Pond Boss Forums Thread Like Summary - 30 SMB fingerlings 1/2ac bait pond

We have a 1/2 ac pond that currently has no structure and limited vegetation. I'd estimate between 500-700k gallons. We have planted cat tails, water lilly, hyacinth and there is some plant growth, perhaps coontail. There is a large population of golden shiner, although at this point I'm not certain because of their dark green backs and silvery bodies, sunfish of all sizes, BNM and other bait species I have not identified in small numbers. We will be getting 30 SMB in a couple weeks given to us which I think would do well with no other predators. They are supposed to be in the 3-8" range.

At what point would structure be required to keep the shiners from being decimated? The bigger ones must be around 5-6" and pretty thick. The sunfish are from fry up to maybe 9" but I rarely see the bigger ones feeding on pellets. I have lots of 4" corrugated pipe, 6" hard pipe and other pieces I planned to make artificial habitat using stainless screws and cement block.

Would the SMB be pellet trained if they are hatchery fish?

As far as I know the pond has never been managed.

This moderator doesn't have the computer skills required. BUT I texted Bob Lusk this morning and he is getting in touch with tech support.

The only way I know of now to have pictures show up is to put them on a hosting site, such as imgur, then link to them here like this:

That's NOT a SMB if that's what you ask for.. That is a LMB.
Please confirm on that.. I'd like to know what happened there.

Adding this to the discussion. I agree with Snipe and also some published literature from research indicates SMB can produce more biomass in a pond compared to LMB because the SMB thrive better on a diet lower in the food chain the is high in invertebrates when fish in the diet become limiting. LMB to produce higher biomass require more food higher on the food chain such as fish in their diet compared to SMB.

Agreeing with Snipe the bass in the picture is a LMB.

IMO the sunfish in this pond in this thread will be better controlled when using LMB compared to the original plan of using smallmouth.

If you want a definite name for the sunfish in the pond post a good side picture of a couple of the sunfish out of the pond. They could easily be bluegill.

FishingRod,

The main thing that determines the ... is the breadth of trophic exploitation. So one of the ways this can be determined is to raise fish in monoculture. The link is a reference to such tests that were conducted in Illinois by Buck and Thoits. Essentially, the LMB are more dependent on prey that is further up the food chain which is why they don't achieve as great a standing weight in otherwise equal water. The SMB are able to consume more because they are inclined to consume things that the LMB may not. Buck and Thoits thought pond invertebrates where under utilized by LMB. So the food chain is a pyramid where the greatest biomass is at the base. Usually fish that have the broadest (and lowest) trophic exploitation achieve the greatest standing weights.

Buck and Thoits remarked that SMB were hardy fish that handled well. There is probably a limit to how far south one should try them but where conditions are not adverse to SMB ... they should attain higher standing weights than LMB. Exceptions could occur where community interactions prevent them shining. For example the combination of LMB and BG is not conducive to high standing weights of SMB and the pressures of both species through competition (and predation) will in most cases eliminate the SMB overtime. So other members of the community are important.

Here's something to consider... I'm not trying to kill the mood here but getting several spotted bass of legal size (to move) will be the biggest hurdle as they are not common above the 15" mark but the statewide length limit is 15..
I obtained my fish legally, but it wasn't by fishing.
If you want to try spotted bass Rod, and are serious about it, I'll see that you can get some fish, it'll just take some time to get the numbers. One time deal.