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?



"The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge." Stephen W. Hawking