There are several concepts for the initial stocking of LMBass (LMB) for numbers per acre. This depends on ones goals. The three main goals are 1. general fishing, 2. mostly large panfish and 3. a focus on producing large bass. The most common stocking densities of LMB range from 25 to 100+ bass per acre. Generally the lower numbers of 25-40 per acre are for producing large bass quickly, mid-range numbers of 50-80/ac are for general fishing and higher numbers of 90-140 LMB/ac are for growing trophy panfish.
The most common stocking method suggested on this PBoss forum prefers that the forage fish of minnows and or bluegill(BG) are stocked first and allowed to spawn and produce large numbers of forage fish. Then later in 5 to 12 months the LMB are stocked to eat and grow fast to sizes of 2 to 3 pounds in usually around 2-3 years. Variations of timing for stocking are often suggested for different pond goals. After 2-3 years, fish management as mainly proper harvest numbers of sizes and species, is needed to keep the bass and or panfish from becoming over abundant. There are different numbers of fish to harvest depending on one of the three main goals mentioned above.
When the predator bass become larger and have reproduced once, twice or three times they are often overabundant and over eat the available numbers of forage fish. Then the LMB have slower growth rates unless some bass are removed. Over abundant LMB cause the development of lots of larger BG because large numbers of bass are eating almost all the small BG and remaining BG have lots of food to grow big. How you harvest your fish determines the quality of the overall sizes of fish in the pond.
There are lots of discussions and posts for growing LMB and bluegill (BG) in our Archives Section.
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