Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations When to remove big bass?

How does one know when to remove big bass, say 4 pounds and over? Is there a number of big bass that should be removed and over what period of time? We always hear about removing small bass, but would like to know about removing larger bass.

The less bass the more food for those that remain. I would think the key to determining which large bass not to remove would be age. For example: a bass that is 4lbs and 4 years old would be more desireable to preserve than say an eight year old 4.5 lb bass since the older bass is nearing the end of it's life and the 4lber has greater potential. Tagging or marking individual fish would need to be employed.

Would you like to remove big bass to my pond? I can help.

I would remove large ones that were under relative wt. I suppose you could remove all that apply?

I had a professor at MSU (Dr. Hal Schramm) that published an article in In-Fisherman about pond management. The article is older (1996) but his stance was still the same when I asked him about it in his class 2 years ago. Here is an excerpt from the article:


"Should you release a trophy fish so it can grow larger? Indeed, released fish can be, and are, caught again. However, research has shown that some bass, after being caught once, are not caught again. You do not want a large portion of the pond's carrying capacity tied up in large bass that will die of old age. I suggest harvesting every other bass you catch larger than 6 pounds. If you want to see if this fish gets caught again, clip a pelvic fin (one of the paired fins on the belly behind the gill covers) or the first 2 or 3 spines of the dorsal fin."


Hope that gives some food for thought. I personally would have a hard time sticking a fillet knife in a healthy 6 lb. bass. I would make the decision based on the goals for the pond and the fish's relative weight.

Only way i'd pull one out that large is if if was skinny or had some other problem. Otherwise I would leave he/she in for good genetics.

Yeah, why not remove those under 5 pounds?

Other things to consider.

The carrying capacity of the pond. The # of small LMB that size LMB eats in conjunction with LMB population status (LMB crowded). The need for LMB recruitment (to many to few) as bigger fish produce better and survival of their offspring is higher. Better genetics. Catchability - if I wanted to remove big LMB I would only do so through electroshock or live bait - I want the big LMB that are catchable to live and pass those genes on. Nos of big fish in the population both forage and predators.

I agree with your assessment Eric.

I have talked to people from TP&W,game wardens and the guys at the local park (ranger),and they all told me the same thing.In a small body of water,take out everything over 5 lbs.It eats too much forage.I didnt practice this advice because I wanted big fish,we all do.Then one day this spring I found a dead 8 lb CC in my pond.Drowned.With a 10" bkuegill stuck in its throat.I've decided to take out everything over 5 lbs.I think Ill still have the genetics for big fish cause thats what I started with.Big fish eat big fish,and I want to be the one eating them.Thoughts?

Tom that is some dumb advice if you want big bass taking out the 6 lb will mean you will have a hard time catching a 10 lber. If you want more bluegill then I guess i agree. The advice above is good.

Heybud why did you ask the question? If you want big bass in theory most big bass go back. However I agree with and promote some mentioend above. If bass is below the avg Wr get rid of it no matter what. I had to kill a 6 lb bass but if Wr is say 80% and most other bass ae 90% or better he needs to go it is not making the cut. Other than that rarely do I recomend removing a big bass.

The other question is can we take a trophy. Your good bass spawners are healthy 3-6 lb bass. If a kid wants to mount a 7 lb bass let him do it (even better to have Cecil do a replica). However I would limit the pratice of taking of trophy bass. If you have a large body of water this occurence can be a little more regular. Again about goals, if you want to grow world record you better not take that 14-lb bass you will not get there.

I'm certainly no expert but this is counter intuitive to me. I would want the genetics of a larger bass in my pond. IMHO, if you pull out any 6+ pound bass out of your pond you will end up with either no bass over 6+ pounds in the pond or the only 6+ pound bass in the pond will all be hook shy. But I certainly don't know what the heck I'm talking about so feel free to disregard this post as mindless dribble, I know I will.

I have a degree in fisheries from Texas A&M. I learned a lot there, but one very important thing I didn't learn there sticks in my mind all the time. I did not get this in Fisheries 101. I figured it out all by myself. Listen to this...it's fairly simple, but critically important. A four pound bass cannot grow to six pounds in a skillet. It sure can't get to eight if it's eaten.
The number one problem in managing largemouth bass is overcrowding of small bass. Every time....that's the way it works. Ask any professional biologist or landowner who tries to grow bass and EVERY one of them will tell you a similar story.
Big bass are a crucial part of pond management. They are the only hope most lakes will ever have to prevent overcrowding of small bass. Big bass eat small ones.
If I can grow a few big bass in a population, they will catch and eat more bass than any fisherman I have ever met.
I encourage my clients to persist in the quest to grow big bass.

JHAP, I don't think it is mindless dribble. There is definitely some good ideas in it.

Humor and clarification. You gotta love these forums!

and that brings my good post count up to 17.33, and that ain't too shabby folks.

......That is a pretty bold statement from a guy who is friends with Bruce Condello. "a few big bass will catch and eat more bass than any fisherman I have ever met!"

Out of my lake I harvest all bass with a low relative weight, regardless of their length. There is a whole can of worms that could be opened with this response, but its my lake, not the fish's or a clients. If a fish, regardless of its length does not meet my standard or is an underachiever or sick or even just a bit ugly it is eliminated from my lake!

I'm doing the same as N8ly and so far so good but I think in addition to environment and food the key to true trophy class fish lies in genetics and the need to track individual fish growth so as to not accidently remove an exceptional fish even if it's only 2 lbs.

I can get fatter but I'll never be 7 feet tall.

oh, to be young again

No comment for fear of being banned for political comments

O.K. Bob,Ill follow your lead on the bass,but the CC are still gonna go,as I have way too many anyway.

Ryan, I am not talking about actual weights, but relative weights based upon lengths. I regularly release small bass back in the lake, but basically only the ones with little fish tails sticking just a bit out of their mouths.

That advice from the TP&W is pretty asinine. Wow.

Actually, I think there is a bit of wisdom that can be learned from the old TP&W fellas. They were just simply giving pond management advice based on their goals.

I manage several big bluegill ponds for clients that I keep heavily stocked with small bass. I mean very heavily stocked and I harvest every single bass that happens to make it past about 15 inches in length. Those clients want big bluegill, not big bass.

Heybud to answer your question, its time to remove big bass from your pond when you want to eat the fish that the bass are eating.

Grimes, if you truly wanted to grow a 10 lb LMB in your pond, wouldnt you be able to do it easier if you were only feeding one or two BIG bass. If you had Ten 6 lbers in there wouldnt you have a better chance of growing a 10 lber if you took out half of the big mouths to feed?

Thoughts?

First heybud stated 4 lbs and up. To me that is medium size and larger. One of the problems I see is limited recruitment to 4-5 lbs due to fishing out the 3 lb fish. With over harvest of the 3 lb LMB there are limited opportunities for 4 lb and up LMB. This results in way to many 6 in. fish in ensuing year followed then by 10 in LMB the following year as the source of their control is removed by harvesting the 3 lb fish.

Guys read this thread on PSD for LMB populations.

http://www.pondboss.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=23604&fpart=1

Here is the guy (Doc Anderson) who wrote the book on LMB population size structure.

Dick Anderson


Keep taking <12 in bass until the number 8-12 equals number 12-15. Ideal pond structure is 40% 8-12, 40% 12-15 and 20% 15+


That is the place to start for a balanced pond.