Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations small bass

I have about a 5 acre pond/lake in south central Texas that I'm trying to begin managing. The lake basically consists of a series of ravines and gullies that have been dammed at one side, is about 20-30 feet deep in the deepest areas, and holds much underwater structure such as dead trees, etc. Also, the lake gets deep very fast, save for the ends of the ravines. I catch multitudes of small bass (less than a pound) every time I'm out there, with a rare 3 or 4 pounder mixed in about once a month. I know the lake is old enough to carry trophy bass, but I have tried crankbaits, spinnerbaits, plastics, live minnows, live worms...the works...without catching many big bass. I am an accomplished fisherman, so I know by now that it's not as if the big boys are abundant and I'm not catching them (although there are a few elusive ones). I know a few of the bass I am catching are this year's hatch, but even before they had spawned, the catch was small. How many small bass should I harvest in order to produce a larger number of bigger bass? Also, I do not want to harvest too many small bass so as to reduce the number of bass in the whole lake to a level that is not easily fishable. My mother and sister enjoy fishing out there, and they love the fact that a bass can be caught nearly every cast (at least with live bait), and do not care much about the size. How do I find a healthy balance between having larger bass and still having a lot of bass? I have not fertilized or managed the lake in any way as of yet, and an abundance of moss and underwater weeds is at time a problem, especially for bank fishing. Wow...that was a mouthful. Any help is greatly appreciated. God Bless!

Big Dave. You didnt say anything about your forage population. The big ones might not be in there at all. Do you see bluegill? Do you see minnows? Howabout shad? you get the idea. Taking out all the skinny bass in the world isnt going to help if the big bass dont haveanything to eat but each other. I have benn called out to see many lakes that fit your desccition of catching only small bass but lots of them. The problem they all have had is they dont have any forage fish and the bass are eating little bass from the spawn. This can create a "stunted" bass population. Give me some more information and i would love to help out.

Big Dave,

sounds like you have a bass heavy population. there is a ton of info on this site for correcting this problem. First I recommend you do some reading, plenty of info here. If the bass have been crowded for long periods of time you probably wont see many forage fish. I see lots of bass crowded ponds these days, if this is your situation I would remove 20 pounds of bass per acre. if you get take the length and weight of all the fish you catch you will notice a trend in the data, meaning the most of the fish will be a certain size and weight. Remove the bass that are the same size, dont remove the 4 pounders. the larger fish are eating other bass to make a living. you may have to remove bass for several years before you notice good results. if you dont start seeing some more forage fish in a year consider stocking additional (large) bluegill.

you mentioned fertilizer, I would not recommend you start fertilizing the pond until you correct the current situation. fertilizer will only compound your problems at this point.

Hey ya'll...thanks a bunch for the info and advice. Shan- first, thanks for the email...that will be a huge help. Second, you mentioned stocking large Bluegills. Is that in place of or in addition to possibly stocking baitfish (shad, perch, etc). I catch gizzard shad in a cast net at a smaller pond on the other end of the property and use them as live bait on the lake I discussed earlier. Should I consider taking multitudes of shad out of there and putting them into the larger lake? The lake was stocked with (I think) about 200 shad probably 10-15 years ago by the previous owner, but that is the only history of any stocking or management I am aware of. That doesn't sound like many shad for that size of lake, but I could be wrong. I have tried castnetting at the larger lake and scanning the water for baitfish (as it is very clear), and have spotted only one small school in all the time. In other words...I know there is a definite need for baitfish. Thanks for helping my dream of a fishing paradise come closer to reality. Any additional advice and/or criticism is welcomed and appreciated...I am new to the management process, but I already love it.

stocking baitfish into a bass heavy pond is tricky business. If you are not careful everything you stock will be eaten up. gizzard shad are great in the right situation, and that situation is a pond with bigger bass. I think I would hold off on stocking gizzard shad until you start to see consistant 5 pound fish. The reson is a small gizzard shad will grow too large for a 12 inch bass very quickly.

I have had good sucess stocking 3-6 inch bluegill at a rate of 250 per acre. keep in mind that is after a year or two of heavy electrofishing to remove stunted bass.

You have gotten good advice so far. I definately think you should stock the adult bgill. Most southerners prefer the coppernose bgill if available. The coppernose will provide the casual fisherpeople continued catching fun when the small bass start to dissappear.

To refine shan's advice, if it was my pond I would prefer to use 5"-7" bgill instead of 3"to6". You may have a slightly difficult time finding the larger bgill. Be patient and call around. Ask here for hatchery names in your area as suppliers of larger bgill. You may have to place an order NOW for larger bgill for delivery in fall. This will give you time to thin the bass. Lots of the 3"-4" size bgill could quickly become bass food which is okay if your pockets are rather deep.

Once you have the bgill established, reproducing and bass growing to 3 - 5 lbs then consider shad. since you are in TX I would start first with threadfin shad not gizzards.

Also as advised earlier search the past posts for bass thinning and skinny or overpopulated bass. Search and read all posts about bass. Learn all you can about them so you can better manage them. Buy and read Bob Lusk's Raising Trophy Bass Booklet that is promoted on this forum site.