Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations How old are these bass?

I've been catching many small bass from my pond ( approx. 1/2 acre). The size of these fish have been averaging between 4 and 7 inches. Are these fish from last year's spawn or are they older? I've already removed 25 of them, and have no idea how many more are left, but I'm still catching a bunch. Should I continue to remove more, or let nature take it's course? I have between 10 and 12 adult bass ranging from 1.5 to 3 pounds along with some bluegills. Any info would be appreciated.

Our LMB from last years spawn are running between 8 to 10 inches.
We are removing all that we catch in order to avoid overcrowding.

I would think 4" - 7" bass would be very good forage for your larger bass.
Ric

Thanks for your replies. I should have noted that I live in southern Michigan, so based on your spawn from last year in Texas, George, I guess I'm looking at 1 yr. old fish. Whether or not the big bass are feeding on the fingerlings, I don't know. I do know I still have a whole lot of them.

Wingfan, generaly "natures course" for a LMB pond is over-population and stunting. Do what you can to avoid nature taking it's course. And while little bass are good forrage little bluegill are even better. It take 10 pounds of bluegill for a bass to gain one pound so to add another step on the food chain when a predator eats a predator reduces total biomass significantly. Think to yourself what is better, 10 pounds of small bass for your big bass to eat or 100 pounds of small bluegill for your big bass to eat. Do any experts have thoughts on the subject?

hope I helped
-Scott

I had some of my Bass get to 12" in one summer and some that are a year old that are only 6-7", so it is a little hard to age them. If you have a lot of them that size they may be stunted and a little older.

Most bass actually produce body mass at a rate of 4 to 1. 40 pounds of feed to produce 4 pounds of bass weight. Still I agree it is much better not to consider small bass for forage. They make a better meal for me.

I was suggesting to Wingfan that the 4" to 7" small bass might be better left in the pond for forage than removing and throwing away. If future samples show signs of overpopulation then thinning would of course become a necessity. It didn't occur to me that someone might go to the trouble to clean enough 4" fish to make a meal. I guess I stand corrected. Sorry.
Ric