Greetings. As I mentioned in a prior thread, our pond build is on hold till the ground (west TN) dries up a bit. What do they say about idle time? And a rookie pond manager who finds new ideas daily. Lol. I have a few stocking questions/possibilities if we ever build the pond:
The facts: 1. 3/4ac pond 6ft avg depth (we're hoping). 2. Want to focus on large bass.
His wild ideas: 1. Should I add gold shiners as well as fatheads? 2. Will have BG as main forage. 3. How much time (1 season, 2, etc.) should I give to introducing forage before adding LMB? 4. As for the introduced LMB. Should I get an F1 hybrid? They're a lot more expensive, but I'm willing to pay. 5. What about the Maxx hybrids some offer? 6. How many LMB minnows should I stock? The Hybrids come in units of either 25 or 50 (at my expected stocking needs). 7. Is it worth feeding the BG in a pond this size?
Maybe an expert can correct if I'm wrong Stock 10# of minnows and a couple pounds of shiners in the spring assuming you have breeding grounds for both species Stock 25-40 of your F1's in the fall along with 250 -400 BG, maybe add some RES in at the same time I know some will say add the BG earlier than the bass but I think that is more prevalent in larger ponds Your pond is so small that you want to make sure and not overstock at the beginning I don't know what a Maxx hybrid is but if you are talking about HSB then you don't want many and need to restock every few years since they don't reproduce If you are talking HSB then I would maybe up the initial stocking of shiners to 10# Definitely add a feeder
Alot of people may say this is wrong, Just going off of my personal experience and 2 years in things are going great
I would leave out the golden shiners for year one, and I would add some if not all of the bluegill in the early spring along with the fathead minnows.
I've never heard of "Maxx" LMB.
I would start feeding the fatheads and bluegill at the time of stocking.
Excerpt from Robert Crais' "The Monkey's Raincoat:" "She took another microscopic bite of her sandwich, then pushed it away. Maybe she absorbed nutrients from her surroundings."
Because you do not yet have the pond completed, you have a lot of time to read, learn and think about what type of fishery is possible in a 0.75ac pond with relatively shallow water for Tennessee and not NewMexico. Before we go much further, here are a few quesions for you. 1. Again what is the Maxx Hydrid that some offer??? You can just provide a link to the farm that sells them.
2.. Why just 6 ft deep? Tell us about your average annual rainfall where the pond will be located?. Look it up. What are the warmest days during summer? Will the pond have a well to keep it full? If not, a deeper pond than 6ft would be a fish survival benefit during dry low rain summers.
2. In your opinon what would be your size of "large bass" ? Before you provide an answer, remember that the bigger the bass are in the pond the fewer number of bass there can be per acre. Do a little homework before answering what you want as largest bass . Normally without a lot of extra food inputs a pond will produce and maintain around 50-60 lbs of bass per acre. Thus in 0.75 ac this means a TOTAL of 37 to 45 lbs in 0.75 ac.
A. As having largest LMB in 0.7 ac this could be 4 to 5 eight lb bass or as smallest LMB this could be 37 to 45 10"-12" bass. Both situations being around 40 lbs of LMB in 0.7ac. Regular pellet feeding and adding lots of additional forage items from deep pockets and with good aeration the total bass weight could be about double in the pond to about 65-85 lbs.
B. Realize and learn that LMB in a small pond can easily become hook smart (aka hook shy) with frequent fishing episodes. The fewer times they are fished or see that unique lure AND the less time they are fished for each session the less hook smart they become. Another strong factor for creating hook shy bass is catch and release(C&R) . Thus with C&R they do tend to easier 'learn' (conditioning) to avoid that bait. LMB generally do not like to be jerked around by the jaw and instinct tells them to avoid it. So for growing a 5 lb bass, it may take 5 or 6 years, hopefully not 7yrs to do that. However this means for 5 or 6 years this same fish has seen and learned what is good food and not-so-good food. Thus you could have a few 5 to 6 lb bass but catching them could become harder and harder each year. Thus a 0.7 ac pond might be better to have mostly and more of 1.5 - 3 lb (14"-18") bass and a couple 4 lb bass than focus on having just a few very hard to catch large LMB at 5-6 lbs. Do the math for weight and numbers per acre.
