Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations Need help, bass growth problem

Hey everyone,

So I have a problem with the growth of my original stockers which will be 3 this June. The problem is food source for them. I have some trophy size bullgills which are producing lots or BG fry and fingerlings around the whole bank. The problem is the bass are eating up the BG fast as they can. The YOY bass are growing nicely feeding on the 1" - 2" BG, BUT I am not seeing any BG in the 4"-5" BG for the adult bass to feed on they are expending alot of energy rushing the shallows feeding on the smaller BG. How can I get my BG to grow to that 4"-5" size? My pond is little over 1 acre and 18ft at the deepest. 4 pallet stacks in 4 corners of the pond, christmas trees at 12' 10' and 7' deep. Just added brush piles in 2 corners at 5' and some at 10' in front of the feeder. Also kissimmee grass here and there around the pond in small clumps. Looking for any ideas to improve the growth of my yoy BG.

Thank you for your help! Joe

The cover you just added will definitely help. Might consider some shallower depth cover, in the 2 to 4 ft. range. Do you feel your BG spawning areas are sufficient (smaller gravel in shallow water, flat bottom)? You could trap or seine to evaluate your BG spawn classes.

You need to cull some 8-14" bass. More possibly in the 10-11" range. It's obvious very few are making it through the onslaught of the super aggressive smaller bass. start with 15-20 per acre and watch. Every impoundment is different so you may need to adjust those numbers depending on recruitment.

We didn`t have that good of a spawn this year so I think that will help and right now 14-15" is about the size of most my stockers. I think the main problem is lack of cover for the BG to hide. I am going to add more shallow water brush piles and plant some local lilys and see if that makes any difference. Next year I will start culling the 8-10" size bass regardless because it will be time to do so.

Yes I made spawning areas in a couple locations but the BG seem to prefer the SW corner of my pond. Plans are add 1 brush pile in 3-4' every 20 ft or so along the bank so thats about 4 on the short sides and 6 on the long sides of the pond. Plant local lilly pads and going to get a pickup truck load of gravel to make the BG spawning areas bigger to provide more room and better recruitment. Next year will remove some bass in the 8-10" range they seem to be putting the most hurt on the yoy BG

Joe, just curious, how many bg to lmb did u originally stock? it has made a big difference at my place by stocking a lot of bg to lmb. I am not at your pond so I am guessing here on what it looks like verses my pond waters. I do agree adding a lot of shallow brush will improve bg numbers because after taking that advice from Todd Overton I saw a hugh increase of cnbg that spring. he suggested five new brush piles I added 9 all of them in a foot to two foot of water in a 3.14 acre pond. u r feeding bg aren't u

I think you're on the right track with adding shallower cover. I have 4 brush piles in 6in-4ft of water; you can see BG of every size using the shallow portions.

Enjoy your youtube updates btw.