Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations about stunted bass

How can you tell if a bass is "stunted"? I've read on here that a stunted bass can be 5 years old and only be 12". Would he be noticeably skinny? How can you find the age of a bass? Would feeding stunted bass make them grow big fast or is it worthless because they are already too old.

IF a bass is stunted, it will be very slender and usually with an oversized head - it is a sign of a pond being out of balance - too many bass (mouths) and too little forage (food) - bass will not eat feed or pellets - the feeding is for the forage fish such as bluegills - it stimulates them to spawn more which in turn provides more food ultimately for the bass. I would suggest an aggressive harvest of bass, especially any under 12-14 inches. Then add forage fish such as the hybrid bluegill. Read the post on this site but for sure buy Bob Lusk book sold on this site on Pond Management. Good luck

One of the best ways to tell is to calculate relative weights. Here's a link that will show you how easy it is. http://www.lakework.com/articles.html.

A stunted bass will start to grow once it has adequate forage. Stick him in another pond full of bluegill and see what he does. To answer your question, if you harvest bass, feed bluegill, and perfrom other pond measures, you will see remaining bass start to fatten up.