Hi,

My honeyhole is a great spot. Many dinkers, many 5lb'ers and a 7-9 lb'ers have been caught(bass). A few bream as well.

The question is, There are a few old farm ponds in my area that are about to be developed.(strip malls and such) If I catch big bass

in these farm ponds sould I move them to the honeyhole or leave them to die at the hands of the urban sprall?

The HH is a oval about 130-150yds long by 50-70yds wide and maybe 15-20ft deep around the dam. Could it support more fish? Would I be hurting it by adding more fish? Would I bring disease and parasite? Would I need to add baitfish? HELP!

These ponds will be drained and filled in. :'(  I have seen it happen to four good ponds in my area.

I don't know what to do about these great fishing holes. Taxes and such (not that I know, but can only guess) are running the farmers and the long time residents away. Some of the ponds my dad use to take me to are gone. I have seen many big bass, crappie, and bream pulled from these ponds.

So many questions but I'll leave it at this and go with the responses.

Any ideas or suggestions would help....or just tell me it's what happens(hope that's not it) :-[

BR

if you say theres 7-9poundres and dinks, and bream, i think the lake is pretty functional as is. i would HIGHLY consider NOT adding any fish to an enviroment such as the one you described. just my honest opinion

i second that.  it is a great way to comletely ruin a great fishing hole.  if the fishing wasnt very good there it may be worth it but i would never take the chance in that situation.  lots of parasites and disease can be spread and introducing a foreign disease can completely wipe out a pond the size your talking about.  if you want a project id pick some place were the fishing is absolutely terrible and bring em there, they still may die if the fishing is bad because of lack of forage etc. but at least you are not ruining an area you love.  honestly the best course of action may be no action but thats a personal decision.  some posters on another similar thread have told some real horror stories.

matt

If you own some land dig a hole and throw em in!!  Just kidding, just go there when they start draining, make sure to wear some waders, and bring a long net and a bucket.  Start loading the bucket with the fish, fillet them, invite some friends over and have a fish fry.  No sense in just letting them die!  I bet there will be some monster cat fish in there as well.  Just my couple of pennies.

i wonder if theres a way to get fish tested so you know they are safe. it does stink to let a bunch of big bass just die like that but there is that chance of bringing them all down. although im guessing in a farm pond that has big bass probably wouldnt have a disease wouldnt those big bass not be there if there was a bas bacteria or parasite in there. i gues its up to you you cna take the chance and maybe add alot more good fish to your pond or it could go bad.

It is a shame that they ruin great spots like that just to build houses.

If you have another good spot that had alot of big bass, then leave it alone.

However, if you catch a big bass from a doomed pond, say over 7lbs, i would release it in the other pond.

I like the fish fry idea ;D. I don't think the parasites (if any) will live long in the fryer. If I find a pond that is poor I will move them there. I hate to see them die and get covered in dirt.

I don't want to mess up the HH. But is it to risky to move 1 or 2 hawgs in if I catch any over 7 or 8lbs?

BR