BD :

Dave and Theo answered most of your questions well. On your remaining question on stocking rates you are right. You can have your first bass stocking at less than the normal rate as a method of growing larger bass faster. In Theo's post above he covers that point very well. The part about taking bass out applies as they get to their second and subsequent years and their offspring. All things being equal bass tend to over populate in ponds. If you reduce the #s the remaining bass do better. The key is having good water quality and a good forage base. You may want to get Pondboss editor Bob Lusk's book on raising trophy bass. As a general rule to get large bass stock fewer bass and have a larger forage base . I like Theo's suggestion of using larger bass if your forage base is over a year old . You would of course put in fewer in # if you do that. If you are going to use larger bass [6-8 in.} contact your supplier early and be sure they reserve them for you. Sometimes larger bass are hard to find. ewest