Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Creating the food chain Bass size to expect in 1 acre pond

My pond is also 1 acre but mine is unfertilized and has very little structure. After stocking with BG, RES, CC, and LMB, my pond got LMB heavy within a few years which resulted in too many stunted LMB but some decent BG. Started feeding BG and making sure I harvest(at least) 10 lbs of 12" and smaller LMB/year unless in good condition. Jump ahead 5 years and I now have a good BG fishery (11" up to 1lb) and have LMB up to 5 lb. Also, now I remove anything less than 14" in poor condition.

My main takeaway is that, in the south where LMB overcrowding is prevalent, you've got to start harvesting LMB after the second year while trying to leave your original stockers.

Before coming to the PondBoss site, the Miss. marine biologist's recommendations was to catch 10lb/acre of LMB from an unfertilized pond and 20lb/acre in a fertilied pond. Not sure if I've every seen those recommendations on the PondBoss site tho.

Good luck,
Dan