C. Numerous stocking and management options are possible. One just needs to learn about pond fish management and what best fish fit into their REALSTIC goals.
This is kind of "out of the box", but what would be wrong with starting in Spring 2026 with a box of GSH fry?
For example, fertilize April 15th in prep for the fry arrival on May 1st. Begin feeding crumble on May 15th to grow the fry to fingerling. When the fingerlings are 2" ... stock 8 to 10" LMB. Survival is the hardest part to predict but the earlier 2" is reached the lower the survival ... and vice-versa. So below is the 3 year outlay of forage and LMB growth for this initial fry stocking with survival of 20% (50,000 of the original 250,000) to 2" GSH lengths. 24 F1 LMB (at ~9" length) would be able to satiate on the original stocking of GSH fry for 3 years or longer so long as the feed was sufficient to provide maintenance to 700 lbs of GSH. I am estimating that at around 1000 lbs of feed annually. Could be considerably less if a fertilization program were active.
I would expect very little or no reproduction from the GSH at this high density. Would probably be tough for LMB to recruit too. For sure, little fish prey would not be highly available to YOY LMB as they would be too small to consume the original stocking of GSH and they would have to compete with thousands of GSH larger than they are for small fish fry and invertebrate prey. I would expect very low recruitment of LMB (and maybe none) for the first three years. Eventually, the original F1s will catch up with the GSH. I expect this to happen in the fourth year. So perhaps if one were to want to transition to BG, I think a good option may be to add 150/acre of 3-5" BG when the initial fry get to be around 1" long. So at 20% survival, this would occur around the middle of June. I would not expect much recruitment from BG until the GSH are thinned down considerably. So the BG buffer the forage as the GSH are depleted. Consuming at satiation, the females would average near 8 lbs whilst the males around 4 lbs in three years. While the plan doesn't incorporate LMB recruitment and culling ... it does take into account normal LMB mortality where the density falls from 24 LMB at initial stocking to 18 over the first three years. Originally this was a plan for 1 acre. So one could reduce the feed accordingly and reduce the initial stocking of LMB from 24 to 18.
It isn't what we don't know that gives us trouble, it's what we know that ain't so - Will Rogers
Abq Brian, If you build the 1 acre pond at only 6ft deep, you will have some very important decisions to make. Shallow ponds can become big plant management problems. One acre of pond bottom can grow a LOT of problematic weed concerns once they become established. I tell all my customers that shallow water is your enemy for a pond. Plant probems are rarely in the deepest parts that have more than 8ft of depth. Most of the weedy problems mostly grow in shallow water that receives the most sunlight and yearly produced layers of organic nutrient rich sediments.
1. Do some good research of how to control algae and submerged vegetation in just 6 ft of water depth. Water just 6 ft deep has a high likelyhood of growing lots of problematic plant growths. An acre of weeds growing up from the bottom is a lot ot plant mass. AI says the average depth is 4-6ft for Aquaculture and Fish hatchery ponds. These fish farm guys are Pros for dealing with shallow water problems. Almost all of these commercial ponds constantly deal with problematic plant growth. These facilities control pond weeds by usually shading the water using fertilizer and producing algae blooms that shade out the sunlight. There are lots of pros and cons for using fertilizer in recreational fishery ponds. IMO there are more disadvantages than benefits to fertilizing a shallow, fishery goal, recreational pond for minimizing algae and weed problems. USDA Extension says this about pond fertilization.
