Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations Bass Removal Questions?

I built my pond in south Alabama in 2011, approximately 2 acres and stocked it in January 2012 with 2000 Coppernose Bluegill and 4000 Fathead minnows then in June 2012 I stocked it with 120 Tiger Bass from American Sportfish.....My question is when and how many bass should I take out? I have watched them spawn last year and this year and all looks good as far as quality of fish go....Caught a couple 3 3/4 pounders this spring but most are about 14-16 inches with good shoulders......I feed the bream with a feeder twice a day and fertilize as needed

Thanks for your input

wow that sounds like a great pond you've started. Since you have fish that large already it's not too early to start taking some out. If you wait you are going to have things stunted quicker and are going to be working an uphill battle. If I were you go ahead and start a slot limit. Use a digital scale and take out anything under a weight that you determine to be appropriate. I would not hesitate to go as high as 30 pounds an acre. Focus on removing the smallest more so than the higher at your limit. Take out all males if possible. You will always have males replaced by reproduction and they are going to top out at 3-5 pounds max. Maybe where you are a little larger but the females are going to be your trophies. You can tell by the vent for the gender. round perfect circle is a male, elliptical vent that is possibly distended and red is a female. I think if you can't tell go ahead and remove anyway. You are never going to be short on fish. The more you take out the more food you have to grow that original stock that are already 4 pounds. Again sounds like you have a real good set up already but trust me, it will quickly get out of control and stunt if you don't remove some. This advice is of course if you want trophy bass. a lot of people on here focus on the relative weight idea and how long the fish is in comparison to it's weight. That's great and all but no matter what you gotta think the more you take out the more food is in there for the remaining fish. personally I would not remove any bluegill for a few years and even then do it very minimally. that's my 2 cents for you. Good luck this summer!

Thanks....Yeah I haven't taken out any bluegill and don't plan to.....WE have caught a bream that was over a pound already. I am thinking about going around the few remaining beds and catching the bucks and keeping them over the next few days

I have taken out 10 males ( I caught em off the bed) all about 1.5lbs but today I caught one , not off a bed, I was sure it was a male..... Cut it open and it still had eggs in it.... And it's may.... 1.56 lbs on the scales about 14 inches long and not the healthiest looking fish but not poor either. Could this be last years spawn that is just now spawning this year?

It is not so much the initial stocker fish that need to be harvested but their offspring. I never harvest my first stocked fish unless their is a special situation that makes it necessary.

I'll agree here, but add more info. I put 200 7"Floridas into a resousrce rich invironment in March 2014. In May 2015, I had the spanwn from that stocking 4 to 6 " (you would never mistake for anythihg else) , 7" to 9" bass that never figured out growseries and 14" to 15" bass that have spawned. To the extent that I can identify the 7'' to 9'' bass, they die.