I need some opinions. I have a 1 1/4 acre pond. In Feb. 2012, I drained and rebuilt the leaking dam. This is a old spring fed pond that was originally built in the 1800's for a plantation pond in South Carolina. The rebuilt 1 1/4 ac. pond is what I call a woods pond. The spring area is heavily wooded but the dam area is cleared. Depth at dam is 13 ft. gradually going to 2ft. at the spring 400 ft. from the dam. Reasonably good plant life around the pond. Lots of frogs, bugs, and turtles. Plenty of Bluegill that are doing well. I feed them fish food.
When the pond was rebuilt, I had some left over bluegill , a few 2lb. Bass, and a slew of 2 a 3 inch LMB. I added 200 bluegill after rebuilding the pond just to make sure I had enough. I did not add any bass.
Last summer, 18 months after the rebuild, I caught a lot of 6 inch bass. This year I am catching some 7 - 8 inch bass but nothing larger.
My question is: Is this a normal growth rate? I guess I was hoping to see some larger bass then I am seeing. Am I expecting too much too soon? Should I add some larger bass while I wait for the existing bass to grow? Not sure what to do if anything.
I sure would like some opinions on how to get larger bass. Should I eliminate some of the bass so that the remainder will get bigger?
Any thoughts on this will be appreciated. This is the first time I have ever asked a question on this great forum . So please excuse my lack of forum knowledge.