""What kind of fertilizer should I use in my pond? Fertilizers suitable for farm pond use are available in liquid or granular form. Liquids are generally cheaper than granules and are superior in promoting phytoplankton growth in ponds. Granular fertilizers, however, may be more readily available than liquids in some areas. Phosphorus (P) is the most important nutrient in pond fertilizers and usually gives a much greater increase in fish production than nitrogen or potassium. An ideal farm pond fertilizer application should contain 4 to 8 pounds of phosphorus and 2 to 4 pounds of nitrogen per surface acre. Concentrated liquid fertilizer may be sprayed over the shallow water edges of ponds with a power sprayer. A handheld garden sprayer can be used on the edge of small ponds. For small ponds (1 acre and less), liquid fertilizer can be diluted by mixing with 10 parts water and splashed over the pond surface. Do not pour liquid fertilizers directly into ponds because they are heavier than water and will flow to the bottom and not mix well. Granular fertilizers should be kept from direct contact with pond mud if possible because the nutrients become trapped in the mud and are not available to the plankton. A fertilizer platform positioned just under the water surface keeps fertilizer off the bottom, allowing it to dissolve slowly into the water. A platform with a surface area of 45 square feet is sufficient for every 5 to 10 acres of pond surface. In some instances, bags of fertilizer may be placed directly in shallow water and cut open, allowing natural wave action to dissipate the fertilizer as it dissolves. Formulations for granular fertilizer vary widely, but a typical starting dose should provide approximately 8 pounds of phosphorus (P) per surface acre. The N-P-K (nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium) content will be listed in that order. Each number indicates the percentage of weight of each nutrient. An example of a complete fertilizer is 8-8-8, which contains by weight 8 percent N, 8 percent P, and 8 percent K. In other words, a 100-pound bag of 8-8-8 contains 8 pounds of each nutrient."" END of USDA.
Pond fertilization generally requires frequent measurements of the amount of plankton, water color, and water testing for nitrogen & phosphorus to maintain a Proper plankton bloom. IMO this is too much routine testing for a general recreational fish pond. Improper nutrient balance can easily result in various water quality issues that can result in producing unhappy water that can cause harmful toxin producing algae, too too much algae of the wrong kind and probably fish kills. Too little algae bloom allows more water clarity and light penetration that results in large amounts nuisance filamentous algae and or submerged weeds because of the prior fertilizer loads that have been applied to the ponds. Once the nutrients are in the pond it is VERY difficult to get them back out. Nuisance plant growths are most often controlled by uses and sometimes improper, and too much uses of algacides and herbicides. New practical pond management is showing that just because the water is green does not mean the green is caused by the "good" algae but it can be primarily the harmful Cyanobacteria or bluegreen algae. Studies are showing a lot of these blooms of Cyanobacterial 'algae' are very poor foods for growing the food chain. A few stories have been written about this in PBoss Magazine. I will try and find the reference article in a back issue of PBmagazine = Pond Boss Nov-Dec 2022 pg 42. CYANOBACTERIA DURING A DROUGHT. B. Chesser & Dr. Sink tell you a lot about this problem causing organism in ponds and lakes that can occur in nutrient enriched water. What to look for and how to deal with it if you see visual and color signs of it occurring.
My point is, it takes a diligent effort to properly use fertilizer to control nuisance plant growth in shallow ponds. One big dilema IMO of a shallow pond is it is continually accumulating MORE nutrients that in themselves grow more plants as often nuisance vegetation especially in the areas of shallow water which is a big part of a shallow 6ft deep pond. Then routinely adding more comercial fertilizer can accenuate the weed problems.
Use of pond colorant or dye is another plant management option to reduce plant growths. Note the dye label says the pond dye is not real effective in water less than 2 or 3 ft; that could be a significant percentage of the area of a 6 ft deep pond.
