Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Help! Did the bass survive?

Thanks in advance for the help. Here's the situation. We closed on some property in January with a 4 acre pond in East Central Georgia. At the time there was only about 8 inches of water over about a .25 acre of it. It had been this low for over a year and had been seriously low since about 2006. The 8 inches of water was very clear and I never saw any sign of life during the many times I went to look at it. With the heavy rains we had in March it filled up quickly and is still above full. I had already begun plans to restock it. However, this week I noticed bream bedding!!! I was blown away. I saw approximately 15 "half-hand" sized bream swimming near beds at the bank. Then I got to wondering if any bass might have survived. I have seen fry but can't tell if they are bass fry or bream.

So in 3.5 months my pond went from 8 inches of water over just a small area with seemingly no life to a full 4 acres with about 8 feet of water and bream bedding.

My question is... What are the chances bass survived the extreme low water? Are they as hardy as bream seem to be? How can I know for sure the bass did or did not survive? What do you recommend I do?

Only one way to know for sure and that is to catch one from the pond. Can you catch some of the fry and take pictures?

Welcome to the forum...

Break out he fishing rod and put a small curly tail grub on a small jig head and do some fishing...

I'd be concerned if it was that low it'll be that low again here shortly..?

I agree with CJ. Those might not be Bluegills but Green Sunfish. A picture of the fish will enable us to ID them.

LMB are not as tolerant of bad water conditions as BG but close. GSF are a little more than either BG or LMB. But not a big difference in the scheme of things. Pics would be good and those from angled fish would be best.

How were the fish nesting? In groups or by themselves? BG are colony nesters most times. Now is the time to add adult BG if you hope to overcome the survivors. Many are having a hard time finding CNBG - sold out.

They are bedding in a group. Maybe 5 or so beds clumped together. I'm going to catch one this weekend to verify the species. Also going to try and net a few fry to verify what they are exactly.