Sounds like a great pond in the making Droptine.

A lot of publications will say that you are trying to achieve a 10:1 prey-to-predator relationship. The largemouth bass has one big downfall; he will eat himself out of house and home. Ponds that are focused on extreme bass growth will push that ratio to 50:1 in favor of the baitfish.

I love that you gave your forage fish a head start on the predators. If they are doing well, then you should certainly be able to add some predators. Baby largemouth will be ready to add in June I would assume. I'm not familiar with stocking catfish or yellow perch.

As for the numbers of bass, you could start low at 25 per acre and let the fish tell you how they're doing after 6 months / 9 months / 1 year etc... Personally, I'd rather add low numbers of bass initially to avoid over predation. Stocking lower bass numbers could also leave you more room for the other species you mentioned.

Last edited by ML10; 04/09/26 02:42 PM.
Ephesians 2:10