Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose Drained my 1.5 ac Georgia pond today..pics added!

I'm no expert, but I'm waiting for the dew to dry on the barn roof before going up to touch up the paint.

Hardin's questions:

1) How did the BG get overpopulated / stunted? Too few LMB?
Yep. I sounds like a classic crowded BG pond with relatively few bass. LMB prefer to eat BG 1/3 to 1/4 their own body length. If you check the size of the BG overpopulating the pond vs. those 8 lbs bass, I bet you will see that BG in the preferred size range for the bass you've got are scarce, and that BG shorter than that are common.

2) Would the CC have helped reduce BG if they stayed in the pond?
Yes. Large CC can be effective predators on BG, especially at night. We have several PMs here with numbers of large CC in ponds that appear to have reduced BG numbers enough to help grow large BG.

If one is concentrating solely on large bass, CC predation reduces forage for the bass enough that many very many cats are not recommended.

3) Was there too much food (small BG)for the LMB?
Big Bass guys probably don't believe in having "too much food" for their bass, IF it is the right size for the bass to eat efficiently (see above). DD sez a bass should be abe to go to sleep hungry and wake up with a belly full of forage fish.

4) If too much food, where are the king-sized bass? (12-14 lb+ common around here). My largest was 8lbs.
The size of the available food probably is not efficient for bass larger than 8 pounds. A reduction in the number of middlin' large bass might have reduced BG predation and allowed some large BG to grow and feed a larger size bass. This is not especially my forte; I'm one of those big bream guys. See Lusk's "Raising Trophy Bass".

5) Where are the 3-10" LMB?
I think the 8 pounders ate them.

I'm gonna need restocking numbers and timing for the restocking also. Interested in healthy LMB that are catchable & large BG. Want to keep it simple so will probably go with CNB & LMB. Maybe a few CC for table fare along the way, but look forward to your SIMPLE recommendations.
10 pounds of FHM per acre, 1000 CNBG 3"-ish (actually 800 CNBG and 200 RES) per acre, spring.
100 F1 per acre, the following Spring.
Southern PM's with a big bass interest will have better stocking advice.