Pond Boss Forums AERATION Systems questions taking bass out

ok bob call me stupid,i still have one question.i bought all the books and tapes you sale and still would like to know one thing.i guess the bottom line is i'm scared to take bass out of my 4 1/2 acre pond due to we just dont catch alot of bass.yes,the one's we do catch are the wright length and weight your book say's they should be.i know this is the wrong way but on the average for a new pond(3 yrs.old)is this about the time when you start removing a few bass,and how about bream my wildlife & fisheries people keep telling me to throw every one i catch on the bank.they say we can get to many.my answer is that's why i'm feeding them to get alot of them to feed bass.help

This will simplify your decision.
Don't remove any bass originally stocked. Take their babies. During or after the third year, it does no harm to remove bass smaller than 13". By the 4th year, you will NEED to remove young bass, or growth rates across the population will slow.
Remove no bluegill, until the dominant size range are adults.
Then, if you want to take a few, it's safe. But, don't take the largest ones. Take the next smaller size.

Lee,
I second the thoughts of BOB. I can not tell you how many ponds I have analyzed where the owner wants to grow Big Bass. After a few questions I find out they have been told to remove the bluegill by "biologist".

WHat is this about? I've said this b/f but years ago ponds were managed for food. Bass were removed and bluegill stunted with low predator abundance. So you had to be the predator to takeout bluegil so you could limit them so the remainder would grow.

Today we do not remove enough bass and many folks manage specifically for bigger bass. You want to see high abundance of bluegill and relatively smaller ones 4-6 inches. If you have bigger ones leave them since they will spawn. Your pond should still be in good shape. However in a bass heavy pond lacking intermediate sizes of bluegill removing these bigger bluegill is the worst thing you can do. In fact in most of these cases I recommend stocking of intermeidate bluegill. Since you are doing it right hopefuly you will not face this problem.