Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations New to this

hey everyone, i'm new to the forum and i've been reading quite a few topics. all of this interests me quite a bit but of course i'm still learning quite a bit. i have some questions about my pond that i have. the pond is about an acre big and the deepest it gets is about 15 feet. there's LMB in the pond and i put in a couple SMB last year. the SMB were about 2 lbs each. most of the LMB i see are very small and only about 10 inches in length with some being even smaller. i'm wondering how i can get my LMB and SMB population bigger in size and bigger in numbers. what kind of other fish(minnows/BG?) or insects could i use as food to achieve this goal. if you need more info to better answer my question please feel free to ask...all and any help is appreciated.

Trickster,

Need more info. Where is pond located. Did you stock with bass? If so how many. How many bass do you normally catch in an afternoon of fishing? What is the size range of those fish?

To grow big bass you need a good forage base. Have you stocked bluegill? What is the condition of your bluegill population? What type of structure in pond?

Since you added smallmouth assume you are not in the south. Lots of info on the board concerning difficulty of smallmouth recruitment in a lmb pond.

The pond is located in upstate New York east of Albany about 30 Miles. I did not stock with bass except for the two SMB that I put in the pond. In an afternoon of fishing I usually catch 5 fish most of them in the 8-10 inch range. The structure of the pond is about 15 feet deep at its deepest point. One end of the pond has cat-tails on the shore and has a rocky bottom with about 3 feet of water. There is a point that juts out into the pond almost like a manmade dock. Straight out from that there is a steep dropoff with the depth reaching approx. 15 feet. I have not added BG to the pond and I'm almost 100% sure there is none in there. I have seen some minnows in a stream that runs into the pond and they were about 2-3 inches big. Hopefully this helps a little.

Trickster:Check out the sections of this forum regrding creating food chain and adjusting fish populations. Basically your LMB need an established population of forage fish, usually BG. Without a sufficient forage base, the LMB have nothing to feed upon and will not grow well. If this is an old existing pond which you recently took over, you may need to have your existing fish population anaylized so that a proper plan can be implemented after see what you have. Structure refers to what is on the bottom of the pond to provide cover and habitat for your fish.

okay...for structure i know that there is some decent size rocks on the bottom and there might be a little vegetation but not much...i was thinking about putting a christmas tree or two in the pond to help out a little more. also what size blue gill would be best for the 10 inch bass to feed off of if at all possible. also i assume that sunfish would also work for the bass to eat? thanks for the help.

Trickster, you're probably working backwards. Do a search on the site and get a Relative Weight Chart for your Bass. If they are fat and healthy, you may have enough natural forage, but it sounds like you need a 10-12" Bass dinner. Just read around, there is so much here, you're only scratching the top of the surface to find you answer. Welcome.

okay thanks again...i'll be looking around more frequently as time allows. ny state limit for keeping bass is 12 inches but i assume since this is a private pond that it doesn't matter? thanks for the help as always.

Trickster, I do quite a bit of work in upstate NY, west of Syracuse. In that part of the world a 10" largemouth bass is 5-6 years old and weighs 10 ounces. Bluegill in upstate NY spawn once a year, usually late June, early July. So, the first half of the growing season is gone by the time bluegill hatch. But, you need bluegill, fish large enough not to be eaten by the dominant size range bass. Stock bluegill at least four inches long, preferably longer. Hickling's Fish Farm carries them. Also, most lakes and ponds in that part of the country have pumpkinseeds also. Managing largemouth bass food chains in the north is much harder than in the south. The growing season is much shorter, bass don't grow much larger than six pounds, food seems always to be in short supply.

would pumpkinseed also be a good choice for forage in my pond? could i mix and match between BG and pumpkinseed as well?

You can mix and match BG and pseed. However you may hve a hard time locating pumpkinseed from a hatchery in your area for stocking. You may have to get some pseed adults from local waters. Pseed with plenty of food and uncrowded conditions will grow to 9" long. With pseed and BG you may find that the BG become more abundant over time because I think the BG may be a little more prolific than the pseed.

Be aware that green sunfish are very likely to be present in the stream that enters your pond. Theycan easily get too abundant if your bass population is not "strong".

It is very possible that you are "light" on the amount of forage fish and you have too many bass since bass seem to be pretty common in the catch. This spring try fishing with worms under a slender bobber and see if you can catch some panfish. Keep records of everything you catch and time spent fishing, then report back.

In the mean time contact Hickings Hatchery and check on price and availability of BG. Ask it they know were to get some pseeds. Pseeds will be effective on eating the pond snails and minimizing the possibility of fish parasites in your pond.

thanks for all the help bill i have a better idea of what i'm doing now.

Trickster,

You may find it cheaper and better to start from scratch. It may be best to do a complete fish kill (contact the local game warden). If you use the proper chemical, the fish are edible.

After a complete kill off, you then start with fertilization, stocking minnows and blue gill, wait a year and then lmb. Patience pays off.

I suggest you buy the "Basic Pond Management" book by Bob Lusk with Mark McDonald. The book is great for the beginner and will let you get a handle on your problem. After reading it, you will understand some of the posting on this site better.

Good luck.