Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Selecting a site New pond questions...

To diversify the forage community you should add GSH, threadfins, crayfish, tilapia in summer, and seriously explore some regular trout additions in the fall. Proper amount of the correct habitat is critical for producing an optimum fishery. Seriously consider using feed trained LMB. When at proper sizes use Aquamax Largemouth.

For crayfish I would try for white river crayfish or virile crayfish (aka northern crayfish).

As explained in the links proper harvest of the bass recruitment is critical for growing average sized larger bass. LMB recruitment in 5 acres will require a concerted effort for selective harvest to maintain larger average sizes and reduce total predation to better maintain the forage species community so it is not over eaten by too many predators. LMB are prolific. In 5 productive acres you may need to remove a total of 110-150 substandard LMB per year.

Half of your stocked bass will be males that generally stay small and never reach the sizes of your females. About 50% of the stocker bass will be males. Learn about how to recognize which LMB to be removing. Lusk has written several articles about this - find and study the methods. Subscribe to the PB magazine there is a good recent article about bass harvest. For starters see pg 8 in Mar-April 2019.