Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations bass heavy versus a stunted population of largemouth

How do I determine what I am?

Thanks.

Dave

The very best way, is to have some one come out and shock the lake for you. They will have to take several samples at different spots of the lake....

My question to some of the pros is: Is there a difference between bass heavy and stunted bass? From this board I always thought that stunted bass were a result of the lake being bass heavy.

DAve ever run a realtive weight (Wr) on your bass? Here's a link. If below 80% I would say you are bass heavy and this is resutling in less desired growth. Stunting to me means too many bass of one particular size class.

Ex. I shocked a lake about a month ago were his Wr was only 78% however there were not too many fish "stacked" at 10-12 inches because the lake had only been stocked with bass three years before. Now given another year I would say the bass were stutnted .. RIght now I just think they are undernourished from too much competetive with existing bass from a lack of bass harvest. Make sense.

However on most ponds that we look at we will have stunting. THere will be several year classes of bass stunted at 10-12,8-10 or 12-14 inches. This are 2-6 year old bass at bascially the same size. Usually the head is slightly bigger on some but other than that same size. THese bass not only have low Wr from "bass heavy" environment but make up 85% of the bass in the lake and this is what I would call stunting. Sorry not a wordsmith but hope this helps. lakework

Thanks Greg! I have been doing a RW study on every bass I have caught this year. I note that the RW varies depending on the time of year (lake is 80 acres and as always been just catch and release for the last 15 years). However, with my aggressive culling (removing all bass caught under 16" - 1,400 bass total since 10/03)my average Rw has gone from 85% to now 95% - 101%. I still and finding that less than 3% of the bass caught are 16" and to date over the course of a year have only caught 3 over 16" with max size of 18". The largest bass those over 15" also have the lowest RW whereas the bulk of the fish caught at 11" - 13" (90% of what I catch of the total) have the highest RW. Could it be that my 13" bass are stunted and actually older fish? Why is it that there are no truly big fish? Should I continue to cull out every bass I catch under 16"? At what point do you slow down the removal of bass. I understand the 10 lb. per acre rule (in my case that is approx. 800 lbs. per year) or maybe 15 - 20 lbs. per year for a trophy bass lake. I am doing everything I can to increase the forage base (bluegill) by reducing the bass population (cats too). Thanks!

Dave

P.S. - I am not running any feeders or fertilizing. Is it effective to feed a 80 acre lake - would two feeders help? What is the best feeder to buy, Stren, Remington or Sweeney? Best feed to buy? Are you planning to make a trip out to Disneyland in the future...and see me too?

Greg:

Would adding black crappie help in feeding the bass population and take some pressure off the bluegill? The CA DFG guy I spoke too siad that I should put crappie in as the bass population is big enough to keep them in check. It goes against everything I have read here at this site. I have posted this question more than once here and can't get any answer on this question.

P.S. - I like to catch and eat crappie...happy to help keep them in check too.

Dave

See if I can remember your quesitons. Yes I feel confident your 13 inch bass are from several year classes of fish. Also I would not say 20 lbs/ac is for trophy bass. It is for anyone already bass heavy. While I can tell you have done some serious work with the removal of 1400 bass, this is not enough. I suggest more than double this amount next year. You have to correct an out of balnce situation. Once in balance then taking out 1400/year should work. You might want to get local biologist with shock equipment to help with removal.

About crapie, I agree you have enough bass to keep them in check. However they take away more food they they provide. More like a bass than a bluegill so will not help bass growth.

Feeders... I'm biased b/c I quit selling Sweeney a few years back and exclusive sell Stren fish feeders. Main reason was was longer warranty (4 yr) and better price for client and profit for me. BTW Remington and Stren are the same, just slap a Remington label and you have a wildlife feeder. 80 acres would be quite costly to fertilize. How much flow do you have, good alkalinity, few weeds? If setup right for fertilization good option. Setting 5 feeders would only get you started on a lake of this size and compared to fertilization more expensive. However it directly works. It might be worth tyring some to see if bass catch rates are beter around feeder trying to get a bluegill snack. Hope this helped, Gotta run.

Thanks Greg.

I am budgeting for around $ 10,000 per year to go directly into the fisheries, more if needed.

I plan on continue removing bass. In the meantime I will look at fertilizing this common year after winter. If I remember correctly I should start fertilizing when the water reaches 60 degrees. How much fertilizer would you suggest and what would be the cheapest way to fertilizing the lake? I am having a difficult time locating a fertilizer distributor here out West. What are your thoughts on Southern Excellence product with the floating buckets?

I don't have any weed issues and there is is not new water flow into the lake other than just to maintain the water pool level. We do get draw down due to evaporation and for some irrigation uses below the dam.

I plan on stocking adult Florida strain bluegill in big numbers (1,000 at a time - they sell for over $ 3.00 per fish) this spring plus a few thousand pounds of 10 - 12" trout this winter as a start.

Thanks!

Dave

I send you an email. What are Flordia strain bluegill? DO they mean coppernose? That sounds expensive but I have heard fish out west are high $. How much for the trout? They will not make it year around will they?

I think the southern excellence is a great product especially if you have small pond but will cost a mint for for an 80 acre lake. Look for other fertilizers in the area for agriculture, etc. with formulations like 10-52-4 or just high middle number (phosphorus) in general.