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Post by squirrelhunter on Feb 26, 2018 14:26:32 GMT -5
I just ordered a dozen 5-7" large mouth and a dozen 5-7" striped bass,they should be delivered around April. I'm tired of not catching any bass and our bluegill and minnows are getting out of control almost. Not sure if my other bass died or there's just so much to eat that they're not biting. Either way I decided it was time to add more.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 26, 2018 17:17:18 GMT -5
How big is your pond?
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Post by squirrelhunter on Feb 26, 2018 18:53:24 GMT -5
About 1/3 acre.
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Post by esshup on Feb 26, 2018 19:43:18 GMT -5
That should work providing you don't have any bass in there that are 15"+ in length, or the stocked fish could become snacks.
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Post by squirrelhunter on Feb 27, 2018 0:46:48 GMT -5
That should work providing you don't have any bass in there that are 15"+ in length, or the stocked fish could become snacks. I really don't know if there's any big bass in there or not,I stocked about a dozen small ones a few years ago but haven't been able to catch any in 2 years and I've tried everything,even had others try. |
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Post by beermaker on Feb 27, 2018 5:57:07 GMT -5
I have the opposite problem with a 1.5 acre lake that my employer's family owns. I've fished it for two years and have NOT caught anything but bass. Almost all are 12-15" and will bite on damn near anything. I've never even seen another type of fish other than a few 4ft grass carp.
I plan to take my jon boat and cruise around checking depths and see if I can identify any structure. I am going to ask for permission to sink some brush and pallets. I'm the only one that fishes there, so I don't see a problem with getting permission.
I fish another lake that is beyond overpopulated with bluegill and white crappie. I am thinking about catching a bunch and transporting them to the other lake. Has anyone else ever tried this? I can take my two kids and have 50+ within a few hours. I have plenty of battery powered aerators to make a live well with.
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Post by duff on Feb 27, 2018 6:11:44 GMT -5
I would not stock crappie. They will compete with gills when young and bass when the get a bit older. They do overpopulate as well.
Keeping some of the bass may help get a larger average in the pond as well. Sometimes a good fish fry is necessary, just don't overdo it.
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Post by MuzzleLoader on Feb 27, 2018 7:18:50 GMT -5
Maybe some channel cats as well? They will eat the gills and minnows to help control the population. Catch a bunch of bluegills for the fryer.
Sounds like ya got good forage just no predators to eat them.
Esshup is the man to talk with on here.
I tired striped bass in my lake. Caught a couple but have never caught anymore. The few I did catch were 5 pounds and up. You could tell when they fed in the fish food. Explosive eaters.
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Post by squirrelhunter on Feb 27, 2018 12:22:29 GMT -5
I've got a couple dozen channel in there,regular and albino. We've been keeping a few of those and all bluegill we catch. If they're too little to eat we use them for bait or just toss them. I started using 2 minnow traps last fall to clean out some of the minnows and baby bluegill to help cut down on their food supply to try and make any in there more hungry. Hopefully with doing what I've been doing and adding more bass I can turn things around.
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Post by squirrelhunter on Feb 27, 2018 12:24:51 GMT -5
I would not stock crappie. They will compete with gills when young and bass when the get a bit older. They do overpopulate as well. Keeping some of the bass may help get a larger average in the pond as well. Sometimes a good fish fry is necessary, just don't overdo it. I've been cleaning out the crappie for 2 years now,any I catch DON'T get thrown back in. I think I've got them pretty well cleaned out,last summer we only caught 2 the whole year. |
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Post by esshup on Feb 28, 2018 0:15:39 GMT -5
I have the opposite problem with a 1.5 acre lake that my employer's family owns. I've fished it for two years and have NOT caught anything but bass. Almost all are 12-15" and will bite on damn near anything. I've never even seen another type of fish other than a few 4ft grass carp. I plan to take my jon boat and cruise around checking depths and see if I can identify any structure. I am going to ask for permission to sink some brush and pallets. I'm the only one that fishes there, so I don't see a problem with getting permission. I fish another lake that is beyond overpopulated with bluegill and white crappie. I am thinking about catching a bunch and transporting them to the other lake. Has anyone else ever tried this? I can take my two kids and have 50+ within a few hours. I have plenty of battery powered aerators to make a live well with. beermaker, it sounds like that pond is overpopulates with bass. This year, take out 40 pounds of bass of all sizes. In 2019, take out between 30 and 40 more pounds of all sizes. I'm talking from 3" to 16", or if you want to be more selective, the skinniest bass, no matter how long they are. That is POUNDS of bass, not numbers. Bring a scale to weigh them  and keep notes. You HAVE TO remove bass if you want the remaining ones to grow. To put one pound on one bass, it has to eat at least 10# of fish..... Transporting fish is a 2 edged sword. 1) the fish don't cost much if anything. 2) you could transport invasive plants or fish with a parasite that isn't in the pond that they are going to. A client transferred fish from Lake Wawasee to save some $$. He didn't triple rinse the fish and didn't use a salt bath for parasites, he just dumped the water from the livewell into the pond with the fish. He now has Starry Stonewort in his pond, and it would cost him over $1,000.00/year for the next 2-3 years to TRY and eradicate it. A visible piece of it doesn't have to be present. Eurasian Water Milfoil is another plant that can be unwittingly put in a pond and will grow from plant fragments, as will Coontail. In the pond that has too many Bluegills, stock 15-20 bass that are at least 2/3 larger than the size of bluegill you want them to eat. i.e. if your overpopulation of bluegills are all 4" long, then you should stock 12" bass. Crappies will eat small bass, but more importantly eat the small bass food before they get a chance to see it. Crappies spawn before bass, so they get a jump on the bottom of the bass food chain. If you want to have a good population of larger bass in a 1 acre pond, stock no more than 75 in the beginning, and that is after you stocked 10-50 pounds of Fathead Minnows, 2200 Bluegill (NOT Hybrid Bluegill) and 800 Redear Sunfish. The minnows will help the bass get off to a good start, then the bluegills will be the basis of the bass food chain. The Redears are there for parasite control - white/yellow grub and black spot. Channel Cats, once they get to around 3# compete directly for the bass foo food. |
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Post by steiny on Mar 2, 2018 14:07:01 GMT -5
My pond is one acre, I intended it to be primarily for hybrid bluegill. After they got going good, my dad caught seven largemouth from his pond and brought them over in a bucket. Twenty years later we have never added another bass, and we've culled quite a few bass out of there when they seem to get a bit over populated.
Doesn't take many bass in a small pond to keep things under control, and they will multiply far more than you realize.
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and keep notes. You HAVE TO remove bass if you want the remaining ones to grow. To put one pound on one bass, it has to eat at least 10# of fish.....