Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations spawn

when i had my pond shocked this past week they found bass about 3-4 inches long.they told me this was because my bass spawned in the fall due to i made my pond 1 acre larger during this time period.is this possible?i did not know bass would spawn twice in one year.

lee,
I just drained & seined my pond & also found small bass .. 3"-4" & 1" bluegill.

Lee that is rare. WHat is your water temp right now? Ric I think in your climate it is most likely from a late spring spawnn and low fertility. Lee if it was fall I would expect them to be much smaller unless you do have really high temps. I worked in Fort Myers, FL about three years ago after a very hot fall and we did see fingelring bass in MArch, so it does happen but that was the first time in 12 years in that area.

That was a good call Greg. The pond was very infertile.

greg

water temp in my lake is about 52 deg.the baby bass we saw were about 2-3 inches long.is the fall spawn possible as this guy said it was?he said since i keep adding to the pond the bass probably had a fall spawn due to lake getting bigger.

Maybe Bob or someone will help out. I'm just not sure. I can see their thinking but just don't know that answer.

This is my first post to this board, but I thought I would put in my two cents worth here. Bass rarely spawn in the fall, but increasing acreage of the pond is one of the things that could stimulate them. However, it is much more likely that you had a large and/or late spawn last spring and the small bass just did not grow much due to a low food supply and lots of competition for that food.

scott,i do not believe this to be the problem,low food supply.the man that shocked my pond said i have plenty plenty bream of all sizes,in fact he told me to take 1,600 to 2,000 bream out this year,he also found golden shinners in the pond for bait.not sure how the golden shinners got in but we did see them.i guess i will go with the idea the pond has grown so much in water size that maybe i did get a fall spawn.anybody else have any idea's,i would like to hear about them.thanks.

Scott chime in some more. Lee What the ...??? Did they recommend? Did they ask your goals? If I remember right it is quality bass. In that case they gave you some bad advice. Why takeout bluegill when trying to grow bass? Also just because you have lots of bream it does not mean you had the food supply to grow the 3-4 inch bass. However since you fertilized the pond I think the bass should have grown better so I also find it hard to understand if they were offspring from last spring.

greg,i'm lost on this one.great bass fishing is what i'm trying to get.i believe what you and bob say on this site,you need bream.but this company and my wildlife & fisheries guy say take bream out.this company told me to take 1,600 to 2,000 bream out this year.seems like alot of bream for a (3 year old pond) 4 1/2 acres of water.i did see a couple hundred bream when he shocked pond,but they did not do much shocking.he only shocked up 5 -6 bass and said they were all in the 95%range.lost on why he found several 2-3 inch bass.keep me posted on the fert.hope you find us something,i'll wait a few weeks to see what you come up with.p.s getting ready to add another 1 1/2 acres of water to pond next week.

Lee to answer your question unless you have so many bluegill they are negatively affecting their reproduciton (which you don't) then only take out the bluegill you want for the frying pan. WHy they and your fish dept told you take them out is b/c I think they don't realize your goals. They are going by a method that was useful 20 years ago. I can talk with you about this if you call me. Basically for your goals DO NOT TAKE OUT BLUEGILL! I promise I'm telling you right taking out 1600 bluegill will hamper you bass growth. Good Luck, Greg

It's hard to say for sure without seeing the sample results, but if you have plenty of bream of all sizes then the bream should be healthy and spawning. Young of the year bluegill are the main food for small bass in most ponds, so if the bluegill are not spawning well and frequently small bass don't grow well. Golden shiners in sufficient numbers will reduce small bass growth rates two ways - they compete directly with small bass for food, and they compete with bluegill for food, which reduces bluegill spawning. That may have had something to do with it.
However, if it was just a few small bass, they may have just been runts.