mohan above says""okay so if there is any chance of putting another game fish in the lake LMB will have to be removed. but im not in the mood to eat or kill any bass..""
I'm not following (understanding) the concept that if you add another predator, LMB will have to be removed. Where did that idea (theory) come from? Most other species of fish predators will co-habitate to varying degrees in your existing fishery, but what ever new species you add, expect there to be changes in balance or percentage of numbers of existing fishes. The average sizes of existing fishes could and will likely change. Fisheries are dynamic and constantly changing. Individuals growing, getting eaten, dying and new ones hatched each year - changes, always changes. Who lives and dies creates the balance.
Adding pike or muskie will likely result in more annual bass and BG mortality. The amount of mortality of each species will depend on several things, mainly how many new and existing predators(LMB) survive and how well all predators are able to successfully capture food. IMO if you add a reasonable number of musky/pike /acre (1-3/ac), expect to have fewer LMB per acre and not a lot of noticable change in the BG numbers/ac or a significant change in BG population size structure. This is because the pond has significant weed coverage and BG are more prolific compared to LMB. Weeds will allow quite a few hatchlings to survive to compensate for annual mortality. IMO basically the pike or muskie would be primarily a bonus fish and would not solve your problem or poor size structure of the BG population. It is very possible that you may see more smaller BG because fewer bass are present/ac due to predation which would result in more BG recruitment. Also when the pike-muskie are large 30"+ and they eat a BG it will be a larger one 7"-9".
IMO the best solution to your problem is significantly fewer submerged weeds and more smaller bass who consume primarily 1"-4" BG.
Last edited by Bill Cody; 11/29/12 01:51 PM.
