Critter and Bill make an excellent point. starting over with bass fry is the best idea. Many of my clients here will not consider killing all the fish and starting over. I guess I'm used to a sort of politically correct form of pond management. starting over will be the most cost effective way to fix this pond, will produce the best results and will give an opportunity to rid such a small pond of crappie.

Bill, I just spoke with one client recently. stocked his new pond with 1-6 inch bluegill early in the spring. In June, I stocked 40 bass fingerlings per acre. By the following June the bass were 15 inches, gotta love warm winters in Georgia.

Greg, you did say 25 or less and I should have been more clear with my post. I ment 12 fish per acre or less. I have worked on several ponds all over the state that have been stocked with adult bass at a rate of 20-25 fish per acre. That seems to be the rate at which most fish dealers recommend (or at least the rate at which most dealers seem to make the most money). Fertilizer and additional forage stocking did not help, bass still experienced poor growth or no growth over the next 3-4 years. Actually the ponds that were fertilized were far more difficult to correct than the unfertilized ponds. I agree with the fact the pond can be corrected with adult bass. Based on my experience any stocking rate over 12 fish per acre is too high. and most people dont have the money for a load of shad and several thousand additional bluegill. you made no mention of additional stocking in you first post.

I also feel you need to make sure the adult fish you stock come from known and different genitic backgrounds. I have several ponds with pure Florida strain fish and I prefer to stock at least one Florida per acre when stocking adult bass. It takes so few bass to correct most problmes that inbreading could be a concern in the long run.