I really appreciate the expertise and knowledge that each of you has shared in trying to move me toward my goals with limited knowledge. It's obvious to me (just from the math at the foundation level) that each of you is well versed in getting me down the pike.
I haven't seen much nesting activity, but have caught several more small (1.5-2") BG in the traps. I haven't seen many larger BG (some 3-6", but not alot), and I see the 4-8" Bass patrolling the shallow areas near the beach, where I've seen a number of the small BG swimming. The water is clear to about 5 feet.
We've harvested some of the larger (10- 12+") bass by fishing, and all that we've caught have pretty full bellies. I have seen some 4-5" BG swimming around the edges of the pond, and have manually removed most of the mat and some of the string algae. It appears to me that the LMB have culled quite a few of the BG, and we're now pulling some of the LMB from the pond. The phytoplankton population seems to be increasing (pond clarity has gone down some (from 5-8' to about 5 feet), which I'm counting on to provide more forage for the BG, some of which I hope are gaining in size, to provide for a better balance of a large (mostly male) population. We're working on pulling some of the 3-5" BG out through angling and trapping, and I will bump up my efforts toward detailing catch records of the fish sampled and removed. We stocked 2 grass carp to the pond, when we put the LMB in, and it appears that they have been working some of the vegetation.
