Pond Boss Forums Thread Like Summary - Managing SMB/YP pond

Have a pond with SMP and YP recruitment. What type of management (fish removal) is advised. Ten SMB from 10 to 16+ inches caught in a short period of time and released. Looking for a trophy pond for both species but SMP is priority.

Remember my numbers to be removed are a starting point and just my best guess based on not having sampled nor experienced the fishery. Angler catch records will indicate how well the culling is progressing as the pond and fishery ages which is why to keep catch records. Numbers and sizes caught per hours fished plus lure/s used. All these data items provide very important features about the fishery. These data allow for refining the removal numbers to achieve your goals of producing more numbers of larger SMB. It is good to have trustworthy and responsible anglers. I don't see a problem of moving some of the culled SMB to the BG-LMB pond.

If you want to skew the SMB population toward larger individuals, then I would start culling those sizes that are most common and recruits from the original stockers. Remember as we leave behind the largest SMB those will trend toward hook shy and be harder and harder to catch as they age. You will definitely loose some of these oldest smallies due to deeply hooked fish and improper handling.

Based on the age of your pond and sizes of the oldest ones, I would be culling most of them from the newest year class and then some from the next older year class. As the year classes age their numbers decrease. Most likely this will be highest percentage culled from 6"-9" and then some from the 11" to 13" group. Return all 14"+ bass unless bleeding. This will "free up" more foods for the largest individuals and those remaining sizes so they grow optimally.

How many?. This will really depend on how abundant the smallies appear to be based on what is being caught by anglers. Your anglers should be accurately keeping track of all species caught, the fish length and lure used. Type of lure will bias the catch results. They record their catch as a return favor for you allowing them to fish. Tell them their efforts allow you to better manage the fishery so their angling is improved. Those unwilling to co-operate are suspect anglers and should not really be trusted and not allowed to fish.

My WAG for removal numbers from 1 acre starts with 8-12 6"-9" and 6-8 from 11"-13" group. We have to remember the smallies are usually not as prolific as LMB thus fewer numbers per acre than LMB.