What the heck is a pond consultant...

kcult

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... and how do I become one?

I'm getting ready to take some kids fishing in a relative's pond this week and I made the assumption I could keep some fish to fry this weekend. My brother asked me if the owner was cool with that. That made me question my assumption, so I contacted him and asked if I could keep any fish.

He replied, "You're in luck. A pond consultant came out today and said we need to start fishing. So that is a yes."

How do I get this job?
 
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... and how do I become one?

I'm getting ready to take some kids fishing in a relative's pond this week and I made the assumption I could keep some fish to fry this weekend. My brother asked me if the owner was cool with that. That made me question my assumption, so I contacted him and asked if I could keep any fish.

He replied, "You're in luck. A pond consultant came out today and said we need to start fishing. So that is a yes."

How do I get this job?

1) Advertise yourself as a pond consultant.
2) Accept payment for consulting.
3) Don’t suck at it so you get good recommendations.
 
First you need to pass an exhaustive self-administered test to demonstrate:
1: the ability to distinguish a pond from an ocean,
2: the ability to distinguish a blue gill from a bass and a catfish, not as to species of each,

Then a website or some facebookey thing.
 
They come by and count fish, measure size and tell you how to maximize your pond. Probably a marine biologist of some sort. I’ve never had one come out but I listened to a pretty cool lecture by one on 10+Lb bass and what it takes to grow them.
 
They come by and count fish, measure size and tell you how to maximize your pond. Probably a marine biologist of some sort. I’ve never had one come out but I listened to a pretty cool lecture by one on 10+Lb bass and what it takes to grow them.

Thank you.

My question was a bit tongue in cheek. I'm just a bit fascinated that, at least in this small town, that there was anyone nearby that would be called that... and assuredly got paid for their visit. I live a somewhat sheltered life.

And as far as I know, this is not the first time one had been called to this property.
 
The biggest bluegill I ever caught was out of a farm pond.

A neighbor told us, years ago when I was an early teen, that he and his son caught bluegill "this big" (holding hand out and pointing up his writh about 3 inches or so...which made it 10+ inches long).

Dad and I both thought "yeah, right".

So Mom and Dad packed my sister and I up the next weekend and headed out to that pond. And damned if we didn't catch bluegill in the 10 inch plus range.

Let me tell you, a bluegill that gets that big is a THICK bluegill...and a nice fighter!

They fry up nicely, too.
 
They use electro shock to survey the fish numbers, and more importantly, species & size.
They also test the water quality and a good one will test for dissolved oxygen and temps at various depths.
They will identify thermocline, depths, structure (or lack thereof).

Ever fish a pond and only catch big adult fish? That's a pond on it's way to being terrible fishing. Its referred to as recruitment, or lack thereof.

"All we caught were giant bluegill and skinny bass"

Small bass because no bluegill are in the size range they can eat. Pond probably needs structure / plants for the bluegill fry to hide in.

"All we caught were tiny bluegill and one big bass"

Bluegill do not have enough predation to control thier numbers, hence the stunting.


The above is just a couple common issues with NC farm ponds. It's like an aquarium that provides fresh fish....so I try to keep my fish market in good health.
After eating fish from multiple ponds on my property, one managed and others just left wild- I can attest that the managed pond has better tasting, larger and healthier fish.

Bunch of info in my thread here:

https://www.carolinafirearmsforum.com/index.php?threads/farm-pond-followup.14264/
 
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They use electro shock to survey the fish numbers, and more importantly, species & size.
They also test the water quality and a good one will test for dissolved oxygen and temps at various depths.
They will identify thermocline, depths, structure (or lack thereof).

Ever fish a pond and only catch big adult fish? That's a pond on it's way to being terrible fishing. Its referred to as recruitment, or lack thereof.

"All we caught were giant bluegill and skinny bass"

Small bass because no bluegill are in the size range they can eat. Pond probably needs structure / plants for the bluegill fry to hide in.

"All we caught were tiny bluegill and one big bass"

Bluegill do not have enough predation to control thier numbers, hence the stunting.


The above is just a couple common issues with NC farm ponds. It's like an aquarium that provides fresh fish....so I try to keep my fish market in good health.
After eating fish from multiple ponds on my property, one managed and others just left wild- I can attest that the managed pond has better tasting, larger and healthier fish.

Bunch of info in my thread here:

https://www.carolinafirearmsforum.com/index.php?threads/farm-pond-followup.14264/

The owner did mention algae and aerators running 24/7 because of the heat.

I've gotten reports of big bream, as well as large bass. Supposedly, there are crappie and catfish in this pond, too.

Weather permitting, I'm hoping to get in there either Thursday or Friday.

I'll try to get pics, of course.
 
First you need to pass an exhaustive self-administered test to demonstrate:
1: the ability to distinguish a pond from an ocean,
2: the ability to distinguish a blue gill from a bass and a catfish, not as to species of each,

Then a website or some facebookey thing.
Sounds about right. If you have a Facebook, you’re official.
 
They use electro shock to survey the fish numbers, and more importantly, species & size.
They also test the water quality and a good one will test for dissolved oxygen and temps at various depths.
They will identify thermocline, depths, structure (or lack thereof).

Ever fish a pond and only catch big adult fish? That's a pond on it's way to being terrible fishing. Its referred to as recruitment, or lack thereof.

"All we caught were giant bluegill and skinny bass"

Small bass because no bluegill are in the size range they can eat. Pond probably needs structure / plants for the bluegill fry to hide in.

"All we caught were tiny bluegill and one big bass"

Bluegill do not have enough predation to control thier numbers, hence the stunting.


The above is just a couple common issues with NC farm ponds. It's like an aquarium that provides fresh fish....so I try to keep my fish market in good health.
After eating fish from multiple ponds on my property, one managed and others just left wild- I can attest that the managed pond has better tasting, larger and healthier fish.

Bunch of info in my thread here:

https://www.carolinafirearmsforum.com/index.php?threads/farm-pond-followup.14264/

We brought home a dozen smallish to medium sized bream, two big bream, and 11 skinny bass. A 2 to 3lb catfish was caught on a cricket, but was thrown back. Maybe a dozen and a half were either thrown back or lost.

It took six people, four hours to catch those.
 
We brought home a dozen smallish to medium sized bream, two big bream, and 11 skinny bass. A 2 to 3lb catfish was caught on a cricket, but was thrown back. Maybe a dozen and a half were either thrown back or lost.
It took six people, four hours to catch those.

It's easy to tell Male from female bluegill this time of year. I'd try to stock more males than females. They breed like crazy.
 
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