One problem with raising forage fish in a supplemental pond is that they lack much fear of predators. The BG have never seen, much less been chased by, a LMB. Upon release into the main BOW, they are such easy prey that survival rates are low.

So I read about a similar problem faced by fisheries managers in the tropics. They were raising fish for stocking, but discovered that few survived. Why not? Well, they had no fear of piranha, so were not long for this world when they encountered the toothy predator.

Their solution was to make a plastic piranha which they placed in the net every time they sampled the fish. Fish don't like being netted, and soon came to associate the piranha with bad experiences. Result, they tended to avoid the real piranha in the wild. Survival rates went up.

For those who seine or net forage fish repeatedly, a largemouth replica could work in this role. If not wholly waterproof, perhaps it could be wrapped in clear plastic.

But most of us don't repeatedly net our forage fish. How do we enhance survival?

Right now, the recommendation is to transfer forage fish to a sheltered part of the main BOW. But if there are few or no predators, this may not be entirely satisfactory.

So how about this: Introduce ONE (and only one!) LMB into the forage pond, maybe a few days or week prior to their transfer. Yes, the LMB will eat some of them, but that's the point: To teach them to fear bass. If more survive due to that lesson than end up inside the LMB belly, the strategy should work.

Thoughts?