One more recommendation. If you do decide to use bass (LM or SM) wait until the perch have spawned the first time and small perch are present before adding bass. It will give the bass someting else to eat besides minnows. To those I work with around here, I encourage them not to add predators until the small perch are real abundant and too numerous to thin by manual methods. This may be up to 3 to 5 years after first stocking perch. I think the predators should just help mainly in small fish removal, if that is possible.
I have found that the best perch populations occur (at least in small ponds similar to yours) where the pedators just assist in "thinning the perch" and are not soley responsible for the job. This philosopy assumes that jumbo perch (12"-14") are the main goal for the pond. A different approach would be needed if an abundance of big predators are the main goal.
When one relies on predators to do the entire job of thinning the perch, the pond can easily develop too many predators (if they reproduce) and the perch populations suffer due to lack of recruitment of young perch. In these situations where the pond owner helps thin the perch, he is more aware of what sizes and how many small perch are present in the pond. The closer you monitor your fish populations regarding density and sizes the higher the quality of the overall fishery will be.
Last edited by Bill Cody; 03/12/11 07:28 PM.
