The best answer IMO is to add female bass gradually starting with 10-14, if you are interested in good growth of bass. It is usually best to have too many forage fish with predators growing the best and fastest,,, than to be short on forage fish. This will then be the best the pond can be based on what you started with.
As the pond progresses after a 18 to 48 months and you get a 'feel' for management and how the predator-prey balance is progressing then you can add a few female bass per year. It is a balancing act. This way you also have several year classes or sizes of bass. Different sizes of bass usually grow best eating larger sizes of forage items as the fish grow larger. Smaller bass will better help control the smaller perch. Large bass may often ignore smallest perch.
As you see bass growth slowing, relative weights decreasing, and/or forage fish amounts decreasing then you are getting too many bass for what the pond can support. Reduce predator numbers.
I still think with out pellet feeding and allowing the pond to develop naturally with the Catskill's soils the natural fertility will be relatively low, water clarity fairly high, thus overall fish production will be low. If the 1/2 ac pond has 20 bass averaging 3 lbs (17"-18") this equates to 120 lbs of bass per acre which is a very large carrying capacity for a natural based pond and it usually cannot be achieved. IMO about 40-50-60 bass pounds per acre is average for most natural production ponds that have relatively low fertility. Pond fertility and soil type 'dictates' natural systems.
Last edited by Bill Cody; 05/31/14 09:51 AM.
