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We have a pond (1.25 acres, rather shallow....guessing 8ft max depth) and I catch Bass in it pretty easily. Most of them are .25 - .50lb, but I have caught up to 1.5 lb. I am not looking for trophy fish...just enjoy fishing. I would like to be able to catch another species in the pond, but am convinced there are only bass in the pond. I have tried various baits and only catch Bass. The stocking company is coming by with there truck and I was going to visit them to buy some more fish. Given that 1) There are only predatory bass in the pond 2) There is nothing else in the pond 3) It is 100 Degrees in Dallas......what should I add? How much should I add. Getting the pond surveyed is not an option....so working off of feel and fishing history. I was looking Bluegill or Redear Bream....but am concerned that I will only be feeding the bass if I introduce them to the pond. I welcome any suggestions and expertise!!

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LMB will take forage up to a third of their own length. If your bass are 12 inches, that means you need to put in BG no smaller than 4" if you don't want them eaten immediately. If your average lmb length is shorter you can go smaller, but try to get some larger too so they can try to spawn later. Hopefully the truck will have larger available, otherwise you'll be buying some expensive feed.

Last edited by Mike Whatley; 06/17/18 07:36 PM.

.10 surface acre pond, 10.5 foot deep. SW LA. The epitome of a mutt pond. BG, LMB, GSF, RES, BH, Warmouth, Longear Sunfish, Gambusia,Mud Minnows, Crappie, and now shiners!!...I subscribe!!
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Thanks....I actually found a place closer to my house that has larger BG available. I will definitely go with the larger variety....thanks for the advice.

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Welcome Neverenough to the forum
Sounds like you might have a problem with to many predators and not enough prey. How far are you from Buffalo? Overtons Fishery prob is several hours drive time from you. They can probably fix you up with BG large enough not to get eaten and get you a forage base set up

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Definitely go to the trouble of getting some larger BG. In your situation I would much rather see you put in 20 six inch BG than several hundred 2" BG. The 6" BG will not get eaten and produce lots of fry (which still will likely get eaten too quickly if you do not remove some of the excess LMB) but the 200 2" fish would likely be 199 LMB snacks.

Dumping new fish in a pond is like putting a new kid in a tough school mid semester. The new fish do not know where hiding spots are. They are exceptionally vulnerable and likely at least somewhat in shock in what might be vastly different environment from where they came from.

Although your best bet is getting BG from a reputable supplier, in your situation if I could not find large BG from a fish vendor I would rather catch some larger BG and bucket stock them than wasting money on small fish that likely will not live more than 48 hours.


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I've found the cloverleaf traps come in real handy for bucket stocking. You can hand select what you catch and return the rest. I've done it a couple of times and will likely do it some more to get my BG on a more even keal with the GSF.


.10 surface acre pond, 10.5 foot deep. SW LA. The epitome of a mutt pond. BG, LMB, GSF, RES, BH, Warmouth, Longear Sunfish, Gambusia,Mud Minnows, Crappie, and now shiners!!...I subscribe!!
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I actually talked to Overtons on the phone.....they were very helpful. They are about 2.5 hours from me.....so a little concerned about them surviving the trip in bags. Any advice?

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Neverenough a couple more thoughts on adding BG (or RES).

Because you have not caught any 5# LMB in your pond does not mean one or a few are not out there. With agressive, hungry smaller bass you might simply have not caught them. All the more reason to stock large size BG rather than small ones.

If you do go the bucket stocking route, there can be 6" BG that are less than 2 years old with a long spawning life ahead of them and 6" BG that are 6 years old and ready to die of old age.

Point is, if possible, get the BG from a more recently stocked pond were the fish are young and fast growing. If you get them from some back water creek the fish could be a stunted slow growing specimen from lack of food. If you lived near me I would be happy to let some go from my pond as I have an excess. Look around for neighbors with recently stocked ponds that might not mind helping out.

