I have a 3 acre pond that is bass crowded. It had some large bass in it years ago, but it has been poorly managed and the fishing has gone downhill. Just about every LMB I catch out of it is around 8 to 10 inches and skinny. The bluegill I have been catching have been large and fat, which I know is common for a bass crowded pond. I have been keeping every fish (LMB and BG) that I catch out of it in an attempt to get the bass to grow larger. Should I be keeping all the bluegill I catch out of it or just the bass? I know they compete for a lot of the same food, so I have just been removing everything that I catch. The large bluegill I am keeping are too big for the small bass to eat, but I'd hate to wipe out the bluegill population. I have been catching a lot of very small rock bass in it as well. I have been removing them as I catch them but it looks like they are another source of the small bass problem. I've considered using rotenone and starting from scratch but I'd like to see if the pond can be turned around without it. Is rotenone the way to go or can I possibly manage the pond back to having large bass? Would removing as many bass as I can catch and maybe adding some forage fish such as threadfin shad help or would that be a waste of time and money?

I'd leave the BG, the larger ones are needed to build up the forage base. Just remove the LMB and the rock bass. I don't know if threadfin will work (i.e. survive) in a pond of that size.

You can rotenone, but it's more effective and less expensive if you can drain down the pond and concentrate the fish in a smaller area. You can turn the pond around by catching out the stunted LMB, it all depends on how fast you want to see results.

Personally, I'd go the retenone route. Gonna save your 5+ years time and lots of headaches.

Rotenone is a good tool and an option.

You are the other tool. Never remove a sunfish of any size. The larger ones create your forage base and the bass eat the small ones. Fish it heavily and remove all small bass until you see a distinct improvement in the size and body condition of the bass. It takes time and work. But, it is a cheaper option.

Goals of bigger bass shot for removal of 150 bass that size. Man I hate to see you have taken any bluegill. That is backbone of forage base. We actually stocking more when all you see us big ones. They do not eat the same food. Also dense cover critical to having more medium size bluegill. Good luck.

Thanks everyone for the advice. I have only removed around 7 or 8 bluegill so far so hopefully that won't have much of an effect. I've probably removed around 30 small bass over the last couple weeks. The pond has a lot of grass in it in the shallow areas. I'm thinking that the bass may be having a hard time finding the small bluegill hiding in it. Should I put in some grass carp, and if so, how many for a 3 acre pond? Also, since all I am seeing are larger bluegill, should I stock some more?

If there are smaller BG you will be seeing them in shallow water and I suspect small ones of 1"-4" are very few in number. IMO you need more "grass" not less to provide more refuge for small BG. The type or species of "grass" can be influencial. I suspect the crowded 8"-10" Lmb are harvesting practically all the BG before they get 3.0" long. Setting a baited (bread, cat-dog food, cereal) minnow trap near the "grass" beds should catch some small BG if they are there. Traps and seines can be good tools to monitor the small fish community.

Adding more larger BG 5"-7" is a very good idea esp when you have removed more bass close to the 50/ac goal. The BG can be added in stages - some in fall, some in spring. Balanced ponds often have 10-30BG for every LMB - all sizes. Prey-predator ratios will vary based on goals for the pond. A good starting point would be adding 100-200BG/ac. Others with more experience on supplimental stocking may provide more insight on numbers/ac to add.

LMB with a good food source in AL should grow 1"-3" per year. So if what you are doing is working the remaining bass next summer should be 12"-15" or more long. Let that be your guide.

One important factor governing the fishery is the water clarity. HOw deep can you see a 7"dia white lid in the water??

BC well stated our routine answer when ponds bass crowded is 250 4-5"/acre. We have seen this work more is even better. This size is most economical choice. Bigger is better but cost is usually more than double if you can even find a 5-7 inch. I agree with Bill you need some dense cover to protect what few bluegill babies you got. That can be grass or other but need something. Fertility would also have a big influence on what you can produce in that pond. keep pulling bass you are off to a good start.

Similar to Greg we normally stock 250-500/acre 5"-7" bluegill in a situation like yours. Harvest bass asap so you can get some bluegill carryover from this summers' spawn. Not knowing how old the pond is, I'd be inclined to rotenone and start again. Whether your bass will actually respond to better growing conditions for more than one season is a major unknown. Give it a go and next spring will be a good time to monitor relative weights of individual bass. Fillet the under achievers, release the ones that have acceptable relative weights (which will probably be the younger bass, not the older ones). May consider a supplemental stocking of F1s after your prey base is back in order and you have hammered your bass population down. Ditto on structure, need lots.