Need advice please, Rick Z.

[Joe Hyde]

Hey Rick,


Not much happening down here right now. It's been pretty cold lately. Or if not cold, then we get high winds. You know the deal.

Yesterday I visited with a man who invited me to fish in a large pond that his son owns. The reason he invited me is because his son wants a bit more help in reducing the number of little bass (12 inches and shorter) that live in his pond.

Needless to say, I thanked him and said I would sure try to get out there sometime. I would have accepted his invite with an iron-clad promise, except the first thought that popped into my head is that this pond must be out of balance. Things must be pretty bad if there's so many little bass that they've become an aggravation to the owner?

I'm sure you've encountered this sort of thing before. Many of your Panfish stories relate to the 7-to-1 panfish-to-bass removal ratio as a good way to maintain a pond's productivity. What I don't recall from your earlier stories is the "catch and keep" strategy you used when fishing ponds that start off with too many little bass; usually the problem is too many panfish.

We all know that little bass are extremely aggressive feeders. So when approaching a pond infested with largemouth dinks do you exploit their aggressive nature to remove a great number of them, and then when the "little bass bite" tapers off (indicating you've removed enough) THEN you switch back to the 7 lb. panfish/1 lb. bass removal ratio?

Even if I don't end up fishing this pond I would like to recommend some sort of removal strategy that the landowner and his dad can give thought to using.

I would have PM'd you with this question but lots of BB members may someday encounter this same situation. All those inquiring minds would appreciate some advice. I sure would.


Thanks,

Joe
"Better small than not at all."

[Rick Z]

I rarely run onto this.
I would make sure that there an bluegills in this pond.
If not then there is no food for the bass. Put some gills in.
If the gills are in there then some of the bass need to be taken out.
How msany depends on when you see the sizeincreasing steadily.

Rick

[FishnDave]

Might also depend on what the owner's goal is. Big bass, or big bluegills? Many times, its either/or, rarely both.

[Uncle Jesse]

Have you thought about calling the cooperative extension service. I am assuming this is a national federal program to help farmers and gardeners. Down here they are knowledgeable or have access to knowledgeable people in the field of pond and lake management. You might find something on their website, again I am assuming they have one. The feds might bail you out on this one for relatively low cost.

[MR.JML]

In Mittry Lake, there are both big Bass, & big Bluegills. I would also add some Waterdogs &
some Frogs for the Largemouth's enjoyment; maybe some Crawfish too.
Certainly check with the Extension. Curious to see what strain the Bass would be.
Florida strain Largemouth seem to do best & grow large very quickly. This is at least true here in Arizona warm waters !!!!!

[Joe Hyde]

Thanks Rick, and everyone else for the replies/advice.

When I visited initially with the pond owner's dad, he mentioned that they went ice fishing on this pond last winter and caught lots of bluegills and crappie, also the aforementioned largemouth shorties. So there are bluegills in the pond.

This guy's wife has a computer. (Well, they both own it but she's the only one who knows how to use it.) I don't know if a person has to be an FAOL member in order to read our BB posts, but I'll steer her in this direction anyway; if she can access the BB then he can read your reply, Rick, plus the others, too.

If the computer option doesn't work, I'll pass along these suggestions verbally. I told him that I was asking for your advice, Rick. But for now I'll go with passing along your suggestion about removing more of those little bass, as the main suggestion. That should do the job. And actually, this was the same solution the landowner's dad voiced to me.

I saw the Dad this afternoon, but it was before I checked my email inbox. Consequently, I didn't have all these suggestions handy to pass along. This afternoon he told me that last year a number of 5 and 6 lb. bass were taken out of the pond. I told him it was just my guess, but removing those largest predators might be what threw the pond out of balance, that the best thing to do with bass this big is to shoot a quick photo then release them so they can keep the panfish in check. He said his son always tells people to do exactly that, but not everyone complies?


Joe