Backstory:
New pond that is roughly 2.5 acres. October 2024 stocked 75 F1 Tiger Bass. Would have stocked more, but a few weeks prior, we learned that native northern largemouth had infiltrated from a ditch that feeds the pond. Not sure how many, but I caught some and threw them in the grease before releasing the F1s. Bait fish were given a 6 month head start, but were obviously affected by the presence of the native fish that had leaked in.
All that being said, we did have a good weekend of catching and retrieving data at the one year mark from the introduction of the F1s! We harvested eleven bass ranging from 8 inches to 14 inches. Of the eleven we kept, 5 had bluegill in their stomachs. 1 had pellets. The other 5 stomachs were completely empty. The best relative weight was 90% from a 14 inch bass at 1lb 5oz. All fish were solid but only two(that we threw back) were exceptional.
Here's my two overall thoughts as the manager:
1.) The fish were delicious. I don't mind harvesting some. However, I am a little frustrated that our efforts to REALLY push a bait population 6 months prior were interrupted by native fish sneaking in.
2.) We're not at a true year one analysis. We are going to have to enhance forage fish + remove bass if we want to start seeing bass at 100% relative weights.
I'd love to hear other thoughts and proposals as well. This forum is a great resource.
