Hello,
I am buying a property in Upstate NY with a quarter-acre artificial pond that is six years old. It is 16' deep with a 3-1 slope, spring-fed and with plenty of surface water runoff. One side of the pond has significant giant reed grass. Otherwise there is little structure in the pond itself.
I spoke with the builder/owner who stocked the pond with LMB only when the pond was built, and commented that (predictably) the fish are now stunted around 8-10".
I have been reading the site for a couple of weeks and have learned a lot. My goal is to get the pond into balance and grow some nice sized bass. Active maintenance (like feeding) is OK with me. I think the next step is to add a forage base in May when the temperature starts warming up, but would like some advice on how to do that with the starving, established bass population.
I'd really like to avoid bluegill as I don't like eating those and they can harass bass nesting. I'm thinking Fathead minnows would just get eaten and be gone inside a week. I'm planning to leave as much giant reed grass in the water as I can stand, to provide cover for the prey fish. I am leaning toward buying Golden Shiners as big as I can find them and hoping for the best.
Also wondering if it's practical, with a pond my size, to erect some kind of artificial submerged barrier (like a fence) for a year that would keep the bass out but allow the preyfish to go through. Or if it's reasonable to expect a GS population to survive.
Thanks!
