I watched my newly stocked 6-8 inch bass schooling in the middle of my 10 acre pond off and on every 20 minutes all day long. Earlier in the day I saw a large schools of newborn fish swimming near the surface in open water. I've had 2 seperate shipments of threadfins delivered in the fall and spring. I was wondering what is the behavior of theses baby threadfins once they are about 2-4 weeks old? Could these be the bait the bass are feeding on? What do you think is their chance of surviving this feeding frenzy? I also have HSB at 4-6 inches. Thanks as always for you're valued input

LakeL :

From the limited info in your post the only fish listed that could have spawned are the TFs . Are there any other forage fish other than the TFs ? TFs do school in open water and bass often school and follow them to feed. Also how many of each were stocked . If the only forage fish are the TFs and the #s are to low the bass over time will eat most of them. What is the status of the TF you stocked ? Thinking ahead is your pond subject to winter die off of the TFs ? If so you will need to think about your forage base for next year. good luck.

Just re-read your earlier post on gizzard shad . Never mind the above questions. If this is the same pond you were describing in your prior post about gizzard shad then the schooling YOY you mentioned could be TF, BG/RE , or fatheads . All of these could have YOY [very small] schooling at present. The TFs are the most likely to have spawned and have YOY big enough to school in open water plus they are more likely to be in open water than FH or BG.ewest

Ewest:

Thanks for your reply. Sorry for the lack of info. I stocked two loads last fall and this mid May(10,000 1-2inch and 10,000 3-5 inch) of TFs, and was concerned my plan was flawed because likely the adult TF are too large for my preditors (4-6 HBS/6-8 F-1s) however their offspring may be getting whipped out,though the pond is full of mud minnows, and new hatched red ear,bluegill,and copper nose. Just haven't seen much written on threadfin life cycle from egg to adult/spawning size.

LakeL :

In your 2 posts you had plenty of info . I should have looked at both before starting a reply.

TF are a pelagic fish {open water} which often school. They spawn when water temps. are in the 65 - 70 degree range. One female can produce 10,000 + eggs per spawn . In warm fertile ponds they can reproduce at 2.5+- inches and offspring can grow at a rate of 1 inch a month. I think given your location that the larger TF have spawned as have your other forage fish. Your forage base looks good to me for your first stocking of bass. You should watch and enjoy the show and evaluate your forage needs late this year and then decide on the next step. You may want to look on line at SRAC {Southern Regional Aquaculture Center} publication no. 141 on forage species. ewest

Excellent articles on threadfin shad.......now I worry that my mid May delivery might likely have spawned before they arrived and now I'm relying on my previous fall delivery, which didn't show up in very good shape. Well the list is endless of things to worry about......I'll let nature take it's coarse and consider stocking gizzard shad and Talpia next spring. Thanks