Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations Update On My Pond (Need some Advice)

Here's a relative weight chart for LMB. Check it to see how your bass compare.

http://www.fishandboat.com/Fish/PennsylvaniaFishes/Documents/weightlength3.pdf

Bass need to eat fish that are close to 1/4-1/3 their length to maximize their caloric intake vs. caloric expenditure for catching the meal. There needs to be cover in the pond for the bass to "hang out" and ambush their prey, or they are like marathon runners, running around all the time to get a meal and burning up all their calories. If the Relative Weight of the LMB are good (over 100%) then I may consider saying stock SMB/YP, but if your goal is to grow larger LMB, why put in a fish that might compete with them for food?

If the goldfish are the size that a bass can eat, don't worry about it. If they are larger, then get them out.

Dead bass worrisome? Not to me, a few fish die every year, it's how nature works.
How do I deal with unwanted Goldfish/Koi? If you don't want them in the pond, catch them out, net them out, bowfish them out.
Is my forage good? Hard to tell. What are the sizes of the forage fish, and what species and quantity?
Can there be too much? Yes, read about pond carrying capacity.
Are my bass stunted? Run the numbers against the relative weight chart. If they are at 80% or less, then I'd say yes. If they were all over 80% RW after spawning then I'd say maybe. If they are over 100% RW then no.