Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Creating the food chain Bass gone? Need to re-stock?

Hey pond guys,

I had something funny happen in our pond recently (not funny actually). We stocked our 1-acre pond last August with 40 bass (6-8"), 500 bluegill and redear (4"), and 50 channel catfish (4-5"). Now the bluegill are doing great; no problem there. I know because I fished a beetle spin around the pond this weekend and caught over a dozen hand-sized gills. Notice anything strange about that statement though? I caught no bass even fishing around the structures I built for them. I'm use to naive bass biting everything the first time you fish for them. But there was no sign of bass in the pond.

Now here is the list of possible evidence:
1) We lost over 5 fish to stress during transport... so maybe the others contracted a disease and died. And there are so many turtles (snappers and painted) in the pond, a carcass would be quickly eaten. But we did see one ~ 10" bass prowling the shoreline a few months after stocking. Note: water clarity in the pond is about 2-2.5 feet.
2) Great blue herons stalking around the pond edge.
3) Underwater camera spotted no bass around the "bass condominiums" or anywhere else.
4) Fathead minnows are extremely abundant; bordering on density-dependent population controls.
5) Tiny bluegill are extremely abundant; due to recent spawning activity, of course.

Does anyone have advice or suggestions regarding my situation?

Thanks in advance!
SC