How Many Bass Should I Stock My Pond With?

[Catch and Grease]

Hey guys I have a question we have this pond in our yard we recently stocked with bass. Before it only had bluegill and 2 male catfish. We put 20-25 bass in it a few months ago does this seem like to many? Should I catch some out?

Here is a picture, its not a very big pond its pretty small. Its about the size of a neighborhood house's small front lawn

Id like for it to be healthy and not crowded, Where the bass will grow and not get stuck at a pound or so...

[tbone1993]

Id say make sure you have a bunch of bait fish in there. Something that doesnt get too big.  If you happen to have a ton of small bluegill you may need to take some of them out and stock more feed sized bluegill. The bass need something to eat and hopefully the winter wont be too bad on them. Im not the pond master, I would consult the pond boss forums for this. 

[Catch and Grease]

It has gobs of minnows and plenty of thumb sized bluegill, it also has crawfish shooting around all the time so there is plenty to eat.

The bluegill population are very healthy and grow to decent sizes. I dont mind if the bluegill population gets hurt by the bass because I just want to focus on the bass atm

[tbone1993]

It has gobs of minnows and plenty of thumb sized bluegill, it also has crawfish shooting around all the time so there is plenty to eat.

The bluegill population are very healthy and grow to decent sizes. I dont mind if the bluegill population gets hurt by the bass because I just want to focus on the bass atm

Yeah but if the bass east all the bluegill then your bass become stunted because they eventually have nothing to feed on. Ponds are a delicate balance, my friend has a 6 acre lake pond thing and we can catch 180 bass in a day but most are under a pound. But there are some 7lb+ fish mixed in.

[Master Bait'r]

I'd add as much structure as I could, and stuff as many baitfish as my manager thought was pertinent.  

[WRB]

25 bass, what size?

Fish management in ponds requires some expertise, lots of factors to consider.

1. Determine the size of your pond in acres (43,560 square feet) or about 200 feet x 217 feet for example is about 1 acre. Depth is important,habitate is important, your pond looks to be well established and at least 1acre in size from the photo.

Tom.

[Hyrule Bass]

Yeah but if the bass east all the bluegill then your bass become stunted because they eventually have nothing to feed on. Ponds are a delicate balance, my friend has a 6 acre lake pond thing and we can catch 180 bass in a day but most are under a pound. But there are some 7lb+ fish mixed in.

you should pull out all the small bass you can in a day if thats the case. to lessen the competition for food, the other bass will begin to grow larger...

[fishva]

I'd highly recommend consulting with a fish management company. My dad hired one to help him stock his pond once, and they said so many things that we never would have even thought about.

[Catch and Grease]

25 bass, what size?

Fish management in ponds requires some expertise, lots of factors to consider.

1. Determine the size of your pond in acres (43,560 square feet) or about 200 feet x 217 feet for example is about 1 acre. Depth is important,habitate is important, your pond looks to be well established and at least 1acre in size from the photo.

Tom.

There are 2 or 3 that are 3-4 pounds but almost all of them are about 2lbs

[WRB]

You stocked adult size bass, more than likely more females than males and they will reproduce next spawning season. So let's say you have 50-60 lbs of bass to feed everyday that will eat about 15-20 lbs of food each day.

There isn't any young of the year catfish or bass to eat, that means the minnows, bluegill and crawdads must sustain your bass population and the 2 big catfish. You are going to be busy catching prey for your bass population, lots of crawdads and minnows.

Consult a pond biologist (Lusk) and ask him if you have a good balance.

Tom

[Catch and Grease]

Its not big catfish its that black species that doesn't get big maybe a pound, thanks for the tips guys

[Catch and Grease]

Oh and BTW some of them did spawn this season, I saw at least 3 bedding.

[Hyrule Bass]

the bass will also have bugs, lizards, frogs, and stuff like that to eat as well. does the pond have any rocky areas for the crawfish to hide in?and is there any type of aquatic vegetation for the minnows and new fry to hide in? all things to think about if you wish to keep an active forage base for the bass to actually grow.

[Catch and Grease]

No there isn't any rocky areas, but there is plenty if vegetation for the little guys to hide in.

[Suspendingjerk]

As mentioned before I would consult the pond boss forums. That place is the bible of pond management.

[Catch and Grease]

Alright, if I can get off bass resource for more than 2 seconds I'll Check it out haha!

[WRB]

You introduced 25 predators into a small (1acre?) ecosystem that has supported 2 bullheads and bluegill or green sunfish.

Does this pond have a small creek running into it? Relaying on exiting prey source including terrestrials critters and this years bass fry is a lot to ask IMO.

Tom

[Catch and Grease]

No creek. I guess I'll see how it goes, I've always taken care of my bluegill and hopefully I can get the bass on track... I shouldn't have put so many in the pond before seeing how it would react.

But I also haven't seen any dead bass and I'm around it for hours a day. But then again its only been since this spring that I put them in so that's just short term success.

I go fishing out there constantly trying new lures, rigs, gear etc... And I have probably caught all the 25 bass more than once haha if I catch the smaller ones again I'll cook em up

[Catch and Grease]

Okay I forgot to mention something important that makes me feel dumb... I FEED THE FISH! haha twice a day everyday, morning and afternoon. I feed the bream bread and the little pellets you can buy. I'm assuming the bass eat these to but not sure and may look into some different feed

[Hyrule Bass]

the pond will probably be fine. my uncle has a pond thats no more than an acre if that with more than 25 bass and its loaded with 1lb bluegill. just remember if the fish get skinny and lots of small ones are swimming around not growing its time to pull some out. you probably wont really know for a couple of years though...

[Glenn]

There's a lot of variables that need to be considered in order to create (and follow!) a pond management strategy.  Stocking fish may or may not be part of that plan, and may include more baitfish than bass.  We have many articles on this subject.  Here's a few to get you started:

 

 

http://www.bassresource.com/fish_biology/stocking_fish.html

http://www.bassresource.com/fish_biology/forage_bass_balance.html

http://www.bassresource.com/fish_biology/harvest_slot.html

http://www.bassresource.com/fish_biology/slot_fish_management.html

http://www.bassresource.com/fish_biology/forage_bass.html

http://www.bassresource.com/fish_biology/harmony-underwater-bass.html

http://www.bassresource.com/fish_biology/shad_pond.html

[everythingthatswims]

Yeah but if the bass east all the bluegill then your bass become stunted because they eventually have nothing to feed on. Ponds are a delicate balance, my friend has a 6 acre lake pond thing and we can catch 180 bass in a day but most are under a pound. But there are some 7lb+ fish mixed in.

That happens a bunch in ponds! My friend and I fish about a 10 acre lake, and if it isn't 10-13", it's over 6lbs haha. We have never caught anything in the 2-4lb range. Those big ones are few and far between.

[everythingthatswims]

Okay I forgot to mention something important that makes me feel dumb... I FEED THE FISH! haha twice a day everyday, morning and afternoon. I feed the bream bread and the little pellets you can buy. I'm assuming the bass eat these to but not sure and may look into some different feed

Bass won't eat pellets unless they are raised on them as fingerlings. Pellets will  grow some huge bluegill though.