Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations catching largemouth bass!!

I have one more question
We have a pond that i think has very small stunted bass
my family and i have caught 25-30 small 6-9 inch bass and the only bluegills we have caught(about 20 of them) have been very big
i am still trying to catch as many as i can to stock new species in the pond but fishing has slowed down because of heat does anyone have any suggestions on how to catch small bass this time of year? i know there are still plenty of bass because i see splashes on the sides of the pond of them chasing food

Just like most fishing, if you "match the hatch" you generally will do pretty well anytime you go out.

What are the small bass feeding on? Toss something that resembles that.

No unique ideas for catching small bass during heat of summer. Catch per hour should increase as water temps decrease into the 70's. However keep in mind that significantly thinning out the small bass will generally allow remaining bass to grow bigger but at the same time the BG will become overall smaller and more numerous. It usually is a trade off. Exceptions can occur, but it takes work and good management. Also by having the average size bass be larger in the pond there will be fewer bass present and bass will not be caught as often. Once again it is a trade off. How big is the pond?

esshup: the only forage in the pond is blue gill so i guess they are eating bluegill
Bill, the pond is about 2/3 acre thats why i was so suprised there where so many bass

If I stocked fatheads with fingerling fish would it help the little fingerling crappie, bluegill or shellcracker by being eaten instead of the fingerlings?

i suggest throwing something different at them from time to time. I have been throwing a lizard at my bass for a year or so now and i think they are getting wise to it. i put on an 8" blue grape producto worm the last few times and had great success. it is a worm that we used on lake west point for years during summer months when fish were deep. i used it weight less in my pond just pitching it to the bank on the shaded side of my pond in the evening.

If you are simply trying to catch bass to remove them, use live bait. FHM or a half a nightcrawler will hammer 6"-9" bass.

I agree with CJB..... I went out Wednesday night and caught quite a few smaller bass, and one really nice one, on a yellow Maraboo jig with a chunk of night crawler.

Did something similar last weekend as well. Was transferring small bass. Was using a 1/8 jig and crawler, but got tired of replacing the crawler so I started using a Yum crappie worm. Worked very well.

When I want to remove small bass from my puddle I fish a small Rapala original floating minnow in the FO5 two inch size in the 01 or 03 color with an ultralight and 6 pound test. I hold my boat close to the bank and fish the water in front of the boat, casting close to the bank. I can often remove lots of fish in a very short time.

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Bing

Not one suggestion for a willow leaf spinnerbait? Fish it fast and those little hungry guys wont be able to leave it alone.

If you have fly gear, a #6 or #8 olive Woolly Bugger is very effective for small LMB.

One more suggestion for you, once the water gets a little cooler. A #2 or even #3 mepps spinner will catch fish until you're arms are tired. It seems people don't use them much anymore, but they are very hard to beat when the water starts to cool down, especially with the high abundance of bass you have. chances are there is also a small number of big bass in that population and I have caught bass up to 6.5 lbs on a #3 mepps, so you never know. best of luck