Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations can't catch big bass

I have a 2 acre tank with very clear water. In the past 8 years I have stocked 300 CNBG and 10 lbs of shiners, also 35 1-1/2 LMB and 200 3 inch LMB. In the last 3yrs I have moved 75 8in LMB to other tanks. I feed the CNBG daily and see 100's of all sizes throughout the tank. I have yet to catch a bass larger than 3lbs. I desperatly need feedback of any kind!

Well the thing I do when trying to catch a big bass is to use a bigger lure or larger bait. This might discourage the smaller fish from hitting your offering first. What are you fishing with?

Need more information. Just pondering here.

Very clear water? How clear? Why is the water clear and infertile? That ain't real good and may need fixing.

Since I don't know of any 2 acre tanks in Hurst, I assume that it is elsewhere and you are feeding daily with a feeder. Where is it? How often do you fish the place? Are you sure that you are the only one fishing? Could the larger fish be hook shy? Do you ever see larger fish in the "very clear water"?

What happened to the shiners? I assume that they are gone by now.

Hundreds of CNBG? What does that mean? I ask that because your initial stocking was woefully short and out of balance on forage compared to predators. With the exception of the CNBG statement, it sounds like a classic bass heavy/forage light pond. What kind of shape are these bass in? More importantly, what shape are the forage fish in?

Did you originally stock 35 1-1/2 pound LMB or 1-1/2 inch LMB?

Try a 6 inch plus bluegill on a 4/0 circle hook.........3 feet under a big bobber.......make sure to use enough split shot to keep the fish down..........works for me...........

To Dave,The visibility is usually 3-4 ft.There is lots of moss and veg. around the banks.I'm Graham. I feed am&pm. There are 4 men that keep very few bass. I havn't seen any big bass. I have used large shiners for bait but still don't catch any big LMB. Maybe 100's throughout is misleading.If when feeding, I can see 50 mature BG and 20 fry I assume there are at least that many I don't see. When in the boat I always see mature BG swimming around. Both the LMB&BG are healthy.

To PondsForFun, I originally stockeg 200 3in bass and the last 5yrs. I've put in 35 1-1/2 lbs. LMB.

Graham, it sounds like you have several areas of concern. To support a bass predator population that size, you need thousands of CNBG, not hundreds.

The clear water indicates a lack of phytoplankton base. Phyto is the base of the aquatic food chain and without it, nothing much works above it. Phyto, Zooplankton and the tiny bugs that live on them are what the fry live on. Pretty, clear water is not a good deal to fish. I would suspect that you need to fertilize but first you need to check the water quality. Go to the Texas A & M website and get the directions for obtaining and sending a sample. You should get written results and recommendations within a couple of weeks. BTW, I almost never recommend fertilizing in this area. We seldom need it. You obviously do.

Back to the CNBG. It takes 10 lbs of forage fish for a bass to gain one pound. If you are bass heavy and forage light, the chances of larger bass is almost nil. I'm pretty sure that this is your situation. Too many hogs at the trough and you're loving the hogs to death.

The remedies as I see them at this time:

1. Get the A & M water test. It's pretty cheap. When you get it, take the proper remedial action.

2. Forget about catch and release on the bass. That may be a good idea on heavily fished public lakes but it can be the death of a pond. Start cleaning out the small bass. Eat them, toss them, relocate them or whatever. When you have taken out just about all of the 12 inch or smaller bass that you can stand, take out that many more. You won't hurt the population.

3. After fixing the water and clobbering the bass, stock 750 to 1,000 four to six inch CNBG and about 100 redears. By the time that you stock them, you should be catching bigger average size bass. If you work at fishing, you should probably figure on being able to stock the forage by next Spring. I would also consider stocking about 10 lbs. of tilapia to help with the moss and vegetation problem. They are also prolific spawners and should take some of the pressure off the CNBG so they can get established.

BTW, an awful lot of us have made the same mess out of our first water hole that you have. My first one was a lot worse. So, take heart. This is fixable. All it takes is fishing hard and $. At least, there are 4 of you to share the pain.

Anybody have any better ideas?

Having bed cover, and feeding twice a day, I really don't think your phytoplankton base is the problem. I would be more concerned about others who are fishing in your pond.

Dave, sounds like you're really up on your pond management. I appreciate all your advice. If I'm grossly overpopulated with LMB how do all the BG fry that I see survive? Is it possible to overpopulate the pond with BG? Thanks again.

graham, I was told once by a knowledgeable pond person that as a rule of thumb, in most ponds, it is hard to maintain more than 50 lbs of bass per acre, more or less. He told me I could have them in any form I wanted, i.e., 50 - l lb bass, 25 2 lb bass, etc. Maybe Dave or someone can tell us if this is a good rule to follow. I know there are a lot variables.

LMB normally spawn only once a year. Since a multiple spawn is common (expected, I would say) with BG, the YOY LMB are too big too efficiently consume the BG fry from later spawns. But I think the biggest reason some BG YOY usually survive in the face of overpopulated bass is just sheer numbers.

Yes, overpopulating with BG is very possible. When I was a kid, before catch & release of bass had been heard of by most people, more ponds than not around here were overpopulated with stunted BG. There is one across the road from me (at least) that still is.

The "rule of thumb" is usually 100 lbs. of predators per acre. OK, since everything in the water eats everything smaller, just what is a predator? The number one predator of small bass is larger bass. However, the small bass are also predators of BG and smaller LMB fry. I've never really reconciled this one in my mind.

I think, without catfish, you can safely go somewhat above the 50 lbs. However, I like the 50 lbs. as a goal that you can seldom achieve. It gives a safety valve and you can never really know what is under the water.

Eastland, I think phytoplankton shortage because of the 3 to 4 ft. visibility. That is pretty unusual around here unless the water is being doctored in some way.

Graham, the BG will always stay somewhat ahead of the bass. However, they may not be staying far enough ahead to let the bass thrive. Since you have so many small bass, I figure you need to change the equation. One of my country neighbors has a small pond where you can catch 10 small bass per outing plus 3 or 4 nice CNBG.

You know, there are a lot of things worse than a pond full of easy to catch bass.

This is an interesting pond indeed. When I spoke with the Pond Medic, we talked about fertile water, and feeding. He mentioned that routine feeding in a pond with average to above average pond vegation deminished the need for a phytoplankton base. Sure, I would rather have fertile water and Dave's advice to have the water tested is right on. But, most likely you are growing big bass with the forage base and feeding that you describe. Bgill & feed should be producing the 3+ lb. bass you're looking for. Give LakeL's advice a shot, in clear water the big ones may easliy spook.