[img]https://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=download&Number=19236&filename=[/img]I have a spot in my pond that i can watch from my deck that BG are bedding in, there are about 30 or so beds but only about half a dozen are actively begin guarded. Hanging around those half dozen beds are about 100 BG which I assume are try to raid the beds with 12"-14" bass also darting in frequently.

My concern is that I can't see how with so many predators hovering around those nest that any fry can survive.
would placing some cover around the outer edges of these colonies help protect the fry or just give fish more ambush locations?

Most of the pond bottom is silt and I was thinking of adding pea gravel into these beds after the first spawn, would this help or would the gravel just sink into the silt and not help?

I've had a bass heavy pond for a long time and been removing bass as much as I can, the BG get up to 1 -1.5 lbs but I prefer smaller BG and bigger bass. I've been feeding the BG and the BG are very healthy, We raised the water level two years ago and that has given the pond more cover but not in this area where these BG are spawning... I've seen an increase in the weights of bass since raising the pond level so just wanting to promote more BG for bass food.

Layne,

Sounds like a fun activity watching your BG!

I am not an expert, but I have asked on the forum about how BG fry can possibly survive predation, and several people answered that the guardian BG are much tougher and more effective than you would think.

As regards you adding gravel, posters have said that in silty ponds, your gravel will just slowly sink into the soft bottom.

They have offered multiple solutions. The most common being to put down some inexpensive weed fabric before putting down the gravel/sand mixture. That makes the beds remain useful for a much longer time.

Another option that might be fun for you (if you like the look) is to buy a kiddie pool at Walmart. Level it on your pond bottom and then put in several inches of your gravel sand mixture. Hopefully, you could get 2 or 3 BG spawning beds in there that would be easy for you to observe, AND there would be a little "side" defense to help your BG protect their fry.

Plus, there are a whole shipload of fry. As Stalin said, quantity has a quality of its own.

Layne, according to Lusk, approx 80 to 90% of all the eggs laid, hatched, etc never reach adulthood. Why? Because they get eaten. If they all or even most survived there would be an oxygen crash due to too many life forms occupying the same area. Cannibalism from each other? Yep!

thanks folks, I've watched the bedding for years and seen the predators but it just seems for some reason this year there are way more hanging out at the edge of these few beds... That's why I would be amazed if any actually escaped... if would be like me sitting down by a bowl of fries, I'm not letting one escape.

Normally there are a lot more bream bedding so the predation seems to be more spread out in the area but for some reason there are only a hand full of active beds at this time.


Appreciate the replies, I'll probably sink some brush outside of this bedding area for future use by the fry.