Sunil – I’ll wait and see if Norm posts an answer to your specific question. If not, I have a copy of the article he wrote for a competitor’s pond management magazine and a map of his big pond, and I can perhaps answer some of those specifics. However, hopefully he’ll spot this and answer.
I can add some additional information on smallmouths and their habitat. Whenever we are using a hill pond (dammed pond) for smallmouth bass, we try to do a lot of rock work. We have quite a bit of natural field stone around here, and they often were picked and stacked in piles around the fields. These rocks tend to range from perhaps 6 inches in diameter to a couple of feet or more. The smaller ones (perhaps 6-12 inches) are probably the ones we move most commonly.
Obviously, one of the best places for placing these rocks is on the face of the dam. We run them from well above the water line down to pretty deep water. That helps prevent wind and wave erosion, and also provides good habitat. Also, the smallmouths will use rocks in pretty deep water during the heat of summer. We also run rocks out from shoreline in a linear manner, often on points. Again, we try to go from shallow to deep water so the smallies can use various depths at different times of year. Finally, creating rock islands or humps that will be underwater, or putting rocks over natural islands/humps, is another good technique.
The adult smallmouths like to hang near rocks a lot of the time. I don’t think the rocks are necessary for adults, but they sure like them if they are present.
I do think that rocky habitat is a key for survival of young smallmouth bass. The small (half inch to 1 inch youngsters) fry/fingerlings really seem to need rock habitat for survival. After the males no longer guard the school of youngsters, they will congregate on rocky habitat. This is the stage when the fry/fingerlings are still pitch black (the source of the name “black bass”). They are very visible at this time.
When I worked in KS about 20 years ago, we often had to put in spawning structures for smallmouths to spawn in ponds that had no rocky habitat. We would take those heavy rubber feed tubs that are about 18 to 24 inches wide, fill them with gravel (perhaps the ¼ to 1 inch size), and then place them out in 3 feet of water or so (that varied, especially depending on pond water clarity). We even put out some worn-out tires, and filled them with gravel, but what the heck looks worse in a pond than an old tire???? Know what I mean?
I have made previous posts about smallmouth bass not competing very well with largemouth bass in a pond over the long run. Other people have added similar comments. Remember, that Norm is willing to stock larger (perhaps 8 inch?) smallmouth bass to keep up an adult population. I don’t blame him – the smallies sure are fun to catch!
Dave
