1) HBG or BG? The 7 acre pond (30 feet at the deepest point) I've started managing was stocked back in the 80's (LMB and BG or HBG) and hasn't been since. The bream look like HBG to me (see pic- they do not have the yellow fins that GSF and some HBG get) but is it possible that HBG populations would sustain themselves under LMB predation for that long and without reverting to GSF? There are still fry everywhere each year and adults are abundant when fished for. Would the LMB benefit from the addition of regular BG for additional forage if these are HBG?
2) LMB issues LMB are overpopulated in the 9-13" range and are slightly underweight, I have begun corrective harvesting and have so far removed ~20 lbs of bass this year. My friend lost a very large and very fat bass at the dock this morning so there are some big fish in the BOW. The largest I have caught in two full months of daily fishing (with an average of 3-4 fish per day) was 1.6# at just under 15", so I am assuming the large bass are few and far between unless I am just a crap fisherman.
Besides harvesting LMB in the 9-13" slot, what are my options for increasing LMB size?
There isn't much cover other than ever present FA mats surrounding the perimeter and a few fallen trees, I plan to add some brush piles and some rip rap. I would like to reintroduce some native plants such as vallisneria, APW, and possibly some lilies but all attempts have been thwarted by FA choking them out. Anything else I can do?
