc-curred. In ponds with substantialoutflow, an inverted standpipedrain system can help preventstratification and, therefore, oxy-gen depletion from turnover.

Algae blooms should be carefullywatched and dissolved oxygenconcentrations checked whenblooms become dense or pondcolor changes. When algae bloomsdie, the water changes color (usu-ally becomes dark brown) quickly.Ponds should be aerated if dis-solved oxygen drops below 3mg/L. Continue to aerate until dis-solved oxygen concentrations re-main above recommended levelsfor the fish species that are pre-sent. Dissolved oxygen should bechecked whenever the pondchanges color, when fish stop bit-ing or feeding, or when fish are ob-served near the surface. Dissolvedoxygen should be checked rou-tinely in the morning and evening.

pH

Hydrogen ions (acidity) in solu-tion are measured in pH units. ApH of 7 is neutral, below 7 is acidicand above 7 is basic or alkaline.Ponds with algae blooms will ex-perience daily swings of one halfto two pH units or more depend-ing on the density of the algaebloom and the alkalinity of the

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pond. Fish generally do well whenpH is between 6.0 and 9.5. A rapidpH change of 2 units (e.g., 7 to 9)or more in a short period of time isstressful to fish. Also, ammoniatoxicity is affected by water pH.The daily fluctuations in pH canbe reduced or buffered by the addi-tion of alkaline ions.

Alkalinity

Alkalinity is a measure (in mg/L)of the total concentration of basesin water. Bases in pond water aremostly carbonate and bicarbonateions. These bases react with hydro-gen ions to slow or buffer pHchanges. The higher the total alka-linity, the less pH generally fluctu-ates (see SRAC Publication Num-ber 464, Interactions of pH, CarbonDioxide, Alkalinity and Hardness inFish Ponds). An alkalinity of atleast 20 mg/L is needed to pro-mote algae blooms.

Alkalinity can be increased inponds by the addition of agricul-tural lime. A soil test of pond mudis the most accurate method to de-termine how much lime is needed.Pond mud can be tested by theSoil Testing Lab associated withyour county Extension office. Con-tact your county Extension officefor information on the propermethods of taking and preparingpond mud samples. In the absenceof mud samples, water samplesshould be analyzed.

Ammonia

Ammonia is the principal wasteproduct of fish and is released dur-ing bacterial decay. Ammonia dis-solves in water into two com-pounds: ionized and un-ionizedammonia. Un-ionized ammonia isvery toxic to fish. The proportionof ionized to un-ionized ammoniain solution depends on the pH andtemperature of the solution (seeSRAC Publication Number 463,Ammonia in Fish Ponds). As tem-perature and pH increase, the per-centage of un-ionized ammonia in-creases. At high temperatures andpH, total ammonia concentrationsof 2 or 3 mg/L can be very stress-ful or deadly to fish. Fish exposed

to high ammonia concentrationswill not feed and will becomemore susceptible to disease.

Ammonia seldom becomes a prob-lem in fee-fishing ponds. High am-monia concentrations can, how-ever, occur if a pond has beenoverstocked or overfed, or after analgae die-off. Check ammonia lev-els after algae die-offs or when-ever the fish stop biting (or feed-ing). If high ammonia concentra-tions occur, stop feeding the fishand flush the pond with freshwater if possible.

Nitrite

Ammonia is converted into nitritewhich is also toxic to fish (seeSRAC Publication Number 462, Ni-trite in Fish Ponds). Nitrite as lowas 0.5 mg/L causes severe stress infish. Nitrite can become a problemand should be checked after a fallturnover, in deep ponds, or after ahigh ammonia episode. At thesetimes, nitrite levels often reach 3 to5 mg/L.

Nitrite toxicity can be controlledthrough the addition of chloride(salt). Forty-five pounds of salt peracre-foot of pond water will bringthe chloride concentration to 10mg/L. Ten parts per million chlo-ride will counteract 3 1/3 of amg/L nitrite. If salt cannot beadded to the pond, then stop feed-ing the fish, flush the pond withfresh water and try to reestablishor maintain the algae bloom.

After any episode of low dissolvedoxygen, high ammonia or nitrite,the fish should be watched closelyfor disease outbreaks. Usually dis-eases will start to appear withinthree to ten days after a water qual-ity problem.

AerationAeration will seldom be needed atstocking rates below 1,500 poundsper surface acre and feeding ratesbelow 10 pounds per acre per day.Aeration may be needed peri-odically if higher stocking or feed-ing rates are employed, or undercertain weather conditions (hot,windless, cloudy summer days).

