Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Negative aspects of having WM/GSF in a LMB pond

You're welcome, WM, I mean GS, I mean GW....

A history lesson is in order, here. I bet every professional pond manager in the United States somehow tracks his/her belief structure, if not some part of his/her pedigree to H.S. Swingle, of Auburn University. Dr. Swingle is to pond management as Ray Scott is to bass fishing as Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer are to golf.

Swingle did the bulk of his research that we all use today by studying the relationships between bass and bluegill for the main purpose of using farm ponds for family sustenance. To this day, all of us have his work impaled into our pysche. Swingle did it, it is the truth.

In today's world, Swingle remains a legend, but rare is the need to depend on a pond to feed us. Our society now sees a pond as soothing, "green" and a source of peace, tranquility and recreation. We catch a fish and return it...thanks to Ray Scott's catch and release work with B.A.S.S. years ago.

Nowadays, when someone asks me about a "negative" I quickly let them know that "negative" may only be someone's interpretation. Here's a true story. I was at the BassMaster Classic two weeks ago. Pond Boss had a booth. A guy came up and said his lake was "ruined" several years ago when carp got into it. Now, the pond is muddy and full of carp. He was asking me what to do to "fix" it. An eavesdropper took issue with the guy. He interrupted the conversation, handed the guy a card and invited him to host a carp tournament for money. Ray Scott was in the next booth, listening. He stepped away from his book signing and chimed in. "If carp would jump, we wouldn't fish for bass!"

So, now what is the negative?

I had a guy call me today, asking how to build a hatchery pond. Seems he loves redbreast sunfish. Can't buy them, so he wants to raise some to transfer into his bass lake. Tomorrow, I'll send him a blueprint for a hatchery pond to fit in his backyard, next to his lake. Go figure.

For the record, the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department recommended green sunfish with bass way back in the 60's and 70's. I came into the 80's trying to "correct" that bad situation. Here's what I saw. Green sunfish, sans bluegill, will be the dominant fish early on. It takes bass a few years to dominate them...and when they do, the party's over. We typically would find a handful of giant, beat up green sunfish invariably with crowded, underweight bass. Once those greenies diminish, they're done. They can't catch up. But, with bluegill, green sunfish have a tough time surviving, too. Both the warmouth and green sunfish, long term, are at a distinct disadvantage.

Green sunfish are readily available from Arkansas hatcheries because they are sold as bait. Warmouth are not available for several reasons. First, they won't eat fish food. Second, there is no market demand.

The evidence is that warmouth and green sunfish don't make a bass lake easier to manage. Any time we add another species of predator one link of the food chain goes away. Whatever the warmouth or green sunfish eat will never become bass food. Keep in mind the conversion rates. If a warmouth eats five or six pounds of fish to gain a pound, it still takes 10 pounds of meat for a bass to gain a pound. There's one more link in the food chain, therefore the end gain conversion rates for bass are quadrupled...if what could have been their food goes through a warmouth or green sunfish first.

You are right on track to think of the overlapping niches...so long as they truly overlap. Bluegill and redear definitely overlap. They don't eat the same thing. Same with threadfin shad. They overlap with bluegill and redear. But, warmouth and green sunfish don't overlap. They compete for the same food as fish with similar mouth size, since they are predators.

I like my warmouth several ways...on the end of light tackle with a small spinner dangling out its mouth...on the end of a fly rod with a dry fly and deep fried with hushpuppies and french fries.

Thanks Bob, I appreciate your time very much.

If you happen to be in southwest Georgia in a few years I hope you'll stop by to help me thin out some 2 pounders from my Warmouth pond.

I'll bring the fly rod

Bob, I only have one issue with your post.

"Dr. Swingle is to pond management as Ray Scott is to bass fishing as Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer are to golf."

This should also say "...as Sunil is to bench pressing almost 900 lbs."

As Sunil is to bench pressing 900 Miller Lites....I mean pounds. You da man....