lee - one of several reasons you could have difficulty in catching bass is an abundance or overabundance of food items for bass. Too much easily available food for bass may limit your catch rate. If this is true then many (40%-60% maybe more) of the 5" bass you stocked should make it.

The only way to know for sure what your fish community looks like is to hire a professional fisheries guy with a shock boat and have him do a survey including report. That and its cost have been discussed here previously. A search will find it. We can help look for it if you have trouble finding it.

If you don't use the survey method then after time and patience a pattern will develop. An you will get a little better idea as the fishery ages. As the first and second bass spawn grow to catchable size they will show up. The catch rate will then improve. Also by then the number of food items will decrease and larger bass will be more hungry and more willing to bite.

NOTE: Intensive fishing on a pond can educate the bass and make them hook smart and not as easyu to catch. Not a lot of study has been done on this topic. The amount of fishing pressure and size of pond also play a big part in this concept or theory.

aka Pond Doctor & Dr. Perca Read Pond Boss Magazine -
America's Journal of Pond Management