Scott, welcome to the forum.

Unless you have very deep pockets you will go broke trying to fatten up the bass that are in there. Each individual LMB needs to eat at least 10 pounds of fish per year to gain one pound in weight. So, the FHM that you stocked is enough for 5 bass........

Your pond can support roughly 75 to 100 pounds of bass of all sizes. So, divide that number by the weight of the LMB that you want to grow and you'll see that you won't be able to support a large number of large LMB.

You'll see quicker results by removing a lot of the bass from your pond, I'd start with removing at least 30 pounds. Also. like sprkplug said, you'll need to get some non-hybrid northern bluegills in there to provide forage food for the LMB. Typical stocking ratios are 20-30 BG per LMB. But, with the size of the LMB in there now you should stock BG that are 5" long or larger to prevent them from being eaten as soon as they are stocked.

The catfish, if they are over 3# each, will compete directly with the LMB for food.

You might want to give some thought to draining, killing and starting over - it might be less expensive in the long run to do that. Once it's drained, you can place cover in the pond much easier too.

There's many other options besides LMB/BG. Just food for thought.... HSB/SMB/RES/HBG

Here, this might make it a bit easier to understand us. wink
http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=92442#Post92442


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3/4 to 1 1/4 ac pond LMB, SMB, PS, BG, RES, CC, YP, Bardello BG, (RBT & Blue Tilapia - seasonal).