I originally wanted black crappie to be the main predator in my pond, but they did not make it when I stocked it originally. Birds stocked it with Largemouth Bass and they have never been too high in population, but something changed. I had some algae or moss start growing thick along one shoreline. I think the added protection caused the bass and brim to flourish. My pond is under 1/2 acre BTW. I whittled down a stick, added a hook and started casting it yesterday evening. No matter where I threw it there was a hit. For evert 10 casts there were 8 hits. Not kidding! Any way, originally I was going to catch all the bass hand size and over and stock Black Crappie in the Fall, until I saw how many bass there were.
I have resolved to stick with bass, catfish and bluegill. Any advice on how to handle the little Bass? I know there is catfish feed, but can you feed bass dry food? I don't want to be feeding them live food either $$$ Thoughts?
Bass will eat the bluegill - you'd have an uphill battle feed training those bass but it is possible. Get a good fish food and start tossing out a couple handfuls in the same place, same time, each day and watch for fish eating it. The bluegill might take to feed sooner than the bass.
My original plan was to catch all of them that are hand size or bigger so I could stock black crappie in the fall. I thought about paying the Grand-Monsters a dollar a bass, then I saw how many they're are!!
You might try some really large pellets designed for larger bass, too. Optimal makes a hand thrown 1 inch pellet that I've found the LMB, HSB, and RBT all love. Even the largest BG can't handle it, however.
I shot some turtles this year for the first time ever. I like the idea of them being the clean up crew. But, in my 2 + acre pond, I counted 25+ eating pellets. I murdered all but about 6 or 7.