Many types of mechanical aeratorsare commercially available. Aera-tors can be powered electrically,by diesel or gasoline engines, orfrom the power-take-off of a trac-tor. Paddlewheel aerators are veryefficient, but are expensive to pur-chase and are not usually manufac-tured in low horsepowers forsmall ponds (i.e., less than 3 acres).As a general rule, about one to one-and-one-half horsepower of elec-tric paddlewheel aeration is suffi-cient to aerate one surface acre ofpond. Other aerator designs mayneed additional horsepower, butmany are available in small sizeswhich adapt well to small fee-fish-ing ponds. For help in choosing agood aerator for specific ponds,contact your county Extension of-fice or State Fisheries ExtensionSpecialist.

Off-flavorOff-flavor is caused by certainalgae, fungi and bacteria whichmost commonly develop in sum-mer and fall in nutrient-richponds. Ponds that develop scums(paint-like films or droplets) and those that give off strong odorsoften contain off-flavor fish. Off-flavor can occur in fee-fishingponds if they develop dense algaeblooms from over-fertilization orover-feeding. Many times fish pur-chased from producers are off-fla-vor when purchased. In fact, someproducers attempt to sell off-fla-vor fish to fee-fishing estab-lishments when they cannot sellthem to processing plants. Not allcustomers will notice off-flavor(since it is common in wild fish),but many will be dissatisfied byoff-flavor fish and may not returnas customers.

Always ask producers or live-haul-ers if the fish are on-flavor. Inmany cases producers will dis-count off-flavor fish. Take one tothree fish from the hauling tankand check them for off-flavor (seeSRAC Publication Number 431,Testing Flavor Quality of PreharvestChannel Catfish). If off-flavor is pre-sent, it maybe possible to isolate these fish in a separate pond for a

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few days (usually 7 to 21 days)until they are purged of the off-fla-vor. If isolation is not possible andif your customers dislike off-flavorfish, then reject the load of fish.

Weed controlFee-fishing ponds experienceaquatic weed problems like allother ponds. Aquatic herbicidescan be used to control aquaticvegetation (see SRAC PublicationNumbers 360 and 361, AquaticWeed Management). If you intendto use a herbicide read the labelcarefully. Most aquatic herbicideshave restrictions on fishing andwater use after treatment. If thefee-fishing establishment has sev-eral ponds for fishing, then herbi-cide treatment can be rotated(along with fishing) from pond topond without great inconvenienceto the customers. Herbicide usemay temporarily restrict fishing ina single-pond establishment, how-ever. In addition, the control ofalgae or vascular plants may causedissolved oxygen depletions; beaware of the consequences beforetreating.

An alternative in many southeast-ern states is to stock grass carp(white amur). Grass carp stockedat 5 to 20 fish per acre will controlmost aquatic weed problems thatwould directly affect fee-fishingoperations. Many states requirethe use of sterile triploid grasscarp. Check state regulations andstocking recommendations withyour county Extension office orState Fisheries Extension Special-ist, Soil Conservation Service of-fice or state fish and game agencybefore stocking grass carp.

One problem with using grasscarp in fee-fishing ponds is thatthey readily take many popularcatfish baits, but often break off be-cause of their large size and greatstrength. This can result in their in-jury and death. Anglers must betold to release any grass carp theycatch, or their value for vegetationcontrol will be lost. Grass carp areedible, so the fee-fishing operatorcould allow anglers to keep thesefish, paying for them by the

pound as they do for other fish.The grass carp would then have tobe replaced with new fish. Checkwith your county Extension officeor State Fisheries Extension Spe-cialist, Soil Conservation Serviceoffice or state fish and gameagency on the legality of sellinggrass carp for food.

Fish health managementFish diseases/parasites are alwayspresent in the pond environment.Fish are susceptible to these dis-eases when they become stressedor their resistance is lowered bypoor water quality, handling, ornutritional problems (see SRACPublication Number 474, The Roleof Stress in Fish Disease). Signs ofstress or disease include:

not feeding (or biting),

swimming erratically or flash-ing,

acting highly excitable or irri-table,

swimming at the surface orlying in shallow water,

not swimming away rapidlywhen disturbed, and/or

having visible sores or discol-orations.

