Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Corrective stocking Stunted LMB

I have a small pond (2/5 acre). I know that it is generally considered to small to succesfully manage for LMB but, it is an existing pond on the property we purchased. The pond has bluegill (non-hybrid), channel catfish, yellow perch, and of course large mouth bass. It appears to me that the bass are not as fat as they should be and that they are just way to numerous for such a small pond. I know that harvesting is the recommended solution to this problem. I was wondering if an alternate solution might be to stock just 1 or 2 walleye of large enough size to not get eaten by the few larger bass, and hopefully feed on the smaller (6-8") bass.

Thanks in advance for any help

Brian

No expert on walleye, but why introduce another predator in such a small pond. It should not be that hard to catch those little bass. Try a panther martin or similiar inline spinner or bettle spin. Take out enough small bass to equal about 10 lbs and you should be able to catch some larger bass in the future. It is difficult to manage a small pond for bass, but it can be done just realize your limits.

Noodlearm -- I think Greg gave you good advice. With such a small pond, it would be easy for you to remove small bass by angling.

One more thought -- based on quite a few food habits studies, I would predict that walleyes would feed extensively on yellow perch, and then eat lesser amounts of small bluegills and small largemouth bass.

Dave

Thank you both for the advice. I was going to catch them (very easy), but I am not a big fan of bass (eating wise), and I was hoping to find an alternative to just catching and killing them. but again, thanks for the advice.
brian

One thing I find interesting is the love affair people seem to have with the largemouth bass. Killing a bass has become a sin to most folks. the interesting part is the bass is probably one of the most effective predators in freshwater. By the time a bass has reached a keeper size hundreds if not thousands of animals have lost thier lives down its throat. Its for that reason I feel no remorse for the bass once he has reached the fillet knife. turn about is fair play

sometimes after conducting a shocking survey I have lots of fish that should not be returned to the pond (crappie, green sunfish, stunted bass, etc.) there is a public housing complex not far from here and I take the extra fish there. I have never had a problem getting rid of fish over there and they are going to someone who could use some extra food.

I have no problem removing them or killing them. I was just checking to see if there was a more "natural" way.

Thx,
brian

Was reading through these old threads and had a quick comment. I get noodlearm's sentiment, here. I've been culling bass for 6 months now and most of these have ended up in the woods. I caught some the other day and thought...these poor guys have been grinding it out their whole lives, scraping by trying to find something, anything to eat. Now I have supplemented all these great 2-3 inch bluegill and just when they are about to get rewarded for surviving, I yank them out and throw them in the woods. hahaha. Instead I cleaned them and ate them even though I am pretty tired of eating bass. Seemed more the natural way of things lol

Where we live, a bag of fresh fish fillets is a gift!

A lot of folks I know are just lazy when it comes to cleaning them. It surprised me, because they're easy to clean and are really good fried up thin and crispy.