The SMB appear thin bodied which can be verified with standard weight or a Wr. Low SW suggests not ideal conditions and usually points to lack of food. In your case I think it is not a lack of food but lack of proper sized or shaped food. Again IMO, a good example that SMB don't do well with BG. Do well in this case is plump rapidly growing SMB. Although SMB growth rate in your pond is acceptable it is just SW is a little low; not bad just a little low. On the positive side, abundant small SMB can make for high catch rates and some fast action fun angling.
Your comment of "I see very very few perch...." is a sign to me that the SMB are targeting YP harder than they are preying on BG. YP in most ponds can be almost as prolific as BG. Low numbers of YP in your pond is probably not due to poor spawning conditions. The other factor here is when BG become very common or abundant with food shortages they will exert a pretty strong predatory force on hatchling YP and fry up to 0.7-1" long which will result in lower year classes of YP. YP hatch is at 50F, when invertebrates are not heavily emerging nor peaking thus all 2 yr+ BG who are able to eat fish fry are coming out of winter thin bodied and hungry. It would not suprise me if lots of small BG are not gathered around exposed, hatching YP egg strands and consuming lots and lots of newly hatching YP fry. YP do not provide any protection to their egg strands. Lack of adult YP who in winter reportedly eat quite a few 1" BG, is another factor for higher numbers of surviving BG contributing to BG over abundance.
I don't think you want to do any thinning of the SMB. Keep them thin, hungry and aggressive as possible on the small BG. IMO and experience you want them to be slightly on the stunted side to exert all the predatory pressure possible on the prolific BG population.
I think you should annually when you are at the pond for a long weekend or an extended stay make a concerted effort to remove 3-5" BG. This can be effectively done in a 3/4 ac pond with a few large traps, targeted angling if possible some seining. Although trapping and angling will do a lot to annually remove 300-500 small BG from a 3/4 ac pond; it is 'doable' in a few days time. If you can assist the SMB esp until the SMB get to be 16"-18", then it should take a little less effort to make this fishery work a little more successfully before other species of predators are introduced. IMO help the smallies a little, let them get to 16"-18" for a few years and then decide if the fishery needs stocking adjustment.
Regarding other predators in this pond, IMO most of them will eat a significant number of small SMB compared to the same percentage of small BG primmarily because smb are more fusiform than BG. Granted predators are to a large extent opportunistic in feeding habits oftreneating what is most abundant or vulnerable. But this topic does need much more good research. Small BG will be eaten by chain pickerel or other predator, but relatively speaking losing 50 small (1.5"-3") smb from this fishery has much more impact that loosing 200-300 2"-3" BG.
Last edited by Bill Cody; 09/17/11 09:52 AM.
