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50 • Nebraska Game and Parks Commission 10-inch fish every three years. Number stocked should equal the harvest plus an additional 10 percent to compensate for natural mortality. Is Your Pond in Balance? The best way to tell how well your fish are doing is to go fishing! By catching fish, you can determine how well they are growing and reproducing, and whether any unwanted fish species have gained access to your pond. Fish with a variety of techniques, using artificial lures and natural baits suitable for all species and sizes present. The more fish you catch, the better you will be able to evaluate the fish population. Keep good records of the time spent fishing, dates, fish species caught, and accurately measure the length of each fish caught. A form for keeping catch records is provided in the back of this handbook (page 89). Periodically review your catch records and ask yourself these questions: 1) Is the average size of bluegills decreasing? 2) Is the size of the largest bluegill caught getting smaller? 3) Are bass noted as getting skinnier? 4) Are fewer big fish and more little fish being caught per hour? 5) Are crappies, carp, bullheads, or other non-stocked fish showing up in the catch? Answering yes to any of these questions may signal the pond is becoming out of balance. How Can Balance be Maintained or Achieved? Fish populations will naturally fluctuate from time to time and there's no need for concern if you have one or two fishing trips with poor success. If the quality of fishing in your pond appears to be declining, start collecting angler catch data. Spring is normally the best time to collect angling data; however, angling may have to be conducted several times during the year to collect enough pertinent data. Although angling assessment is preferred, fish populations can also be assessed with a seine in mid-summer. Legal seines can only be one-fourth inch non-metallic square mesh MEASURING A FISH MEASURING A FISH 1. Lay fish sideways, flat on measuring board/ruler. 2. Close the mouth. 3. Squeeze the tail lobes together. 4. See how long your fish is — this largemouth bass is just over 10 1 /2 inches long.