I see what you guys are saying I think. Like what size do you think we should remove? The typical bass I usually catch is just over 8in long and weighs a (.15 edited) lbs. Do we need to take those smaller bass out, or do we need to take out the big 15in bass that we have been catching? You also said things will change with new fish in it. What did you mean by that? Ik some of the new fish will be eaten but we also put in 3,000 minnows. To hopefully compensate for the BC and Perch that we put in.
An 8" LMB standard weight is around .25 lbs so they are a bit light. Being that light at 8" tells me that you have a great number of LMB. I think I would try to take out a minimum of 30 lbs/acre ... right now as fast as you can catch them ... and then see where they are this fall. There should be a notable improvement in condition by then. At least keep total weight and total number figures. Depending on growth and condition, you may need to harvest the summer production (increase in the weight of LMB which should approximate the weight you now harvest) this fall also.
Meanwhile ... check out
bocomo's thread of how he turned his pond around by implementing LMB harvest. It's pointed to the last page where you can see the results of 4 years of harvest management. If you like what you see, read the entire thread because it chronicles the history and a lot of members contributed. It is unnecessary to recreate that here as it covers everything you need to know. I will mention that many who start off gangbusters in the first couple of years never achieve almost 19" LMB with 120 RW. So what bocomo accomplished with a broken old pond is a testament to the importance of population management.
