Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations ADDING BASS

i just put 100 5 inch long bass in my 4 1/2 acre pond that is all most 3 years old.the bass we catch are fat and look very good,we just don't catch many.does anybody have any idea what % of fish this size would make it.

Lee, thats only 22 bass per acre. I'm not surprised that you aren't catching many. No way of knowing how many made it. I would expect most would make it as long as there weren't bigger fish like catfish to prey on them.

Were there any other bass or predators in the pond before the 100 were stocked? If there were it depends on the population size and number of the existing predators. A small 11-12 inch bass could eat a 5 incher if it had to. If those were the only bass stocked into the pond 100 bass in a 4.5 acre pond is not very many. That would explain the low catch rates.

i have put a total of 500 bass in my 4 1/2 acre pond,before adding these 100 bass there were 400 bass in the pond.they were put in the pond about 6 months after bream and minnows.the reason i added another 100 bass is because bass fishing is not very good.now would you think these 100 4-6 inch bass would surive?this pond is all most 3 years old.the few bass we do catch are about 10% heavier than bob's book says they should be,just don't catch many.thanks

Lee, were the original bass Florida or Northern?
Floridas are harder to catch and could explain why you aren't catching many.
Some of the new bass should survive but I wouldn't expect many to.
Sometimes you have to try something different to make the bass strike. If you've been using plastic worms maybe try spinner baits or crankbaits. Or maybe they are somewhere you haven't tried.
Good luck.

I have problems catching my fish also. I think they know what not to eat. Such as worms. the only way I have caught any fish so far this year was to catch minnows and put them on the hook. I havn't had a bite on artificial at all or worms. I know the fish are in the pond. I see them when I throw out fish food.

lee - one of several reasons you could have difficulty in catching bass is an abundance or overabundance of food items for bass. Too much easily available food for bass may limit your catch rate. If this is true then many (40%-60% maybe more) of the 5" bass you stocked should make it.

The only way to know for sure what your fish community looks like is to hire a professional fisheries guy with a shock boat and have him do a survey including report. That and its cost have been discussed here previously. A search will find it. We can help look for it if you have trouble finding it.

If you don't use the survey method then after time and patience a pattern will develop. An you will get a little better idea as the fishery ages. As the first and second bass spawn grow to catchable size they will show up. The catch rate will then improve. Also by then the number of food items will decrease and larger bass will be more hungry and more willing to bite.

NOTE: Intensive fishing on a pond can educate the bass and make them hook smart and not as easyu to catch. Not a lot of study has been done on this topic. The amount of fishing pressure and size of pond also play a big part in this concept or theory.

Have you ever tried fishing with a small "pop r" topwater bait right when its barely light enough to see outside?

My fish seem to be easier to catch when I have a poor "bloom". When my water clarity is around 30 inches the fish bite better. When I add fertilizer to get back to 18 - 24 inches visability they seem harder to catch. (This is an uneducated non biologist type observation). But I do continue to fertilize because my fish seem to be doing well.

Good luck and keep fishing!

BC if you recall Lee had the lake shocked. I think he was not too impressed with them and we discussed some of their questionable recommendations here.

Lee you were going to post some of the electroshock resutls you got here. Did you ever do that? I would like to see size class data on bass and bluegill and Wr on bass. I will provide my 2cents if you could post it.