Edit: I posted this about the same time of your reply about Overtons

Last edited by snrub; 06/18/18 10:11 AM.

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If I was going to try the 2.5 hours, I would definitely wait till either fall or spring with cooler weather.

But that is just me. Todd at Overton's should be able to give you good advice on the potential success of the transfer. He is a stand up guy.

Last edited by snrub; 06/18/18 10:16 AM.

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Originally Posted By: neverenough14
I actually talked to Overtons on the phone.....they were very helpful. They are about 2.5 hours from me.....so a little concerned about them surviving the trip in bags. Any advice?


If you can put fish box inside truck for transport with ac I don’t see a problem

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Do you think you might have overpopulation of bass?

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Overton's should be your best source for info on how best to transport them. I would certainly make sure you move them in the AC of the vehicle for that long of a run this time of year. It's just too hot to be hauling them in the back of a pick up in my opinion. How many fish will you be getting and will they fit into the vehicle? Maybe a air conditioned van (or two vehicles) would be best if you are getting more than you can haul in your own car or truck.

There are some examples for DIY hauling of fish in this older thread of mine towards the end of the first page...

http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=488665&page=1

Bottom line...check with Overton's, your supplier has the most experience and they want you satisfied in the end.


Fish on!,
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Good advice Quarter Acre.


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One often stated standard for your situation is 500-600 5 inch BG per acre. But for that to work you will need to remove LMB. The LMB have taken up all the carrying capacity of the pond. Removing 30-40 lbs of LMB to start would help. However you need to be sure of the facts first. Do a seine survey and or trapping if you can't have the pond e-shocked. Creel surveys are good but not definitive.
















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I do think there is some overpopulation. I am going to move some smaller bass to another pond that doesnt appear to have much of a fish population, then wait until the fall to introduce BG. The guy at the stocking place to add Tilapia also....to help fend off the Bass from the BG. Any thoughts on that?

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Don't add tilapia in the fall (assuming pond is around DFW) as they will die when it gets cold. That concept will work if tilapia are added in the spring. Habituate any fish you put in the pond to reduce initial predation.
















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Thank you

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I wish I had a pond just like you described. This pond is prime real estate for a trophy bluegill pond. In fact, your pond is ready for BG introduction if you are interested in having them. Seems you might from reading your post.

You don't need alot of BG. Just maybe 10 parental pairs per acre or so to get started. I wouldn't stock 2" fingerlings, there may not be a sufficient number of them survive. After stocking, the YOY will feed your LMB and they will grow. If you follow the harvest guidelines recommended for trophy bluegill, you will be able to harvest LMB and bluegill from this pond. As long as bluegill numbers remain low, they will grow very fast and the LMB will successfully spawn.


It isn't what we don't know that gives us trouble, it's what we know that ain't so - Will Rogers


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The LMB population will not improve condition much if all they have to eat is offspring of BG and LMB. Depends on your goals.
















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Originally Posted by ewest
The LMB population will not improve condition much if all they have to eat is offspring of BG and LMB. Depends on your goals.

Exactly. The present condition of the BOW is severe LMB overweight and would probably need to start over from scratch if healthy bass are a goal.

Last edited by jpsdad; 03/10/24 09:17 AM.

It isn't what we don't know that gives us trouble, it's what we know that ain't so - Will Rogers


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Thanks for the responses.

I am new to this....just started fishing regularly this year....because I have a nice pond behind my house. At first, I was just happy to catch anything.

Now I am hunting for the larger ones.....yesterday I caught a 2lb - 16" LMB, which was probably the 4th largest I have caught in this pond. Having said that, I usually catch 20-30 small (.25-.50 lb) across several days before I manage to get a decent size fish.

My initial desire was to have a good ecosystem of fish.....with a variety that could be caught by myself and my kids. I am not dead set on trophy size bass.....but definitely prefer catching a 2lb fish over the little ones.


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