Hey everyone,
We just conducted a weekend survey of our 10 acre lake by hosting a fishing derby. Our intention was to gather relative weight data for largemouth bass, bluegill, & redear. The lake is in St. Louis and other than these species the lake has a small population of channel cat and VERY few green sunfish. The lake has been stocked with 200 eight to ten inch bass annually for the past 30 years! Please, don't ask me why as I just took over management.
The fishing was kind of slow but we did weigh and measure about 60 fish, split almost evenly between bass, bluegill, & redear at 20 each.
Average bass was 10.73" long with a rW of 74%. Biggest bass was a single 12" fish.
Average bluegill was 7.67" long with a rW of 99%.
Average redear was 8.09" long with a rW of 95%.
Our goal is to have a more balanced fishery with a larger average LMB population. If we could catch some 15" bass we'd be very happy.
I found a recommendation online published by the MO Dept of Conservation that says we should remove 30 pounds of LMB per year to begin to balance things out. Considering our average bass weighs in at 8 ounces....that's 600 fish per year! An impossible task considering how little the lake is fished.
Is a total fish kill or electro-shocking for removal my only 2 options? Any and all thoughts are most appreciated.