Last edited by Bill Cody; 12/26/2507:37 PM.
aka Pond Doctor & Dr. Perca Read Pond Boss Magazine - America's Journal of Pond Management
Wow, thanks for all the ideas. To answer some questions: 1. The Maxx bass: https://sportfishdirect.com/pre-order-florida-titan-maxx-1-2/ 2. My pond builder said he needed to see how much good soil we had to see how deep the pond can be. He knows we want it as deep as possible. 3. There is a pond stocking place 15mi away so getting the fish is trivial. Except I'd have to bring in Florida LMB hybrids, they don't carry those: https://greenwaterfishfarm.com/home.htm 4. Big bass? Heck anything over 3 lbs would be great. 5. There are two small (1/5ac) ponds that have been there for ten years or so. One doesn't seem to have any fish. So in April I stocked it with 2lb of FHM and 100 BG minnows. Will stock again next Spring. Then in the fall intro some small bass. It's my let's see what happens pond. The other pond is adjacent to where the new pond will be built. Ten years ago or so my BIL stocked both ponds with BG and LMB from the local source. And never did anything after that. I was the 1st person to fish it in April. I caught small BG with every cast of a small grasshopper lure. I also caught six or so LMB in the 3/4lb to 2lb range. In August I fished with bigger lures and quickly caught a 2lb and 3lb LMB. Smaller lures caught several in the 1/2lb to 1lb range. Pretty amazing as no one has done anything with the pond in 10 years. I guess you just get lucky sometimes. 6. The pond will get little fishing pressure. Right now two people have fished those ponds minimally. I expect the same for the new pond. 7. Bradford averages 38in of rain per year. OK, that's it for now. Thanks again for all your great input.
IMO some commentary about info in the green water farm. 1. The fertilization info does not FIRST suggest checking the alkalinity before adding fertilizer. IMO a mistake. If the bloom does not grow they then say check the alkalinity. IMO a waste of money and introduction of long term potential weed growing problems of using no bloom fertilizer on the pond bottom when not first checking alkalinity. 2. The fertilization info says that with no fertilizer the fish production moves from around 100 lbs/ac to 400 lbs of fish per acre. If one does not plan to annually harvest an adequate amount of fish each year to maintain a good fishery balance when using fertilizer, why fertilize? 100 -150 lbs of fish per acre no fertilizer should allow around at least 25-35 lbs of total fish harvest per year - see later. One can grow some really big fish in one acre without feeding nor fertilizing. You just cannot grow high numbers (any size) of fish per acre with no fertilization nor pellet feeding. Feeding good quality fish pellets does allow one to grow more fish per acre similar to fertilizer with less risk and fewer complications than compared to using fertilizer.
3. This from green water Farm.
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Fish removal is necessary if fish population balance is to be maintained, but sensible controlled harvest is very important. Each species serves a special purpose in a farm pond. Bass 8 to 10 inches are the key to maintaining the correct fish population balance and should not be removed. A maximum harvest of 30 to 55 lbs. of Bass per fertilized acre each year coupled with proper removal of Sunfish is recommended = 120 to 275 lbs of Bluegill each year (when 30 to 55 lbs of bass are removed each year) from a fertilized pond. [u]Cody note: that is alot of fish to be removing each yr. If the pond was unfertilized suggested annual removal would be 5.5 to 13 lbs of LMB and 30 to 65 lbs of BG. Things to consider when fertilizing and or feeding pellets [u]. Bluegill and Redear provide most of the harvestable fish from a farm pond. When fishing is begun in a new pond, the stocked Sunfish will average about 1/4 lb. Unless they are harvested, a static population will result. Ponds with the best fishing need 4 to 5 lbs. of Bluegill removed for each pound of Bass. In fact, a good procedure is to remove every Bluegill that is caught, since they reproduce quite rapidly. It is very difficult to have outstanding fishing of both Bluegill and Bass in the same pond. Slightly crowded Bass reduce the Bluegill population and more food is available for each survivor so the Bluegill grow to a larger size. When Bluegill are crowded, larger Bass may result, but the Bluegill will be smaller because less food is available per fish. See Table 3 The harvest of fish needs to be extended throughout the year. A large harvest, particularly of Bass, during a short period of time in early summer, can result in population imbalance. Delay of fish harvest until early June after Bass have spawned is a very good management practice. The most favorable situation for maintaining fish population balance results when fish are harvested regularly and moderately at about the same rate that they are being produced. Sunfish and Bass in good condition and variety of sizes taken in the catch are indicators that the fish population is balanced.
