I purchased a farm last year in NJ that contained a 30 year old 3/4 to 1 acre pond. The farmer told me there was a big fish kill 2 years ago from turnover. The pond was in bad shape the first year with lots of filamentous algae. I installed aerators, raked and treated the pond back to pretty decent shape. I noticed a decent amount of small 3” bass and bluegills but was unable to catch any bass so I stocked it with seventy five 12” to 14” bass and added 10,000 FHM. Fast forward to this spring and many of my bigger bass have disappeared. The fishing has been very tough compared to last year after the stocking.if I am lucky I will catch one 12” bass per day. However, I am seeing plenty of now 6” to 7” bass and some bluegills but the large bass I stocked seem to be far and few between. There is a blue heron a very large snapping
Turtle and we also did see a black mink one time in march running on the other side of the pond. No one else fishes the pond so it hasn’t been fished out by humans. I thought the bass were just not biting because there bellies were filled but I am starting to get very concerned. I wanted to add crawfish and golden shiners now but I am not sure what to do
My goal is to grow the largest bass possible. What should I do?