Pond Boss Forums FISH & FISHING Sunfish-Including Largemouth and Smallmouth Bass Smallmouth Bass Questions?

Hey you SMB lovers I have a couple of questions for you guys.

1. If I wanted to introduce some of these to my pond here in Arkansas where the temps hit 100 in the summer can the SMB handle it in a 1 acre pond that only 8 feet deep?

2. Do SMB get along ok with LMB? Or should I not try and mix?

I guess question 2 is a mute point if I can't do question one!

Thanks,

SUH-WEET Surrender! Music to my ears, compadre - glad you're finally seeing the light!

1. Bill Cody's research/articles and Aaron Matos' real life experience have gone a long way to dispelling the myth regarding SMB intolerance for warm water. Aaron lives in the AZ desert which gets even hotter than NE and AR - but his water quality is top notch. My question is, do you aerate? That might be a critical factor to consider. But, my take is, yes - absolutely worth a test.

2. No - LMB will dominate and take over the prime feeding zones. Also, SMB population will eventually be extirpated as the LMB also take the prime spawning spots and aggressively prey on SMB YOY. However, you can establish a population with periodical supplemental stockings. Not a big deal - you could even collect 10-12" adults from local streams/rivers as I believe they're native to AR - right?

I see no reason not to at least test by adding some SMB if you're so inclined. The SMB may relate to different structure than the bass [think deep rock piles] and will add a cool dimension to your fishery. Would I go and spend $1000 on SMB fingerlings when you have questions regarding water temps and the fact most of them would serve as an expensive snack for your LMB? NO. But, adding some adult SMB you collect from local sources would be a great experiment and would provide valuable research for all of us interested in introducing an additional predator to the pond.

So - do you have a source for adults you can collect?

There was a relatively recent article in PB where someone in Arizona had a very small pond that he stocked some SMB into. I don't think those conditions are ideal, but it can be done.

LMB will outcompete your SMB. If you do decide to add some SMB just for additional angling opportunities, probably want to go with adults, but understand that what you catch is all that is in there. They likely will not have the chance to reproduce in a pond where LMB are already present.

Wait for someone who really knows what they're talking about echo my opinion.

EDIT - TJ beat me to the punch.

Hey guys,



I don't have a spot to go get adult smallies yet... But yes they are here in our streams and bigger lakes. I am not sure of a supplier of adult SMB in the 10 to 12 inch range either I bet there few and far between. But thought I might try it if the oppertunity arose. Are they more or less hook shy then LMB? Or about the same? Funny thing is I am originally from Wisconsin and I have never fished for them. I find them quite intreging though and I think it would be neat to have a half dozen or so in my pond. At this point I am not aerating so it would have to wait till I get electrcity at my pond and that should happen sometime this summer if all goes well. So maybe by this fall I could introduce a few to my pond???

Thanks

Buying 10-12" SMB is cost prohibitive IMO. Your best bet is to take a little crankbait or jig and fish your streams and bring them back. You'd probably need to stock more than 6 if you want a good shot at catching them.

They aren't hookshy, and fight harder than a LMB and also breach the water several times during a fight, which is pretty cool to witness. If it were me I'd go a few weekends in a row and catch 20 or so SMB 10"+ and release into your pond. Minimal effort or investment.

IMO your pond will not be a good test to see if SMB survive in your specific pond (depth, size, water quality, and habitat). You have an established population of LMB; they put the "hurt" on smallies as far as smallies long term survival. Larger sized smallies could survive in your present pond, but how well they survive will be biased by the influnece of LMB. Try your idea to see if it is worth restocking some SMB after the first attempt.

Hey thanks guys. I would like to try it just to see what happens. I want to get an aerator going first though. Thanks for the advise.

I've planted feed trained smallmouth in the past with my largemouth and they did pretty good growth wise to over 3 lbs. until I took them out, but reproduction was almost nil. But then again largemouth recruitment was almost nil too as there were 400 largemouths to just under 6 lbs. in this .62 acre pond I feed daily.

Smallmouth are only available here in the fall at about 4 or 5 inches so I put them into a floating cage over the winter, and got them to about 10 inches later the following year before I planted them.

This time around (I've since drained and started all over) I planted 200 four to five inchers last fall, but I no longer have the dreaded green carp. I had them originally in a cage again, but was losing a few so I released them into the pond. I'm catching them now as I remove a few bluegill to the production pond, and they look really good at about 6 inches and really filled out. They are feeding on pellets and numerous fathead minnows. They are coexisting with mostly female yellow perch to the mid 13 inch range and male bluegills up to over 10 inches.

Hey Cecil thanks for the info. I am not real concerned about them spawning just wondered if they could get along with LMB and warmer temps. I thought it would be kind of cool to catch one every once in a while!

Thanks,

Will SMB live in Oklahoma? I would like to stock one of our ponds with them. If so what would be a good pond stocking setup with SMB, what other fish should be put in with them?

Thanks

We have some pondmeisters who have SMB as far south as Texas, so you can definitely have success with them in OK. RES do well with SMB because they will not overpopulate. Other forage items like FHM and GSF should also be considered.

In the right pond, SMB will live and can do quite well in OK.

IMO, great species to consider for stocking with SMB, would be RES, YP, GSH and FHM. Others that can be considered would be WE, CC, HSB and PS. There are other species that could possibly be stocked, but would most likely require heavy management techniques.

I highly recommend considering the addition of HSB to that fishery mix - they are incredible fish.

So CNBG & HBG are out of the question right. Otherwise you need LMB which do not work well with SMB correct?

Where can one get SMB in Oklahoma or close by?

Thats the general consensus from Mark Cornwall and Dave Willis. You could stock Male BG and still have a nice trophy BG fishery - something to bear in mind, but be careful about sexing the BG. Some [cuckholder] can be tricky to sex.

Hartley's has SMB and I may this Fall too. Last I checked Hartley's wanted $1 - 1.50/inch.

What is a cuckholder?

Take a look here for a bit of discussion. He's kind of the wimp/late night sneaky cousin of the fish world is what it seems to me.