Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose No bass ???

Hello

We had a pond dug and it is about 1/8 to 1/4 acre big. It is not very big but we stocked it with a ton of perch, I think it was around 30 catfish and we put in 30 bass as well as a ton of minnows(don't remember the number). We feed the fish and catch a lot of perch and catfish that are looking very fat and healthy. However, we have not caught one bass. Do yall think the catfish ate them? We put the bass in a few months after the other fish and have never caught a bass and it has been around 7 months since we put in the bass. The bass we put in were not very small at all. Should we stock a few more bass? How many? I know the pond is small but I would like to try, and will eat some of the fish if there are too many.

I wouldn't add more LMB yet. What size were the catfish when you stocked the LMB, and what size were the LMB when you stocked them? What is your water clarity? Were the LMB feed trained?

Where did you get the LMB, and how have you been trying to catch them?

I would wait as I did the same thing. If they are new to the pond and they have plenty to eat they may not feed or bite on what you have.

My pond is full of them now and I only stocked 30 and many of them were probably eaten.

And even though I have many in my pond they do not always bite like they should, but I know they are in there.

1/8th to 1/4 acre 30 cats and 30 bass and perch? Every fish you mentioned is a predstor fish. They will clean a 1/4 acre pond out in a hurry and then start feeding on themselves!!

There are bound to be a few still in there. I agree with Esshup here give us some size of the fish you originally stocked. That may help us some. Catfish of any decent size I bet can and will try to suck down a 8 to 9 inch bass. Bass dont really start to fill out to much until about the 11 inch mark.

I would think with all them predators in one small area if they were in there they would bite anything they could. With that many fish your forage base would be like putting a bunch of feeder fish in a 200 gallon aquarium. It won't last long!

RC

We still catch mainly perch. Then catfish. when we put the perch in they were probably 3 inches. The catfish were probably the same size maybe a little bigger. I really don't remember. I still see TONS of minnows swimming around so I don't think they are eating themselves as one of you said. We also feed them 3 times a day. The water is not clear and is very muddy. I Mainly use night crawlers and bacon to catch them but have thought about bringing some plastic worms or a small crank bait to catch a bass. Its more a pond for little kids. We have had the pond for almost a year and the catfish and perch seem to be doing great. Have caught many perch that were fat and the catfish are definitely getting bigger. We stocked the LMB about 4 months after everything else so they would have probably been a lot smaller than the catfish although not as small as a lot of the perch and minnows. Sorry for so much random information I was trying to answer all the questions from different post. This is just a fun pond so im not trying to have trophy bass but would like a variety of fish.

I think once you change your angling tactics and target the LMB more, then you'll start catching them.

As for the muddy water, take a mason jar and fill it with pond water. Set it somewhere in an area out of the sun, but where you can look at it daily without moving it. Let us know if it starts to clear up and settle out, or if it stays cloudy. Watch it for a week.

If you want to search for it, that's called a jar test for turbidity or for muddy water.

Are you aerating the pond?

That's a really small body of water for that many fish. At some point, I think you might have a die off due to reduced oxygen.

What part of Texas?