Larry:
Have you done a seine or electro-shocking survey to determine your forage base? It's sounds as though you may have too many hogs trying to feed at the same little trough.
A bass population that has been ignored can get badly out of balance, as shown by your 50% relative weights. (Take pictures. That's about as bad as it gets.)
In a lake with seven surface acres, the problem can take a couple growing seasons, maybe even three, to correct. This is especially true in the case of a deep lake with abundant aquatic vegetation. The depth gives fish more room to expand their population, but the vegetation gives the forage (baitfish) places to hide.
In quail management, they call this "escape cover." In bass ponds, it can spell trouble with skinny fish.
A couple things: I'm in Boerne. Thirty minutes away. Maybe I come over some day and take a look. If you do, in fact, need to remove bass, I might have a cost-effective way to do that for you.
McD
830.816.2548
BTW, I watched Texas play Okie State in baseball Saturday. Horns won 2-1 in one of those classic, air-tight pitching duels that I love. I was most impressed with the way OSU handled its business. Guys from both teams were making diving catches, awesome throws to nail baserunners. I mean major league plays. Crowd was going wild. Good college competition. Big 12 is cool to watch.
