Thanks for all of the great information guys!
It does sound like the best way to create a trophy bass pond is to start out as a multi-millionaire!
[I apologize to you (For the Family) if this turns into a threadjack. I am trying to find an alternative DIY route for your type of goals.]
Bill, Theo, and all others:
Would it be feasible to start with a smaller grow-out pond to develop your female-only LMB population in the main pond?
I was thinking of stocking the small pond with the best class of available bass from your supplier. Feed them until the next spring, and then harvest bass right before the spawn. Identify the females and move over the optimal number for Year 1. Repeat the process again in Year 3(?), such that you are always ladder stocking a few choice female LMB into the main pond.
1.) How to harvest the female bass for transport?
Can you use a large lift net under the feeder to get a few gals without making them hook shy?
Can you do your own version of an electro-survey at the feeder to safely harvest a few fish?
2.) Moving fish to a new pond is always a topic discussed on Pond Boss, with differing levels of success.
Other than safe fish handling, what would be the best ideas to get the big gals moved over to the main pond?
Having the few bass that "fail to thrive" actually die, would probably be a better result than having them take up part of the biomass weight of predators in the pond.
3.) What to do with the grow-out pond as it matures?
I was thinking of turning off the feeder for a week, and having an entire Boy Scout troop come over and catch bass when they hit the 10-12" range and send them home with smiles and a bag of fillets! You could then drain down the pond and seine the remainder if you had some neighbors that wanted bass.
You could then start the process over again with zero fish in the pond with some new stock or with some brood fish you previously saved. That round would be used to once again stock a few select females into the main pond.
My process would NOT be prohibitively expensive, but would require a lot of labor hours. Hopefully they would mostly be fun?
I am sure the experts can readily improve on my hare-brained scheme! Maybe even come up with some workable ideas for the OP, or other later readers.
