My Code of Ethics For Farm Ponds

This is a rambling discourse of what I do to be able to fish the multitude of farm ponds that I have available to fish in. I will also write a little on what I try to talk to the pond owner into doing to help the pond thrive and stay in balance. I have about 60 ponds I can go to that are within a15-mile radius of where I live.

If the answer is no, I send them a Thank You card for taking the time to read the letter and letting me know the answer. If yes, I ask if we can get together to look at the pond(s) and have them tell me if I can drive in with my canoe or not. I also ask them if they have any particular rules they would like me to follow on the fish that are caught(Hopefully). If I can drive in, I ask them it they want me to

follow any particular path to the pond. I do this because I don't want to start or cause any erosion problems.I also tell them that I will take bluegill and crappie out of the ponds. The only bass I will take are those that I may have injured during the landing process. I might keep a few small channel cat, but anything over three pounds goes back in.

My last question to the land owner is if they like fish. If so, what species do they like the most. I will carry a fillet board with me and fillet a few for the owner every time I go and deliver them as I leave. I am amazed at how many times I have been told this is the first time anyone has done this for them. It is a great selling point on being able to get back into the pond. It also helps when other folks tell them that you do this.

I always have a plastic bag with me and pick up any trash that I find. I have left the meth lab stuff alone and reported it to the land owner and the local Sheriff.

After I have fished the pond a few times, I try to talk to the owner about changing how people fish on the ponds. I tell them that we can increase the size of all the fish in the pond if we do a few simple things. The first is than any bass under 10" has to be returned as well as those over 14". This is a fairly narrow slot but it will allow bigger fish to grow in the pond. I
do give them the names of a few people who own ponds that we have done this on. When they agree, I tell them that they will really see results in five years.

The first thing I then do is to take a huge number of gills and crappies out of the pond. Catching between one and two hundred is not out of the question. I do fillet them and give the fillets away. This is a pain but it helps the pond immediately by increasing the food source for the rest of the fish.

The second thing is to put some more bass in especially if I have not caught many bass while I am fishing in the pond. I know a couple of ponds that the owners want nothing but bass in them. They keep hoping the bass will get bigger. They don't care if a bunch of small bass are taken out. I will put from 50 to 100 bass in a pond depending upon the size of the pond. I will also move some large bass from one pond to another to help the process.

The last thing I do is to continually show the pond owner how the size of the fish is increasing from year to year. I thank them for trusting me on this process. I also tell them that in the future they can take a few bass out but we will have to balance it with the appropriate amount of panfish coming out.

I have about 30 ponds that I have done this on. The gills run from seven to 12 inches and the crappie from about 10 to 14 inches for the largest sizes. Not bad when they all started at about 4 inches.

Not that it is all rosy. I have one pond closed to me because someone cut the fence and drove through the corn field. They then made another path coming out and cut the fence again. He knows that I did not do it but has everyone watching to see if the people will go in again.

I have had a few people close the ponds to me when we got them into good shape. I usually try to get them to allow me to fish it for five years after it is fixed. When this happens, I never argue. I tell them that I will not go into the pond ever again while they own the land.

I have had a few folks mess the ponds up by taking to many bass out. They have asked me to fix the ponds again. I have told them no. I remind them that we had an agreement and they broke it. I also remind them that I said I would not go back to the pond while they owned the land. This may sound harsh but there is a good deal of effort put into getting the
pond in shape.

The last thing I do that is not necessarily for the land owner, but helps, is to close gates that I find open when I know they should be shut. I call the police or find someone to help me put cattle that have gotten out back into the fields where they belong. Word of things like that gets around and helps with being able to get onto land.

I hope that his will help you get into some ponds to wet a line. Hope you can get out on the water.

Got hooked and wanted to do more. I had a person in town give me some fly tying equipment becasue he did not want to tie flies anymore. I learned to
tie from a few videos and books that were in the stuff that I got.

All I can say is that my casting has gotten a little better and my tying has
improved somefrom my first flies. I do love catching crappie on flies.