Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations fishing poor - did my forage project work too well

To me it makes perfect sense. If you stock a pond such that "if a bass goes to sleep with it's mouth open then it will wake up with a full belly" then you have reduced/removed the "hunger" strike.

If it please the court I'd like to introduce Exhibit A. Let the record reflect that these are actual words as written by THE Pond Boss.

Hehehe...no worries. I don't offend easily.

This pond was practically abandoned when we found it - almost by accident. I was looking for some farm land to actually lease out to some farmers and maybe hoping to find something with a pond or a place to eventually put one. This land turned out to be useless as farmland but had this pond on it that we just fell in love with!

The pond is *probably* between 8 and 10 years old. We have no idea who built the dam. We're still sort of figuring it out. It had LMB, BG, and black crappie in it when we bought it.

It's all in a VERY HEAVILY restricted, regulated, covenanted, protected, etc. area in the dead middle of a typical suburban subdivision.

We've only owned it about 2 years. My partner and I are both working stiffs without any real money so, we're just trying to get the best fishing out of it that we can afford. His purchase of the golden shiner fry is about the only money we've been able to put into the pond.

But, I truly appreciate all the help you guys have given me!

Al I am fairly sure you have a catch problem not a LMB survival/growth problem. If you have good water quality , lots of forage fish and some LMB of different sizes ( under 4 inches , 8-12 inches and 14 inches and up)you should be in good shape. LMB feeding slows during cool water periods so fishing does also. In warm mths small LMB stomachs empty quickly due to the high metabolism and small size of food items. Do you see different sizes of BG ( 1-2 , 3-5 and 5+ inches)?

Ewest: yep and yep.

We have many different size classes of BG (and LMB) and I absolutely believe that my fish are in there and healthy. Water quality is not a huge concern for us since the feeder creek is pretty robust so, our water changes itself out pretty regularly. There's always water coming in at one end and going out the other.

They're in there. I think the consensus is that the forage is just so plentiful that they aren't doing much "shopping" for meals.

Reading Bobs statement that small bass run in schools and are competitive is it possible to make your pond just one big school of competitive bass? How are places like Richmond Mills able to make the "magic" of catching bass on a regular basis possible?

Size (its not a pond) and low fishing pressure.

I don't know Richmond Mills. Every situation is different - if there's anything I learned from Master Bob, it's that.

Also, to answer something that somebody else was suggesting, the fishing didn't just suddenly get poor...it has been on the decline since about a month after we added the forage. By the end of the summer, it was almost "skunk city".

I mean, our pond used to be just catch, catch, catch but, as I mentioned at the start of this thread, all the LMBs were obviously underweight. And, there weren't many BG.

So, we "guessed" that forage was an issue and we added some.

Now, we still catch bass but not nearly as many or as often. But, when we catch them, they are footballs! So, we now are "guessing" that the forage was a good idea for growing the fish.
(We also "guessed" that giving them something else to eat might take the pressure off the 'gills and that also seems to have happened.)

Now...we wait. Sooner or later, the bass will overtake the forage base and the fishing will just get better and better.

We are actually very pleased with what we *think* we did. Of course, we don't have a great way to be sure. We can't afford to have somebody come and shock our pond. We'd love to but, it's not a fiscal possibility at the moment.

In fact, if we had a few thousand bucks sitting around, we'd rather spend it on 20+ other projects at the pond first. For instance, I'd love to fix the road - it's a mess.

As always, I remain grateful for all the help and suggestions!
(even when I don't get all the jokes) Heheheeee!

Al, sounds like you are heading in the right direction.
Good luck and thanks for accepting the fact that we do swerve off course now and then...