Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations Culling the Underachievers

Late last Summer, year 5 for my 1/2 acre pond, I noticed that my bass weren't looking as fat as I'd like them to be and my minnow trap wasn't filling nearly as quickly as in years past. I started feeding Aquamax largemouth and removed a couple of channel cats. This year I've continued feeding ALM and switched from GFC to Aquamax Grower 400. I have read a great deal on removing slot limits of fish but have a hard time discarding a fat and healthy bass even if it's only 6" long.

Since early summer I've been removing all channel cats, a total around 50lbs. I've also been removing all bass that are thin no matter the length ranging from 6" to 15", about 25 fish. There seems to be obvious weight differences between individual fish within different generations, I'm assuming the heavier fish are simply eating feed while the others are relying only on forage. I've been doing the same with bluegill but have only found a couple of thin ones and have removed just a few for dinner.

Removing only the underachievers seems to be working well right now. Are there any drawbacks to taking this management approach?

I don't think so, and here's why.

You're actually just selecting for pure fitness. What's the worst that can happen? If your growth rates decrease, or if one particular species starts to get difficult to catch you can change your tack.

The way I see it, all you're doing is making the rich richer--and that's a good thing. Good genetics management, and good management for "matching" your particular fish to your particular environment.

Thanks for the reassurance Bruce.

Is there any relationship of the fatter bass and the areas where you actually feed?

Sunil, my pond is only 1/2 acre.

I see, but wasn't there some info. posted on the forum about how far fish would travel to feed?

Yes there is info indicating that a feeder (normal feeder not a mini feeder) will attract medium sized fish (not little minnows) from a 3 acre area.

IIRC, "100 feet" is rather accepted as a distance that fish, at least BG, will travel to a feeder. Hard to get much farther than 100 feet from a central location in a 1/2 acre, unless it's sphaghetti ranch shaped.

OK then. Let the death knoll chime for those underachievers.