For sure, I would stock FHM along with BG and RES. Within the list, I would consider Satinfin, Bluntnose, the grass shrimp, and perhaps a local killifish. With the exception of grass shrimp, I would expect that bass predation could ultimately extirpate them in a pond. Get your initial stocking right. So maybe it was another thread where someone posted a couple of Greg Grimes videos. The first was the stocking rate and the second one was about supplementing forage. The second one is telling. A pond cannot over time, keep 50 LMB/Acre thriving and growing when they are large.
There is a lot of variability of individual growth. This is because the forage consumed is not shared equally among the LMB. Those that eat more ... will grow to be the largest. They grow faster at the expense of the growth of others because the pond is closed system with a limited forage production. Just like our economy, the ones go-getting have bigger savings. For the LMB, the savings are energy stored in their bodies. Size increases survival and opportunity to pass on their genes. The hungriest are just trying to be wealthiest in body weight.
You are going to love the initial phase but by the 2nd or 3rd year you should be proactive in thinning the initial stockers focusing on the slowest growers. To have a sustainable fishery that will be supported by the pond's production of forage ... and ... that supports growth of recruits to trophy size. You would need to thin considerably to a number per acre less than 30 but where only around 6 or so exceed 20". If a pond can support 50 lbs/acre of LMB, this is doable. If it can support 100 lbs/acre then you could double the number. So a pond containing 50 bass/acre averaging 6 lbs cannot happen without supplementing forage (OR feeding the LMB directly with a high quality feed)
I would like to tell you that all the additional forage species (FHM excepted because I know they will in the first year) are going to improve matters for the bass. But I just don't know. Its beyond my pay grade ... LOL. But this much I can tell you. There is a balance where BG,RES, and LMB can coexist and produce trophy fish over time. To manage it you need to manage the numbers of LMB and to some extent the BG too. Too many BG ... guess what? They don't reproduce well. Was reading the other day that for surveyed midwest ponds, ponds carrying 100 to 150 lbs of BG > 6" produced the most BG YOY in fall surveys. In ponds with less or more, there was substantially lower YOY in the fall survey. It would seem one needs to work with a double of edged sword to keep a pond in a condition where LMB grow well throughout life.
On average it takes around 500 BG every year to support and grow a single LMB. Small bass consume more while the larger bass consume fewer. How many they consume will determine their rate of growth. 50 LMB require 25000 or more BG. Obviously, the BG are all small. But the weight of consumed forage is remarkably high. 50 lbs of LMB probably require between 250 and 300 lbs of LMB forage. That can easily be as much as the total standing weight of fish So how does that happen? It can only happen with multiple broods of BG and growth of YOY. The key will always be to keep BG spawning in waves throughout the growing season. Having the right number of them in good condition will be paramount to producing forage in pond. 50 LMB need survival of 25000 BG to a length greater than 1". Below 1", BG are prey for Adult BG and LMB YOY alike. So the key the is right balance in both numbers and population structure.
As an insurance policy, it is good to have a forage pond where you can produce 1"-3" BG for supplementation. In the forage pond, predation is limited as they grow to the 1-3" window. This can make a big difference. Every 500 BG you supplement can support 1 bass. BG between 1-3" BG are primarily food for LMB from 8" to 15". 2.5-5" BG are food for >15" LMB. For the latter, many of these BG are in their second summer of life. There must be sufficient 3" BG surviving winter to support large LMB. During winter, LMB still keep eating but the BG stop reproducing and growth is very slow. At middle latitude, LMB consume as much as their body weight during the coolest 6 months. Fall is an exceptionally good time to do two things. Thin LMB to lower consumption of BG over winter and supplement forage that can survive winter in sufficient quantity to support the big bass. In the fall, if the standing weight of 2.5"-3.5" BG is in the neighborhood of 1.4 times the standing weight of LMB>15", the big LMB will have enough food to eat the next year.
Last edited by jpsdad; 02/06/24 09:43 AM.
