Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations I think I over stocked

New (<3yr pond 1.1ac) There were BG, LM & Channel when i bout is 1.5 yrs. ago. I put more BG and what i was told was CNBG last fall. They weren’t CNBG after all. Anyway, early spring had very little evidence of a good count so i stocked more. Now, i have a ton of BG. I have feeder going off in AM and PM for about 30sec total each. Tons of <4in BG. I can see schools of like 50+ swimming together from spot to spot. I am still catching some just under 1lb but only males. then, the next issue is, family is complaining of too many fish nibbling on them while swimming, even hurting at times.

I had been trying to cull females but i think i need to cull much more than just that. Questions are, are they starving and that’s why their biting ppl? If not how to I mitigate that issue so the family enjoys swimming?

And, should i just start taking out anything i can except for 8"+ males? Goal is trophy BG. The bigger ones I’m catching, i am noticing they’re no longer in the "plump" category but just normal. I'm thinking about taking my throw net and culling.

As for the bass, they are plump and doing well. I plan on culling almost all out except like 5 lunkers so that i do have a mystery LM catch now and then. Hopefully i continue to have enough feed, small BG and i do throw in 10lbs of minnows each spring/fall so they don’t go after my large BG.

Brother!!! I, too, strive toward large BG.

Wrt BG culling, you are correct to leave large, sexually mature males, as their presence encourages immature BG to put on size before becoming sexually mature (like the proverbial 90 lb weakling who buffs up after have sand kicked in his face by a mesomorph, so he can get the girl). I think it is prudent (as others have advised) to leave the very biggest female BG in the pond, as they have demonstrated the genetics to grow big.

It is difficult to have a large BG or large LMB pond, but doubly difficult to have both large BG and lunker bass together. For large BG, you want as many bass as possible in the pond, especially smaller ones that will thin out the numerous small BG. When I have a healthy LMB population, I remove the very largest and leave all the smaller ones.

Adding FHM to an established pond is a much poorer (or should I say more expensive) way to feed fish compared wit a good high protein fish feed. I have found that in a crowded LMB population, many bass will take up pellet feeding even though they were native born and not feed trained. Besides, a LMB that wants to eat little FHM is not going to be a bass that can catch and eat a big BG.

Agreed. I have been struggling with leaving a few big LM in there. I have about 20 now that are plump 3-4lbr but their mouths are still 2lbr. A buddy of mine took a couple to be tested at a local college. He said there was an argument because eye test said 5-6yr old and under fed. But i told them, NOPE, pond was redone in 2021 and that can't be. They were not 2yr. Still waiting on the official results of that. Point is, LMB are doing well.. Probably the better thing is to just cull any 16" + bass, knowing a few will sneak by me for a surprise big'un some day. And thinning out my overall BG population because at this point, i think i just have too many.

Any idea on the biting of humans issue?

Any idea on the biting of humans issue?[/quote]


I have reasonably good luck excessively feeding the BG around the dock a little ways before we get in the pond , seems to work somewhat, when they are not as hungry, but it sounds like you may have a pretty huge population of BG, might be harder to feed them enough to fill all of them up.

We do the same thing before we go swimming.
If the pellets are skipped before a swim there WILL be blood.

Unfortunately BG (and HBG) are known to be nippers. No way to get around it except to make sure that they are well fed.

I'd take out any LMB larger than 14" and yes, take out a bunch of Bluegills. You can look in the archives to see pictures that will allow you to get better at sexing the BG.

If you wanted to leave a few large LMB in the pond, I suggest you fin clip them, so you know for sure that you are only leaving a certain number of bass in there. Once you fin clip 5 or 6, then take out every LMB over 14" that is not fin clipped.

See this about BG sex id.

https://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=258505#Post258505