Once carrying capacity is reached and original bass have spawned abt 3-4yrs and the YOY bass are thriving, consider removing 5-10 adult bluegill for every pound of bass harvested in the general balance fishing pond. It is easy for some ponds to produce too many fish that tend toward smaller sizes over time - crowding. Wise, well monitored harvest reduces the standing crop and allows remaining fish to have more natural foods and they continue growing well. Supplemental feeding increases the average standing crop (production) which allows for more harvest.
In good habitat LMB often are too productive (prolific) and perform too much harvest (consumption) outpacing the forage crop. Monitoring numbers and sizes of forage (panfish) and predator are important parts of good pond management. Harvest can be adjusted to skew the population in terms of numbers and sizes.
Last edited by Bill Cody; 08/11/14 09:19 PM.
