Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Koi as forage fish

While walking along the pond today, I noticed literally thousands of tiny gold looking fish. The only thing in the pond that is gold are some koi. Are they a good forage fish for bass?

Yes, the bass will definitely eat them. Koi are just fancy colored carp. The bright coloring makes them an easy target. Koi/carp don't have sharp spines like sunfish do and they are more fusiform meaning smaller bass can eat koi the same size of sunfish a larger bass could eat...

Since the bass catch predominately vividly colored koi, over time the survivors tend to revert to the drab, natural form that is harder for bass to detect. I think koi get pretty big, too, don't they?

I'd help the bass out all I could in reducing koi numbers.

I tried a few koi, and they sure are pellet pigs. The birds and snakes wiped them out, so I doubt they could be a viable forage species down south. Maybe up north where there are fewer birds and snakes.

These would look good a forage...
http://www.watergardengems.com/koiForSale.php
Better win the lottery first!

Theo, since koi and carp are technically the same species one would thing they would attain the same maximum sizes. However, I have never seen a koi much larger than 20 lbs, where as I have seen many carp over that size.

One thousand dollars for one of those ugly trash fish - I thought that the $8/each that I paid for some of their relatives was too high.....