Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations fatheads and golden shinners?

Theo - I think that as your pond matures and the two or three oldest year classes of LMB grow to larger sizes, you will see fewer and fewer GS. I predict in two to three years you will find it harder or difficult to find or catch a golden shiner. The exception to this would be if your pond has lots of weed beds and or shallow water where the bass cannot eliminate the breeding adult GS during late summer, fall, winter and early spring before breeding season. I say this because I predict the older bass (12"-15") will quickly learn to prefer large GS over the bgill and RES until the GS numbers are quite low. Also during this time the LMB numbers have been increasing due to reproduction and good survival due to ample forage. When and if the GS population is dramatically reduced due to predation you may have to re-examine your LMB population structure and a thinning or realignment of their numbers may be needed. I think your pond is not large enough for the LMB to "feel" uncomfortable hunting in open water. For all practical purposes essentially most all ponds are primarily all littoral zone and bass will easily feed and adapt their hunting to anywhere in the pond.

As the GS population decreases due to predation, the biomass of bgill and RES should increase to compensate for less GS biomass and competition. If your pond is like many of those in my area the bgill will outpace the RES and in another few years you will rarely see a young RES. Also, For my information, 1. are you feeding your fish pellets? and 2. where did you get you stock of GS?
I would like you to make a mental note of my predictions and keep us informed about how your GS population is progressing as your LMB population matures. Thanks, and we will hopefully see what develops.

POSTSCRIPT. I had a chance to look up in Freshwater Fishery Biology Vol 1 by Carlander the weight of 1" long fathead minnows to get an estimate of how many there are per pound. 1.1" to 1.2" fatheads weigh 0.36 to 0.6 gram. Weight difference is probably due to plumpness. An actual 1" fathead can weigh only 0.2 g. If you divide 0.36 and 0.6 g into 454g (1 lb) you get 1,261 to 756 1" fatheads per pound. WOW! I don't think you get anywhere near that many when you buy a pound of 1" fatheds due to the weight of excess water that comes along with the net full of fish as they are weighed or separated. I think the actual number you receive is closer to 500 - 600 per pound based on fish length (0.75"-1.5"), variation in size and amount of water in the subsample that the hatchery included in your order. Many fatheads sold in the late summer-fall tend to be smaller (1"-2"), whereas those sold in the spring often are larger (2"-3").