I need help getting 4 inch Baby bass out of my 1/2 acre pond. I made the mistake of putting 20 15 inch bass in my pond first. I have fished out all 20 and took to the river but I have babies. I have talked with a Biologist and he told me to put Hybrid Bluegill in October. I'm afraid they will be to big by then. Also I am having a hard time finding the Hybrid Bluegill. No hatcheries that sell to the public near me have them. I am in Alabama. The closest is 3 1/2 hours away.
I'm new to this but I sure want to do it right. I'm planning on putting 1 ton of lime in next month. I've put 4 cedar trees and pea gravel bed in.
Any help would be appreciated. I want this to be a family friendly pond for children to be able to have fun fishing.
I have 1 rule: NO CELL PHONES or electronic devices. I wanted family to be family.

I'm confused.

Whats wrong with the big fish?

And why do you need the babies out?

I want other fish as well. Bluegill, bream, blue channel catfish. If I put the fingerlings in October the bass will eat them? We have discovered that my wife is not a Bass Angler. She's old fashioned. Cane pole and worm w/ bobber.

Also, no one around wants to eat Bass. They say their to boney?

Bass filet out just as nice as any other sunfish.

LMB are in there for the long haul unless you get drastic. Removing the larger ones has reduced the predation of the smaller ones, but I can understand that you don't want the larger ones eating freshly stocked HBG fingerlings. Consider pumping the pond down really low and killing the pond with hydrated lime.. Then, start the re-stocking process.

You could always leave the bass as is and stock larger HBG or grossly overstock smaller ones thinking that a fair amount would grow out before getting eaten.

Or you can seine out as many as possible. The use a blocking net to protect the HBG while feeding until they get big enough to avoid predation.

There's nothing bad or boney about eating Bass. I'll bet your critics wouldn't know the difference, if you didn't tell them. If you are going to keep the balance under control, you will have to remove some, no sense in seeing them go to waste.
The only tip I would suggest if you are going to fillet them, is to wait for cooler waters. The meat will be better and firmer then.

Agreed, wait till cooler temps and bass that are under 2# are best size to filet, no bones if you do it right. We eat them all the time

I've caught bass for over 50 yrs but always preferred crappie. 10 yrs ago we retired to the Texas Hill Country, where I've been fishing a couple of 10-12 acre lakes. We've been culling and eating the bass below 1.5 lbs. They are delicious. I find it hard to believe the crappie are better! Maybe these crystal clear water bass taste better than the stained East Texas lakes.

Welcome Buz
Where you originally from? I know a Buz

I appreciate everyone's advice and comments. I had a pond management company come out and they agreed that it was unknown how many bass was in my pond.
They told me that the only way to get rid of the bass and start over was to completely drain the pond or spray it with Rotenone to kill the fish. We had them to spray it two days ago and we are glad we did. I don't like killing fish but we have screened out bass from 1/4 inch to 6 inch. Over 350. 2 catfish and 32 bream and bluegill. I had 1 16 inch bass left also.
We will be liming the pond next month and stocking it with pan fish and 3 grass carp in Oct. I will add 50 channel cats in the spring. Not sure about bass yet. I'd like to get strictly male or female bass to control the pan fish population but my wife told me if the pan fish needed culling she would just have a community fishing day with fish fry.
I appreciate everyone's advice. We'll see what happens.

If I put bass back in I'll do that. Thanks.

I believe you but I would be stuck taking the fish to the river because I can't convince my friends. I'm sure you understand that. I'll try again. Take care.

You did the right thing nuking it. Those things are impossible to get rid of otherwise.

Would you like to work on a stocking plan? If you make a new post with your pond goals and details some real experts will help you out.

Hey guys!

Question-

Dont these fish have value? Why can't they be sold in some fashion? Too much effort too little $ is my guess?

I wish someone would buy them here but they won't. I tried to give them away but only 1 man wanted them. I wasn't going to raise them for just 1 person. This is primarily Catfish country.

CityDad, the rules vary from state to state as far as buying/selling and transporting various types of game fish.

Make sure you are aware of what laws apply should you seek to buy or sell fish.