If these signs appear, collect a fishor several fish and look for: opensores; eroded areas on fins, skin,mouth, or gills; pale or swollengills; excessive slime on skin orgills; protruding eyes; and swollenor sunken bellies. Do not collectfish by hook-and-line; healthy fishbite, sick fish don’t! If any of thesesymptoms appear, take or sendthe fish to a fish diagnostic lab asquickly as possible. Check withyour county Extension office orState Fisheries Extension Specialistfor the location of the nearest fishdisease diagnostic lab and propershipping procedures to follow forsending samples (see SRAC Publi-cation Number 472, Submitting aSample for Fish Kill Investigatiom).Do not wait! Diseases spread rap-idly and treatments need to beginas soon as possible. Disease out-breaks will often occur after fish

are stocked, especially if capturedwild fish are purchased.

A final word of caution about dis-eases. Many diseases have similarsymptoms. Do not assume that be-cause fish show the same symp-toms as a previous disease that itis the same disease. Treatmentschange with the specific disease.An incorrect treatment may causehigher fish losses than doing noth-ing at all. Always get a diagnosisby a qualified fish disease special-ist before starting treatment,

Other considerationsManaging a fee-fishing operationis a complex undertaking. Theabove discussions have attemptedto explain management of thewater and the fish, People manage-ment is still the key to running asuccessful fee-fishing operation.This section will discuss manage-ment considerations concerningthe regulation of fishing throughrules related to tackle require-ments, fish releases and bait re-strictions.

Fishing tackle should be strongenough to catch the fish that arestocked. Light tackle and line willresult in many fish being lost byanglers. Fish can be injured andmay later die, or they may notfeed again until healed. They oftenbecome “hook-shy.” Set minimumline or tackle requirements thatwill reduce the loss of fish (or bethe sole source of suitable tackle).Most fee-fishing operations have a“no release” requirement. Escapedor released fish severely reduceprofitability in fee-fishing opera-tions which charge by the pound.All fish must be kept and not re-leased for the same reasons as out-lined above. One notable excep-tion is a fee-fishing operationconnected to a restaurant whichcharges youngsters a fishing fee,then allows them to catch unlim-ited numbers of fish; however, allfish must be taken to the restau-rant where they are cleaned andserved to customers.

Most fee-fishing operations restrictthe use of live fish (e.g., shad, gold-

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en shiners and sunfish) as bait inorder to prevent their escape andestablishment in the ponds. Thesebait species can rapidly overpopu-late the pond and may introducenew disease organisms. Live baitshould be restricted to non-fishspecies such as worms, cricketsand crawfish. Many fee-fishing op-erations restrict live bait to onlythat which it sells and do notallow live bait to be brought in bythe customer.

RecordkeepingFee-fishing is a business, and likeany good business operation it re-quires good recordkeeping. Man-agers of fee-fishing operationsshould keep records on numbersand weight of fish stocked and onthose removed by anglers orfound dead in the ponds. Accuraterecords will help the managermake better decisions on when torestock with new fish, when toseine to remove “hook-shy” fish,and how much to feed to maintainhealthy fish. Many fee-fishing op-erations that do not charge by the

pound still require that all fish beweighed before the customerleaves the premises. Records ofwater quality (dissolved oxygen,ammonia, etc.) will help managersmonitor trends and help identifystressors when disease outbreaksoccur. Keep good records, andmany management decisions willbe clearer and less costly.

ConclusionThis fact sheet has dealt with themanagement of fish and waterquality in food-fish type, fee-fish-ing ponds. Many of the samewater quality considerations dis-cussed, however, would be appli-cable to the management of large-mouth bass-bluegill ponds whichare leased for fishing. Of course,there is more to a successful fee-fishing operation than just themanagement of the fish and water.Fee-fishing operators have to con-sider location, physical layout, con-cessions and all the things that im-pact on their customers. In otherwords, people management is justas important to consider as fish

management. For information onthese and other aspects of fee-fish-ing please refer to SRAC Publica-tion Numbers 479 (Fee-fishing: An Introduction), 482 (Fee-fishing: Loca-tion, Site Development and Costs)and 481 (Development and Manage-ment of Fishing Leases).

People management is the key torunning a successful fee-fishingoperation.

Publication Authors

Michael P. Masser, Extension Fisheries Specialist, Auburn University, Auburn, AL; Charles E. Cichra,Extension Fisheries Specialist, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL; and Ronnie J. Gilbert, ExtensionAquaculture Specialist, University of Georgia, Athens, GA.

The work reported in this publication was supported in part by the Southern Regional Aquaculture Center through Grant No. 89-38500-4516 from theUnited States Department of Agriculture.

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