Single sex bass will have to be caught off nests or during spawning season so you can recognize sex. I know of no fish farm that will sell you single sex bass. Single sex or mixed sex will depend on your goals and abilities. Decide that and then proceed. IMO F1 bass will not grow much faster nor much bigger than northern bass in a 1/2 ac pond that has lower nutrients, not pellet fed and will likely have limited forage items due to lack of natural productivity.
For good growth each bass when 8"-16" will likely "want" to eat 250-300 forage fish per year minimum. Those larger bass 14"-16" will grow better on the larger fish forage items (4"-6") not 2" minnows. For 25 bass,,,, that amounts to 6,250 - 8,000 small fish/yr (50-60lbs) consumed. In reality, EACH of those 25 bass are capable of eating 8-10 lbs of fish per year - 200 - 250 total lbs of fish consumed for each to grow 1 lb per yr. I suspect the 25 bass will be food limited in the pond you have described so far. So IMO using F1 or regular bass will not result in significant growth differences based on the stated plan.
This all means that don't expect 25 bass to grow the best that can occur in a natural pond. Plus if you allow them to spawn the pond will have more than 25 bass. You have to keep the bass numbers at the correct density that allows optimum growth based on the available food sources or you end up as may other pond owners with a pond with lots of crowded small bass. It is a management thing of keeping the predator numbers that match the forage numbers based on the goals for the fishery. IMO you will learn that having reproducing predators is not always a good thing in a small pond. It all depends.
Last edited by Bill Cody; 05/30/14 10:59 AM.
