Hi All,
Well, I’m now retired effective Jan 1st... took a while to hire and train my replacement. Still, I feel fortunate to retire at 60 and I’m enjoying the heck out of it. So, it’s now been ~5 years since we stocked the pond. The stocking details are listed in this thread. I made a few changes, though. I reduced the LMB to 50, CC by half, no tilapia, no HSB. I added the lime but not the gypsum. I am not feeding pellets.
5 years later with minimal fishing, we are consistently catching ~6”-12” LMB. We caught several 2-3 lb catfish a year ago but, haven’t been fishing for them recently. We’ve caught NO CNBG or RES although I’ve seen one or two small ones in the shallows on rare occasion. Granted, we’re just now starting to fish on a regular basis now that I’m retired.
I was expecting by now that we’d be pulling out some 4-5 lb LMB. So, the question I have for the forum is why aren’t we catching bigger fish (LMB, in particular) after 5 years? Did I mess up by not feeding pellets over the last few years? Is it possible that the CC (which we haven’t fished) are devouring everything?
My nephew (degree in fisheries and occasional bass tournament fisherman) says I need to add a feeder. I’m not sure what to do next except maybe to set a trotline to see what I get. Or should I go ahead as originally planned with a feeder? Any thoughts would be appreciated. 🤔
Last edited by WingNuts; 07/19/20 10:51 AM. Reason: correct spelling
