Duke,
Congratulations, you may have earned the right to go to pond managment 201.
I am moss green with envy. Are you dyslexic, was she 4.7 lbs? Just kidding. How long was she? Was she heavy with eggs?
A bass that size means she got a lot of food, and a lot of baby bass was most likely included in her diet.
Your 2 to 3 pound bass may have got eaten by the big momma when they were just fingerlings. She and others may have wiped out a generation or two of baby bass a few years ago. A lot to think about.....
Are you are missing small six to eight inch bass? If so, you may need to harvest a lot of the larger ones.
I bet there are some other large females in the pond. Try night fishing with a large bluegill, two hooks, very large bobber, perhaps two or three bobbers. Big bass hit big live-wounded blue gills, bass see well at night. I like to fish with rubber worms at night.
If you kept the 7 plus pounder, it should help your blue gill to recover and allow some of the other bass to put on more weight.
I am not an expert by no means, I am just repeating some stuff I have read in books, some university web sites, and stuff from this site. I have more questions than I have answers but here are some "Facts" you may want to consider:
An extremely well managed pond with proper bluegill and forage fish for bass may grow out as much as 80 lbs of bass per year per acre. An average managed pond will perhaps produce 50 pounds per acre.
It takes about 5 pounds of bluegill to add one pound to a bass. You have to feed the bluegill to get them to support the bass. This is done with fish food or fertilization of the pond which is a touchy subject. Can't wait for the May / June issue of Pond Boss. Bob Lusk has promised it will have a great article on fertilization.
A recommended harvest is 25 lbs of bass per acre per year.
Bob Lusk's book, "Basic Pond Management" recommends harvesting 4 to 6 pounds of the largest bluegill for every pound of bass harvested. This is based on an existing proper balance of forage fish in the pond.
A fish survey is the most accurate method to determine what your situation is for forage fish to bass ratios. A survey may also show you have some other preditors in the pond. Northern Pike is a possibility.
The relative size and quanity of existing blue gill and bass is also a good indicator of too many large preditors.
I am "hobby managing" 3 ponds and I am keeping a record of bass length to weight and also note if my bass are "skinny, full size or fat". Just 2 inches (from 17 to 19) can put a lot of weight on a bass. In one pond, the 19 inch bass weigh less than the 17 inch bass in the other two ponds. The skinny bass pond needs more harvesting and restocking of the bluegill. It becomes more of a science and less guessing once you have some numbers.
A well managed pond will have all sizes of forage fish and all sizes of the top of the food chain preditors.
Sorry, I gave more than 2 cents worth but it helps me focus on my ponds and put some prespective on my harvest plans for this summer.
