Hello,

I have a 3/4 acre pond on my property that is stocked with largemouth bass. I inherited the property from my father in-law, who inherited it from his father. As far as I know, the only fish in the pond is bass, there are no bait fish at all. Being new to pond management, I have a few questions.

All the bass in the pond are 1 lb or less.

1. I want to stock some kind of bait fish for the bass to eat, at the current size of the bass, what should I be stocking?

2. If I stock a bait fish in the pond, will they be able to reproduce and maintain their own numbers or will I have to stock more bait fish every year?

3. Would it benefit the bass population if I stocked a smaller size panfish (like bluegill) in addition to bait fish, or would the competition for food hurt them?

Thanks in advance

You will get some good advice from the experts when they come along, but in the mean time I can give you something to read.

It is possible that there are only bass in the pond, but I would bet there are some other fish. The LMB likely just keep their number beaten down.

If LMB is all that is in there, most of their diet (besides bugs, frogs, critters) is going to be composed of their own young. That cycle of eating ones own offspring does not add anything of substance for growth. I've been told here on PBF that it takes ten pounds of forage fish for a LMB to gain a single pound in weight. So to make them grow, you need lots of forage fish.

But anything you would put in now, unless it is large enough the LMB can not eat it, will be nothing more than a snack. An expensive snack if you purchase the fish from a fish farm.

So the first order of business, assuming you do not want to kill off all in the pond and start over (which might not be a bad idea), is getting rid of lots of LMB. Take out all you catch.

Then add some adult BG, big enough the LMB can't eat them. Let the BG establish a forage base. Is there much cover in the pond for small fish to hide from predators? If not you might want to add some.

That is what I would do if it were my pond here in Kansas. It might be different where you are so if you can give a general indication of where you are located in the country the experts can give more specific advice.

I'm in upstate New York. The LMB in my pond are pretty small, I'm thinking if I catch some adult BG and put in there, they wont be able to eat them. Thats where I'll start then. Certainly cheaper than stocking snack fish :p

Keep in mind, mother nature will attempt to reach some sort of balance within the pond. It is likely not the balance a pond owner wants, but some sort of balance nonetheless.

Your pond could be at carrying capacity right now, but fully populated with LMB rather than the mix of fish you want. If the pond is at carrying capacity already with LMB, adding adult BG without removing some of the LMB might actually exacerbate the problem. For example, if all the small bass are already eating all the nymphs, bugs and critters (primary food that the BG will need to prosper), the BG you add are likely to not do very well. If the BG do not do well, your LMB will also not do well.

So if your pond is the typical overcrowded LMB pond (which it sounds like it is), removal of a good portion of the LMB will be just as important as adding the BG. Without removing some existing fish, if the pond is already at carrying capacity, will do little but spread the limited food supply around to a different set of fish without actually helping anything. A pond only has the carrying capacity of X amount of fish. If you want larger LMB, you need to reduce the total numbers so the remaining fish have room to grow. Adding more fish without removing some might just lead to even worse overcrowding.

Another option is to add feed to the mix. Food is often the most limiting aspect of the carrying capacity of the pond. But that gets into more management details.

Welcome to PB. I know nothing about cold weather so will refrain from giving advice.

Hi there and welcome!

One good place to start is with a creel survey. Do some fishing and record lengths and weights on all the fish you catch.