Good points Bill. They do concern me. I was worried about the malnourished bass not producing a good spawn. Like you said, many species react to stressors by shutting down or greatly reducing reproduction. I had hoped to get around this problem by stocking the bass at the time I did. On normal years in PA, bass are usually in the act of spawning by the first week in May. I had hoped by stocking them at the end of April, they would be healthy enough to spawn. Only time will tell.
Like I said in an earlier post, I am worried about the bass cannibalizing their young. Stocking adult bluegills would not cure that problem though since they are too big for the bass to eat. Fatheads would work but the guy who owns the pond does not want to spend any money on stocking it. I am doing this as a favor for him.
Stocking bluegills a year ahead of the bass would go against all of the research done at Cornell and Penn State University... so I didn't want to go that route either.
I know of a few ponds here in PA that have a self sustaining bass population. Granted, the bass are not big, but they do survive. They sustain themselves on natural forage (insects, native minnows coming from feeder streams) and probably eat a lot of their own young as well. If the bass I stocked and their first offspring can make it to Summer...they will have all the bluegills they would ever want to eat.
On another note, I have read at a few places where it is not good to stock fish that come from other waters. I can understand this theory if an owner spent a lot of money on fingerlings and adding adult fish could offset the management plan and possibly introduce disease. But, in a new pond, I do not see the harm in stocking adult fish from other ponds if the owner wants to save $$$. The fish I stocked are from a pond with a healthy, balanced bass population with good genetics. I have caught many 6 pounders and even an 8 pounder from that pond. An 8 pounder in PA is like a 13 pounder down south. These fish are also acclimated to the local soil conditions, nutrient loads, climate, and water quality in general (although I believe climate is the most important).
I also would like to say I am glad that there is a resource like Pond Boss to help amateur fisheries managers like myself. I have biology, ichthyology, and aquatic entomology background...but no fisheries management. I respect what everyone has to say because I know there is a lot of experienced and knowledgeable pond owners and managers on here.