Last edited by Bill Cody; 12/28/2503:21 PM.
aka Pond Doctor & Dr. Perca Read Pond Boss Magazine - America's Journal of Pond Management
Before a fertilizer program is started I think it wise to have the water and soil tested. Next it should be determined if you need such a program by watching visibility for at least part of the spring/summer after any non-fertilizer limiting factors are removed ( like low alkalinity below 20 ppm or serious turbidity). Often in low alkalinity situations fertilizer is not needed. Once the lime is added then a bloom will start on its own. That means fertility (N,P K) was not a limiting factor.
If you have construction questions feel free to reach out anytime - I help folks with construction, rehab and leak abatement and my time is free to Pond Boss family. I help 20-25 people weekly on these topics and 95% of leaking ponds are due to contractor error - your contractor unaware of the issues of a 6' max depth pond that will likely only be 5' depth in a decade due to silt/organic material buildup underscores his lack of experience/knowledge when it comes to pond/fishery management. If the volume of your parent material isn't suitable for a .75 AC pond deeper than 6', then build it smalller and deeper. Too much to relate here - again, feel free to reach out and I'll help strategize however I can. I can guarantee that planning this phase is absolutely critical - any mistakes made you'll be paying for down the line.
Oh, one more thing: I've been recommending clients with smaller bows [that absolutely insist on LMB] to manage single sex fisheries - eliminates a heap load of population management issues down the road and is only marginally more expensive, considering the low LMB population you'll be managing. Could you grow a 6# plus female LMB in a .5 AC fishery? Absolutely, but your forage base has to be thoughtfully strategized. Let's figure out this pond first, fishery later.
Oh, one FINAL thing: Anything Bill Cody recommends take it as gospel, print it, laminate it, place it in a firebox or safe and sing a hymn over it.
tj@hudlandmgmt.com
Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after. ~ Henry David Thoreau
Additional to the stocking information by teehjaeh57. If you have difficulity finding single sex LMB as your fishery, consider using hybrid striped bass (HSB). They do not reproduce and grow large when having lots of food -natural or pelleted. The fewer you stock the larger they will become. They are not good predators upon bluegill but they can be a good fish with hybrid bluegill BGXGSF or specklebelly sunfish (BGXredear sunfish). One LMB stocked with the HAB will help the HSB eat more sunfish.
aka Pond Doctor & Dr. Perca Read Pond Boss Magazine - America's Journal of Pond Management
One LMB stocked with the HAB will help the HSB eat more sunfish.
I believe even my low-level fishery skills are sufficient to manage the reproduction in a single sex LMB pond ... when only one LMB is put into the pond!
Single sex LMB fisheries are extremely difficult if more than 1 LMB is stocked. The more you stock the greater the chance of a mess-up. Even the experts mostly get it goofed up. Keep in mind that LMB can cross with most Centrarchidae, (bass and sunfish aka lepomis). I don't think that is a huge potential problem (very small) but it is a possibility.
American Sportfish sells female F1s - I would never recommend trying to sex LMB - BG are hard enough. I send all my clients to Shawn at ASF for female LMB
Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after. ~ Henry David Thoreau
FYI - Pond Boss Mag. article 2022. Subscribe to the Mag.
THE CUTTING EDGE – SCIENCE REVIEW
Single Sex Fisheries
Many land owners often express as a goal a desire for a pond that produces a trophy fish species. That is a noble goal but one that is not easy to accomplish. A trophy pond, where the owner wants either trophy bluegill or trophy largemouth (or any species that has high reproduction rates) is a special challenge. Fisheries managers have struggled with effective ways to reduce high numbers of slow growing largemouth bass or bluegill in small impound¬ments. In the past, a principle management strategy to address this issue was to encourage harvest. We all know the difficulty of convincing fishermen to keep fish. As a result high release rates and lack of harvest by anglers have made this a difficult option. With high release rates by fishermen the likelihood of trophy largemouth bass or trophy bluegill growth is greatly reduced. Labor-intensive, manual removal of stunted fish and or the use of slot limits have been recommended to increase growth and the number of trophy largemouth bass or bluegill. Another method which is being tried more often is to control reproduction by stocking only one sex of the trophy species (female bass or male bluegill). Stocking fish that are sterile or otherwise unable to spawn successfully (Hybrid Striped Bass) has been used to cre¬ate trophy fisheries of a variety of species, but this technique has only recently been attempted in ponds or small impoundments.
