Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Skinny Bass, fat Hybrids, neat pictures

Do you have regular BG in the pond for forage in addition to the HBG (forgive me if you have mentioned this in the past and I forgot)? I tend to suspect you do since "I realy don't want them (HBG) in the pond". (If by some chance you DON'T have regular BG, adding them is far and away the best thing you can do for bass forage.)

GSH will spawn on grass and other vegetation at the shore of the pond. Skipping mowing the edge of the bank in the Spring until after they have had their spawn (water temp about 72 deg, IIRC) would probably help them a little. In a pond with any existing bass population, I think I would want to stock at least 20 lbs/acre IF all the bass are small ones like that pictured above. If you have any number of bigger, hungry bass, GSH predation losses could be severe. FWIW, I bet it is past GSH spawning time this year everywhere in Illinois.

GSH eat fish feed readily, and feeding them would (worst case) provide bigger bass meals, or (best case) get them in better condition for spawning.

Overall, I'd say keep thinning bass and encourage BG (assuming they are present) spawning by continuing to feed.

P.S. Threadfins would not overwinter this far North. I doubt many if any fish dealers North of Dixie ever handle them for that reason.