How to tell if my pond is deep enough to hold bass?

[SDSOONER]

I have a 9 pond. I am guessing it is only 6ft deep... Living in South Dakota is this going to be deep enough ? 

[ClearCreek]

16 minutes ago, SDSOONER said:

I have a 9 pond. I am guessing it is only 6ft deep... Living in South Dakota is this going to be deep enough ? 

A 6 ft deep pond in South Dakota will winterkill most likely.

ClearCreek

 

 

 

[WRB]

9 acres, 6' deep works if it's spring feed and you aereate it to prevent icing over.

Tom

[avidone1]

On ‎4‎/‎24‎/‎2016 at 2:02 PM, WRB said:

9 acres, 6' deep works if it's spring feed and you aereate it to prevent icing over.

Tom

I don't know enough about what it takes for a bass to survive in any particular environment but I most definitely have caught LMB through the ice on completely frozen over lakes

[Choporoz]

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

[Neil McCauley]

There's a pond on the street I grew up on that is only about 3' deep max. It is spring fed and usually freezes over only a few inches thick if at all. A few bass are able to survive every winter.

The issue with freezing over is snow covers the ice eventually and blocks sunlight. Weeds without enough light start to die off and don't produce oxygen. The water also doesn't get aerated from the wind/waves. Can kill off a whole pond this way if it's small and winters are long enough.

You could also use a bubbler to keep it open- the kind used to protect permanent docks from ice damage- if your pond freezes over regularly. Depends how much you want to invest in this project.

[Red Bear]

On 4/24/2016 at 11:40 PM, SDSOONER said:

I have a 9 pond. I am guessing it is only 6ft deep... Living in South Dakota is this going to be deep enough ? 

best advice would be talk to the people who manage fisheries in SD. Also, maybe the hatchery where you planned to buy the fish. Some fish are bred to survive certain waters in certain areas according to a local hatchery near my house. Other than that, i cant really give you an honest answer...