I agree with others. IMO you should first establish a good standard forage fish base that includes GShiner. Adequate populations of gshiner contain adults in the 8"-10" range; a decent mouthfull for most larger bass. Then manage the pond properly and keep bass numbers adjusted toward a goal of large bass. Then see where the bass are toping out regards to largest fish. Then if necessary add gizzard shad. That way the higher numbers of larger bass present will hopefully keep the numbers of larger shad from becoming too abundant. IMO with PROPER management of bass sizes and numbers (slot harvest limits) plus presence of LOTS of non-shad forage fish (6"-8" sizes) you should be able to grow good numbers of large bass without gizzard shad.
I am going out on a limb here, but IMO most ponds with good forage fish populations do not produce trophy bass because the bass numbers are not maintained properly (proper harvest) to produce an optimum number of trophy sized fish (reduce competition to optimize growth of remaining fish).
Another option to grow trophy bass is to each fall add a delivery of 8"-12" trout. The trout are high energy food for the bass during fall, winter and spring until the deeper water reaches 70F. If one is truly a lover of growing and maintaining trophy bass, adding trout to pamper your trophy bass is not that unreasonable. Plus the trout will never cause fish balance problems within the fishery.
Last edited by Bill Cody; 04/14/09 09:01 PM.
