Pond Boss Forums FISH & FISHING Sunfish-Including Largemouth and Smallmouth Bass Could the size of my last years bass crop be an indicator

Hello all,
I live in southeastern Indiana and my pond is three years old- a little less than an acre. My adult and intermediate size bass seem to be doing great compared to the relative weight charts, but last years bass crop seem to only be 2 to 3 inches long. There may be some in there little bigger than that but not much. The bluegill and redear are doing great other than a little bit of a parasite or bacterial problem earlier this spring. Last summer I did have issues with overgrowth of southern naiad, and it looks like that has contributed to a high survival rate of bluegill and bass of last year's crop. My question is should my last year bass crop be larger? If so what would be recommended corrective actions?
Thanks in advance for any suggestions

Sounds like you had a bumper crop of LMB last year with a little help from the southern naiad. At 2-3" I would consider them as part of the forage base for your initial stocking of LMB. Once this crowded year class hits the 8-9" mark I would start agressively culling them as they will be too big to be considered forage. Until then they can help thin down your small BG numbers which I assume also had a bumper crop as well.

I agree, you should see year old LMB at least 6" and really 8"-10" if not larger in an ideal situation. When they are only 2"-3" they are really over crowded. Many of these stunted yearling bass will become bigger bass food and hopefully help control some of your bumper BG. I would immediately begin catching as many of them as you can to speed the process up. Using a small 1/64th oz. jig head with a size 10 hook and 1" twister tail grub should be perfect for hammering them. As you catch them, carry a pair of kitchen sheers with you. Sheer their tails off and toss them back into the pond. They'll become easy food for the bigger bass.