Heaven Pond In Lenexa, Ks Being Drained

[mzrealfish]

Good evening all,

There is a pond just off of K-10 and K-7 in Lenexa, KS that is being drained to build a school. We have fished it for the past 7 years and the sign, stating "future site of an Olathe elementary school" has been posted the entire time. 2 weeks ago, they finally broke ground. The dam is intact, for now. They have, however, cut down all of the trees surrounding the pond and built up a number of dirt piles around the edges of the pond. I have spoken to the Johnson County, KS fisheries biologist about reclaiming the fish before the dam is spiked/cut and the fish flow into the dry creek below. It is roughly a 6 acre pond. He has told me that the state will not reclaim the fish because of the chances of diseases being transferred to other populations.

Let's rewind. In the past 7 years of fishing this pond, my friends and I have caught and released to my knowledge at least 40 largemouth bass over 5 lbs., 5 of which were 8+ lb. bass. Yes, some were repeats I am sure. Last summer (2011) alone, I had 3 weighing in at 7lb 4oz., 8lb. 8oz. and 9lb. 10oz. It was also not uncommon for 2 of us to have 40 fish apiece in 2-3 hours. Attached you will find one 5 lb. bass that my neighbor caught on his first trip out there ever, on Father's Day of this year. The 2nd photo is from my last trip out 2 weeks ago. Didn't scale it but roughly 4.5 lbs. Sorry I don't have more photos avaialble.

I was advised by the biologist to do whatever I felt was neccessary to save as many of these fish as I can. I own a 2 acre farm pond less than 1 mile away. I am trying to gather avid conservation-minded fishermen, like myself to fish this pond out and transport them to my pond. In return, I will grant access to my pond for as long as it is in my family. I plan to fish 1 time per week, (best my schedule can accomodate) until the dam is cut. Any fish over 3 lbs., will be transferred. Once the dam has been cut, our plan is to remove fish with throw nets and transport them in the back of our trucks in large, (clean) trash cans. I have a team of 4. I need a team of 20. I know this is not an ideal plan, but this our first rescue mission. We hope to do the best we can! We are open t

If you live in the area, and are interested my Name is Mark Zukaitis and my email address is mark@bistrokids.com. Contact me, and I will give out all of the neccessary details.

[Justin Spencer]

Be careful, adding a bunch of new predators to your pond could really mess it up as they will eat all your bluegill and anything else they can find eventually starving. I'd just pull them out and have a big fish fry, and maybe put a few lunkers in your pond!