Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose when do you remove bass

1st time writing,this seems to be a great site to learn from.I have a 5 1/4 acre pond that is 3 1/2 years old.we have bream everywere,you can catch one everytime your bait hits the water.The bass fishing is fair,on the average trip(2 hrs. of fishing)you catch maybe 5-6 bass from 5 inches to 14 inches.All the bass we do catch seem to be very healthy and fat.My question is:when do you start to take bass out of a pond.bass fishing is not that great so i have not taking any out since we built this pond.Hoping this year the bass fishing gets better.Thanks.

Others might have better suggestions but I will get this going.

It depends on what size the bass were when you stocked them but they seem small for that age of pond. There is something else going on in your pond that I think should be addressed. You mentioned lots of bream but your bass seem small and few. What size are your bream and what type? Can you provide more info on when, how many, what stocked to get a better picture?

There has been a lot of discussion about fish getting hook shy and learning all too rapidly. It seems like 5 acres would be big enough but I'm not at all sure. Read some of the past posts and you will find that some of us are just not catching the fish that we know are there. You might have the same problem. To answer your original question, it is usually wise to start culling everything below 12 inches after a couple of years. However, if you think you have a problem, it would probably be wise to get an electroshock survey done.

196:

Are the bream stunted or growing fairly large despite their numbers?

My gut feeling is that you just need to give the bass more time...Maybe you could stock a lunker or two that you catch somewhere else, but for the most part just give it time.

You might be suprised how big some of the bass in your pond really are. In time you'll start to see larger fish.

When the bream population starts to decline, then start removing a few of the medium to smaller sized bass.

Good luck and happy fishing.

thanks for writing back,my bream seem to be all sizes but most are just under hand size.a little to small to eat.we have taken about 500 bream out of pond in the last 2 years,but they are still every were.i was thinking my bass might just have to much food.we did put the correct numbers of bass and bream in the pond when it was built.(3,500 bream,1,500 redear,125 florida bass,125 f1 bass and 150 native bass)i tink i might wait until have spawn this year and start removing a few small bass if the numbers seem to be better this spring.

i put the bream in the pond about october 10, then put bass in the pond on may 15th of the following year.might add,i did add flathead minnows and when i put the bass i put a few pounds of golden shinners.are you guys removing more bream than me?all fish were about 1 inch long when i put them in the pond.thanks

Let me put you at ease.
Your bluegill, redear and fathead minnow stocking were right on the money. You did good.
Bass numbers were a bit high, one year later. But, that's not necessarily bad, either.
At this point, bass still have plenty to eat. They are not hungry for your offerings at the business end of a rod and reel.
The status of your lake is absolutely normal for a lake 3 1/2 years old.
Here's where you need to pay attention...bass average size is fairly small because you stocked almost twice the recommended rate. But, as these bass grow, they will become easier to catch...after the first age class reproduces, and their babies grow to 8-12 inches. At that point, bass likely will be overeating their food chain. Look for this...bass catch rates will rise, but growth rates of intermediate size bass will level off. Your "football" shaped bass today won't look so fat tomorrow. Pay attention to this...it is the first sign to harvest intermediate size bass. If, after another year, your bass catch rates don't rise, you may need to stock a year class of bass, if bluegill still dominate. (If bluegill stop growing, and bass are hard to catch in another year..this means bluegill have impacted reproduction of bass) So, keep learning, and watch your fish. They will tell you a story.

If you have lots of bluegills and the bass that you're catching are chunky I wouldn't worry much. To me it sounds like you're right on the verge of some great bass fishing. If the bass are chunky they're growing just as fast as they should.

It'd be interesting to see how the pond has progressed in the past 7 years.