Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Corrective stocking Beginning of season 3. How's my balance?

2.5 acre pond, max depth 13' average of 7'. Sept. of 06' stocked 30 lbs. of FHM, 1300 2" BG, 400 2" RES. Spring of 07' added 75 4" BG to help with spawn rates. Excellent FHM spawn, Some BG spawn in Summer 07'.
Sept. 07' stocked approx. 105 9-11" LMB. The only time I saw floaters was recently when I started the aerators. Even though I followed recommended start up procedure I counted 3, 14" LMB floaters and 4, 6" BG. I am estimating that there may be approx. 90 LMB remaining.
The growth has been good (I think). BG are now 5-7" and the LMB are 10-14.5", all but the smallest(10%) are fat. Catch rates are good (catch & release for now). I see packs of 4-6 LMB on patrol in 2-3 different areas of the pond on nice days.

My question is this; Am I too light on the LMB? My goal is to raise then maintain an average of 2-6 pound LMB but to also maintain a respectable catch rate. Is it better to be light than heavy? I am also considering the introduction of approx. a dozen HSB in a year or two depending upon balance. Maybe even a dozen single sex or sterile CC for some night fishing.
Thanks for the advice in advance.

How is your current BG population? Check for a really good BG spawn this year. I wouldn't want the LMB to get ahead of the forage population (LMB numbers are respectably low, but they seem large enough to impact the initial BG stockers to some extent). If things look real good this Summer, maybe you could stand some more bass this Fall.

Tony Stewart may be able to afford to fill up a lake with his first stockers, but most Indiana boys (and the rest of us) have to settle for letting the offspring of the first fish be the ones to fill up a pond.

The BG #'s seem pretty good. Easy to catch and I see them frequently. I feed twice a day and usually can put my eye on 20-40 of them at that time. I believe that my BG spawn last year was slight because of the high density of juveniles. They averaged 3-4" last Spring. I only saw a handfull of baby BG last Summer but could be because the banks were so crowded with FHM.

Last Summer the FHM could be seen in large clouds and almost seemed like too many. There are still many large schools but probably 1/2 the numbers from their peak last year before LMB introduction. I expect another great spawn out of them this year. This years BG spawn will probably be respectable.

If I left LMB #'s alone. Would that that be a recipe for a trophy bass pond (Midwest trophy that is)? How many would you add to reach my previously stated goals, and what size to avoid predation? What do you think about future HSB and or CC? A dozen of each? More? Less? None? Thanks Theo.

Hard to tell with out seine or other data/info. I would try to stay on the low # of LMB. Those first LMB you put in have spawned (or will soon) and you probably will not need any more. Plus that leaves room for the HSB. If you are going to add HSB now is the time and add 10in fish if you can.

Yeah, the sooner you put in HSB, the smaller (and cheaper) they can be.

Thanks guys! I'll look into the HSB as soon as possible. Great lead in to the wife as well. Hey Honey, look how much money I am saving us.

Do all of my other fish quantities look like a good balance?

I would say you're off to a good start.