Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Creating the food chain Threadfin Shad? And Slot Question?

About 8 years after we built our pond, it finally came together last year. We removed about 1,000 bass 14" and under over a four year period. The pond is between 4 and 5 acres. We caught around 14 bass last year that were 4 lbs and larger. The biggest being 8.5 lbs. My question is..is it worth the money to stock threadfin even if they will die every year? The pond is in Tennessee. My 2nd question is...should we keep taking 14" and under bass out or change to a slot? And what should that slot be? We prolly average about 10 bass per trip. Sometimes 0 or 1-2 little ones. Thanks for the help in advance!

I am assuming that you are keeping catch records.

Of the 10 fish that are caught per trip, what are their sizes and weights?

In addition to what esshup asked, also do you have any data regarding the forage fish density? What species of forage fish are in the pond and the population structure (size classes) and density of each specie? What is the habitat like? About how many submerged weeds and types of weeds are in the pond as cover/refuge for forage fish? All these items affect the structure of the bass population.

I've tried introducing threadfins to a couple of 3 acre ponds here in TN, one with LMB and one with SMB. In each case, after adding the shad in the early spring and seeing clear evidence of a spawn, all shad appeared to be eradicated by late fall, before they had the opportunity to winterkill. INHO, establishing a population of TFS is really tough in a smaller pond with a good population of bass.....and they are pretty darned expensive snacks.
If you are going to really try to push your bass population to trophy size, you may get more bang for your buck at our latitude with a fairly heavy stocking of trout as early in the fall as you can get them; they'll probably last into late April or early May, depending on pond dynamics. Also, you'll lose a lot of shad to the same bass you're targeting for removal. Most of your trout will probably provide forage for your preferred population of LMB.

We haven't kept records because our goal was to take them out if they were 14" or under until we saw improvement. I guess we should have last year but I would say 30% of the bass we catch are 2-3 lbs and 60% are less than 2 lbs. I have no data regarding the forage density. It's obvious the bream have made a comeback from a few years ago just from the fish and beds we see in the shallow water. We have also introduced golden shiners to the pond. They seem to be having a hard time getting established but there seem to be some small ones on the banks. No schools getting busted in open water though. The habitat is very wooded on the banks with humps we built in the 12 to 20 foot depths. No sure on the types of weeds. But we seem to have plenty of cover. Just didn't stock the pond correct in the beginning. I like the trout idea. Especially feeding the preferred population of bass. I just want to make sure we give our big ones every chance to get as big as possible. But don't want to waste money where we won't see results. Thanks everyone!

You would likely have better success stocking adult BG , adult GSH while you keep harvesting LMB as needed. TShad are iffy at your location and expensive.

Start however with your goals and current data before making a choice. If you want trophy LMB only and have to use a shad then GShad may be an option.

We have talked about going with GShad but have heard horror stories of them taking over the pond to the point where you have to kill a lot of them. How do you know if it is ok to go with them? I read that 25% of your bass must be 16" or over (I think) to control them. Is there really that much of a risk of them taking over?

I think the 25% rule is even larger, 20" or larger, but I'm not 100% sure without going and looking. If you don't have the book "Raising Trophy Bass" go to the Pond Boss Store and order it before stocking any.

I would start taking length and weight measurements of the LMB this year, and keep records. It's not the weight of the fish, it's the relative weight of the LMB. While a 4# LMB is nice, if it is 21" or longer fish, it doesn't weigh enough.

Taking weight and length measurements will also tell you what size forage fish you should concentrate on growing or stocking.

The amount of forage fish in the pond is important to know too. A pond could have a lot of forage, but not enough cover in it, and the LMB have to chase forage too much and expend more energy than they are getting from the meals. If your goal is to grow trophy LMB, the fish have to be couch potato fish.

Or the forage fish in the pond could be too small or completely absent to get one year class of LMB to the next larger size. Keeping good fish length/weight records will help you see that.

If willing to spend some money for forage, you will get a FAR bigger bang for your buck using Tilapia in the spring, and trout over the winter.

Scott, wouldn't 25 percent plus LMB 20" or larger be a pretty ambitious goal? Hardly doable with Northern LMB, I'd guess. And even with Floridas, that would be a very healthy lake.

Not saying it couldn't be done, just that you'd likely need really good management.

It needs to be a trophy LMB lake to use GShad. See these.

http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.ph...true#Post417106

http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=11348&page=1

Yes, exactly the problem. Up here, GSD in public waters take over the lakes and some have been treated with low doses of Rotenone to knock their population back. A survey was done a while back of a local 365 acre lake. 60% of the total fish population was GSD.

Yes and that is a serious problem in all areas of the country.

Thanks for all the info everyone. Still not sure what to do though. I guess it depends on how much you are willing to risk to have truly large bass. But I don't want to have to drain the lake in 10 years and start over because of GShad.

If you don't have a goal of a trophy bass lake along with all the pros and cons that go with it then use options other than GShad.

Esshup,

Just so I got it clear....Do you mean GSH or did you mean GSD?

GSD. I changed the original post. Thanks. Brain thought one thing, fingers another.