Trophy fish management generally requires ap¬propriate genetics, good habitat, high productivity, low mortality (especially fishing), low competition among the target trophy species, and high amounts of available prey/forage. One study titled Use of a Female-only Stocking Strategy to Establish a Trophy Largemouth Bass Fishery in a Georgia Small Impoundment by Timothy F. Bonvechio, and Joseph J. Rydell, in the Journal of the Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies 3:136–143, 2016, documented the successful creation of a trophy largemouth bass fishery at Ocmulgee Lake (106 acres) by stocking only females to reduce or eliminate reproduction in combination with stocking supplemental forage species. This stocking strategy created a low-reproduction, fast-growing largemouth bass population that fit in with fishermen’s catch and release mentality. Small impoundments and ponds are often characterized by high rates of largemouth bass or bluegill reproduction, which can limit trophy fish production because of competition for limited resources (food). However, small waters offer managers more options and opportunities to use new approaches to create unique fishing opportunities that may attract and retain future fishermen. One such technique is stocking exclusively fe¬male largemouth bass to produce trophy fish opportunities. Another is the stocking of male only bluegill for a trophy bluegill fishery. Do note that trophy fisheries often result in reduced catch rates which may not be best for young fishermen who need the encouragement of lots of fish being caught.
The authors note that the single sex trophy strategy has been implemented in many private ponds through¬out the southeastern United States (Willis et al. 2010; G. Grimes, Aquatic Environmental Services, Inc., personal communication). All Pondbossers note with pride the source of the author’s personal communication being our own Dave Willis and Greg Grimes. We are on the Cutting Edge. A big word of caution is needed – the success of this strategy can be reduced or eliminated when both sexes of the target species get stocked into the system, either by misidentification in the hatchery or by anglers, which often results in the popula¬tion quickly becoming mixed and out of control. However, if correctly implemented this management option has the potential to overcome the limitations of excessive reproduction and the unwillingness of many anglers to harvest fish.
In this trophy largemouth bass study bluegill, golden shiners, redear sunfish, and threadfin shad were stocked in 2004, one year before the first largemouth bass stocking. This was done to allow the creation/establishment of abundant forage prior to stocking of largemouth bass. Afterwards, four additional species were stocked as possible bass forage. Supplemental stockings primarily consisted of goldfish, lake chubsuckers, and channel catfish.
In 2004 and 2005, F1 largemouth bass - Florida largemouth bass x northern largemouth bass were procured from American Sportfish Hatchery, Inc. (Mont¬gomery, Alabama) and were reared in state hatchery ponds. These bass were recovered from hatchery ponds a year later, and sex was determined by inserting a pipette into the urogenital opening. All female largemouth bass were tagged with a passive integrated transponder (PIT) tag for later identification and stocked into the lake in 2005 and 2006 at a rate of 32 per year – total 64 per acre. Lower numbers of female largemouth bass were tagged and stocked into the impoundment throughout the study using similar methods. Also, any untagged female largemouth bass collected from 2009–2012 were subse¬quently tagged. Sizes and genetics (i.e., origin) of female largemouth bass stocked after 2006 varied by batch and year (average of 5 per acre per year). Growth of fish was fast, with mean length exceeding 20 inches by age 4.
