Ponds, fish, and Great Blue Heron

[Dadnatron]

I have a question about my pond, fish, and the effect of a single heron.

First of all, my pond is about 3/4 silted in, and I will be cleaning it out in a year or so.

I plan on stocking it with fish. I'm not a big fisherman, but I'd like to have something around for grandkids, should I eventually have some. The pond is about 1.5ac with a (when cleaned) dam depth of approximately 12-15ft and a wedge towards shallow over about 130yds or so. We have few fish, given 2/3 of it is about 1ft deep. But we have minnows and several turtles, and a big blue heron.

Now, I have nothing against the heron, and actually like him around. He's kind of my friend when I'm on the tractor. And right now, I don't care what he does. But my real question is, will he make a deleterious dent in my fish population/makeup when cleaned and stocked? None of the fish would be fancy. But, given my extremely limited understanding, I need to stock feeder fish, minnows, and bass or something to 'catch'. I'll also likely stock some unisex carp (white or something, I don't remember exact type at this moment) which will keep the place clean but not reproduce. (I've read about this and I have a local guy who provides stockers to ponds.)

But my main question is, would a single heron cause any issue in a pond this size?

 

[rustyshakelford]

Hopefully Eddie walker will see this. He's very well versed in ponds. Another resource is called pond boss I think. They have a great forum also that's full of passionate people for ponds and lakes

Brett

 

[rekees4300]

But my main question is, would a single heron cause any issue in a pond this size?

No the fish will reproduce much faster than a single Heron can eat them. Just leave him alone and enjoy his beauty.

 

[Gary Fowler]

When you clean it out, just make a sharp dip to deep water(at least 4 feet deep) on all sides and it will limit the "fishing area" of the crane thus limiting his catch. By making sharp inclines to deep water it will also eliminate pond weeds that like to establish themselves in the shallow water. When we cleaned out our pond, we had a dozer cut a vertical wall at least 2 feet down at the low end of the pond right at the full water level.

 

[EddieWalker]

No the fish will reproduce much faster than a single Heron can eat them. Just leave him alone and enjoy his beauty.

Unless you spend a lot of time fishing your pond and managing the numbers of fish you have, it will overpopulate and become stagnate. Herons are just Mother Natures way of helping you keep your fish population under control. Turtles do this too. Just be careful of otters, they will come in and wipe you out of all your good sized fish in no time!!!!

When you dig out your pond, try to dig a big pit in the bottom where you are not digging to hold as many fish as you can. When I did my small 3/4 acre pond, I dug about a ten to twelve foot deep swimming pool sized pit with my backhoe and a ditch to channel the water in there that was left after pumping it almost dry. Most of my larger fish where already dead because the pond was too shallow. I honestly thought they where all dead, but found hundreds of fingerlings survived in the shallow mud.

 

[Oldoak]

Even a couple of Blue Herons won't make a dent in your fish population. All that silt is a bigger problem for spawning and the fish population. Of course you are going to remedy that. I see more problems with small ponds being under fished causing an over population of fish with stunted growth. Don't worry about supplying food for a few birds. They eat more than just fish such as bugs, tadpoles, frogs, and even a small snake or two.

The right mix of fish, plant life, and bottom make-up such as sand and gravel, not all silt is more important. Deeper water will help keep the aquatic plant life in check.

 

[Xfaxman]

From August 2004, where we used to live, a Blue Heron caught one:

 

[CajunRider]

I have a pond of roughly the same size and a blue heron won't be able to make much of a dent on your fish population. I've seen blue herons eat frogs and even field mice. However, I know from experience that a flock of cormorants is an entirely different issue all together. They can dive in your pond and decimate your pond population.

 

[mcfarmall]

Ribeye in the sky!

 

[CajunRider]

Ribeye in the sky!

You must not be talking about cormorants. The gators love to hunt them though.