I'm not that concerned with the fry. I've noticed that in my pond the young bass tend to school up on structure I've placed in the pond. Had thousands swimming around last summer but I suspect the bass, big bluegills and remaining few crappie ate most of them as I'm not seeing an over abundance of small bass.

If I catch a male bass and it is is under 14" or super skinny I pull them out but I've notice the ones guarding fry don't seem interested in hitting lures.

My pond doesn't have a lot of shallow areas - slopes tend to drop quickly so I think there may be a shortage of good spawning areas for the BG. Last couple years I've had heavy algae blooms that may make it hard for the BG to spawn in deeper water as I believe they need some light. In prior couple years the water stayed fairly clear in winter and I had a lot of FA that would cause a big bloom once it died as the water warmed up. This winter I noticed that the water visibility stayed around 4' or so and I didn't get much FA. Currently the visibility is about 2.5 - 3.5' depending on sunlight/rain. I'm hoping the pond is stabilizing.


I had 1500 1-2" BG added a couple weeks ago to help get the forage increased. I think I have wiped out most if not all of the crappie. I'd like to get some more forage in the pond. Have not had luck getting shiners to stick around and breed. I'm wondering if I should try adding some threadfin shad if I can find a source.

Last edited by nvcdl; 04/27/24 03:57 PM.