Anglers fished 213 angler-hours over 21 trips in spring 2012 and caught 64 largemouth bass with the largest fish collected being 24.76 inches. On average, it took anglers 3.76, 7.35, and 53.25 hours to catch a largemouth bass greater than 5 pounds, 7.9 pounds, and 10 pounds, respectively. Electrofishing in spring 2012 captured 116 largemouth bass, and the largest fish collected was 24.37 inches. Multiple captures of individual bass were uncommon; of 180 total fish scanned, there were only 15 recap¬tures (12%). Furthermore, of 16 fish greater than 10 pounds, only one was a recapture (6%). Thus, angling and electrofishing combined obtained 1 trophy bass (> 8 pounds) per 1.7 acres. Catch rates of both fishing and electroshock followed a similar trend of declining as fish size increases, but electrofishing was many times more likely to produce each size group of fish with the same effort. Fishing appeared to catch more largemouth bass between 8 and 10 pounds and less between 10 and 12 pounds.
Repeating the big warning from above - failure to accurately sex fish before stocking can limit the effec¬tiveness of this single sex trophy fish strategy. For instance, the authors note a personal conversation where one male largemouth bass mistakenly identified as female and stocked into an all-female bass pond at Auburn University resulted in reproduction that tripled bass population density and reduced growth of the initial stock by 20% in one year. However, this was not the case at Ocmul¬gee Lake, where male largemouth bass were mistakenly stocked into the lake as early as 2009, but bass density remained low, with no reduction in growth or condition. Because high densities of numerous forage species were maintained through the study, predation on largemouth bass eggs or fry by these species may have been limiting factors in preventing or reducing bass recruitment. Also because lots of food was available for the bass during the study period before draining the result of the reproduction was not yet noticed in the results. If the situation would have continued over time without draining the likelihood of keeping a trophy bass fishery likely would have been greatly reduced. The use of single sex stocking to produce a trophy fishery has been discussed in great detail on the Pond Boss Forum with many real life examples and experiences provided. I encourage each of you to go to the Forum and experience the wealth of information on this subject and many more. Until next time keep on the Cutting Edge.
One study titled Use of a Female-only Stocking Strategy to Establish a Trophy Largemouth Bass Fishery in a Georgia Small Impoundment by Timothy F. Bonvechio, and Joseph J. Rydell, in the Journal of the Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies 3:136–143, 2016, documented the successful creation of a trophy largemouth bass fishery at Ocmulgee Lake (106 acres) by stocking only females to reduce or eliminate reproduction in combination with stocking supplemental forage species. This stocking strategy created a low-reproduction, fast-growing largemouth bass population that fit in with fishermen’s catch and release mentality.
This project is a great case study. To mimic this Georgia BOW's stocking recipe ....
YEAR 1 (2004)
Initial Lime Fertilize to maintain bloom between .5m and .6m (Ongoing)
Stock forage:
BG @ 322 BG/Acre RES @ 80 RES/ACRE GF @ 318 GF/ACRE (I would probably omit) Brood WCP @ 4 WCP/Acre (I would probably omit for trophy LMB)
YEAR 2 (2005)
Spring:
Stock 12" Sexed Female LMB @ 5.22 LMB/Acre Stock Brood Sized GSH @ 40 GSH/Acre Stock Brood Sized TFS @ 14.28 TFS/Acre Stock 1" CC @ 183/Acre (I would probably omit for trophy LMB) Supplement: Supplement GF @ 322/Acre (I would probably omit and supplement forage pond BG in 1-2" lengths)
Mid Summer:
Supplement: Supplement GF @ 322/Acre (I would probably omit and supplement forage pond BG in 1-2" lengths) Stock 1-2" CC @ 183/Acre (I would probably omit for trophy LMB)
Fall:
Supplement: Supplement GF @ 322/Acre (I would probably omit and supplement forage pond BG in 1-2" lengths)
YEAR 3: (2006)
Spring:
Supplement: Supplement 12" Female LMB @ 5.22 LMB/Acre Supplement: Supplement GF @ 322/Acre (I would probably omit and supplement forage pond BG in 1-2" lengths)
Mid Summer:
