Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Creating the food chain Where are my bass!?

IMO BG did not get eaten by any of the small fingerling stocked bass even if they were as small as 1.5". You did not provide a size range of the stocker LMB other than fingerling. Water quality was good at stocking due to BG spawning so water caused deaths was not an issue. Proper fish handling and stocking is/was a whole different topic. If fingerlings were unhealthy from the fish farm,,,, it is VERY unlikely all died; some maybe likely not all. What is probably happening is the surviving stocker LMB are gorging on and focused on eating the fall spawn of very abundant tiny BG & smallest FHM and not interested in what any anglers are presenting that is unnatural appearing. Your early fishing enthusiasm can be the good start of creating a pond full of hook smart/shy bass. Actually and ideally,,,, angling for the stocker bass should not really start until the stocker bass have spawned 1st time which would have happened in May 2021 if you followed suggestions in the next paragraph. Watch for more LMB activity as the water warms to the 70'sF. "Patience grasshopper". 100 LMB in 1.5ac is not a lot of individuals per ac and these small bass could be staying well fed and naturally shy of human shoreline activity due mostly to a pond full of small natural foods. Why go shallow if foods are throughout the pond water column?

In inches what were the lengths of these bass stocked in December? If they were fingerlings in Dec, really well fed new year class(2020) LMbass hatched in AL by Dec should have been 8-10" long some of the fastest growers could even been 12" by Alabama's long growing season climate by Dec. Anything smaller than that were IMO stunted and runts that had been fish farm size graded fish (i.e. slow growers) and/or either too crowded during growth or had been shorted on foods in the hatchery ponds maybe both. At a minimum these new bass should have been 5"-7" when raised optimally in the southeast US. If these bass were bought off a traveling "Fish Truck" then expect what you get/got; they deal in quantity not quality. IMO by choosing the fingerling size in Dec you chose or received LMB that had lost good 1st year growth that will never be regained because those same year class LMB that were spawned in Apr in AL and 8"-10" long had lots more length during the 1st summer than those 3" LMB going forward. One can expect but not necessarily get only 'fair quality' 2"-4" Lmb in IN,OH,MI, PA, NY in Fall but not Alabama with a long growing season. Knowing about and doing some homework about fish growing before buying can be VERY beneficial to the consumer. IMO By buying slow growing fingerlings in Dec you skimped on cost considering how much money you had spend establishing the pond. If the pond was for long term angling a big portion of the homework and cost emphasis should have been on the quality of stocker fish which are the genetic basis of the life and overall quality of the pond.