Supplement: Supplement GF @ 322/Acre (I would probably omit and supplement forage pond BG in 1-2" lengths)
Fall:
Supplement: Supplement GF @ 322/Acre (I would probably omit and supplement forage pond BG in 1-2" lengths)
YEAR 4: (2007) Watch them Grow and Supplement GF
Spring:
Supplement: Supplement GF @ 322/Acre (I would probably omit and supplement forage pond BG in 1-2" lengths)
Mid Summer:
Supplement: Supplement GF @ 322/Acre (I would probably omit and supplement forage pond BG in 1-2" lengths) Stock 1-2" CC @ 183/Acre (I would probably omit for trophy LMB)
Fall:
Supplement: Supplement GF @ 322/Acre (I would probably omit and supplement forage pond BG in 1-2" lengths)
YEAR 5: (2008)
Spring:
EF Survey: Average LMB is 19.5" Length and 5.27 lbs Supplement: Supplement 12" Female LMB @ 5.22 LMB/Acre Supplement: Supplement GF @ 322/Acre (I would probably omit and supplement forage pond BG in 1-2" lengths)
Summer: Supplement: Supplement GF @ 322/Acre (I would probably omit and supplement forage pond BG in 1-2" lengths)
Fall:
Supplement: Supplement GF @ 322/Acre (I would probably omit and supplement forage pond BG in 1-2" lengths) Supplement: Supplement LCS @ 248/Acre (I would omit and supplement forage pond BG in 1-2" lengths)
Going forward: Continue 3 times yearly of GF and LCS supplements (I would replace with home grown forage BG) AND supplement 12" Female LMB as required to maintain a population between 9 and 11 Female LMB/acre.
Interesting Factoids
Across 8 years:
There were only two-year classes of LMB recruited to Age 1. Recruited year classes never exceeded 27% of the total LMB Population: The population ranged from 5.22 to 15.78 LMB/Acre In Spring 2012, the population was declining and was ~ 14 LMB/Acre Beginning Spring 2008, the standing weight of LMB ranged from 50 to 89 lbs/acre. No Feed was required to grow them. 2000 BG/acre initial stocking wasn't needed Although the supplemental forage contributed to growth and maintenance --- most of the consumption came from in situ growth of consumable forage which was abundant throughout the study.
It isn't what we don't know that gives us trouble, it's what we know that ain't so - Will Rogers
The lake was drained in 2012 due to issues with leaks in the bottom into the underlying aquifer. The lake was renovated by constructing a compacted clay liner and refilled. The original fish in the new lake were hatched in 2015 and grown in rearing ponds after which they were release into the renovated lake. I think this may have occurred in 2016 ... one year before they reopened the lake to the public. I have yet to find anything on the initial stocking rate ... but ... my sense is that the approach was similar. Two subsequent year stockings at around 5 LMB/Acre for a total of ~10 LMB/Acre for the initial stocking.
In this article the describe the supplemental stockings of LMB as around 1 LMB/acre-year.
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“We also try to encourage as much growth as possible by stocking lower densities, roughly one bass per acre. We’ve done that many times, so that’s the ratio, not the total number of fish. The lower density leaves more food at the table for each bass, and there are no food limitations here.
At 5% average natural mortality and where LMB do not live past 13 years ... this would maintain a population a little above 9 LMB/acre. Stocking 10/acre originally ... the recruitment rate would be a little more than required initially to sustain 10 LMB/acre and so the population could be expected to slowly increase to about 13 LMB/acre by 2023 and then slowly decline to about 9 LMB/acre by year 13. (Here assuming they stock only Female LMB). If recruitment occurs, the population will be higher.
When the lake was drained in 2012 ... a 13.25 lb LMB was captured by ES. This fish stocked in 2005 at age 1 would have been 8 years old. Based on my analysis of their reported data, the lake developed maintenance forage limitation in 2011.
They are now feeding BG. Under fertilization the BG population was very slow growing due to the abundance of BG (average length in Spring 2011 was around 4.5 inches). Feeding provides growth to the larger BG. The PFA allows BG harvest at a maximum of 15/day (in combination with RES).
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