Could this be bad for a pond?

[Moto]

Hey everyone what’s up! 

Recently I’ve discovered a pond not far from where live, and before the eye can blink, it turned into my honey hole. 

But I’ve began to notice something in the bass that I’ve caught. I noticed that 1). none were over 3 lbs   2) none of them really had a big belly, like most bass do. 

That got me concerned that maybe, because of it being a small pond and very little fishing that goes on there, there could be an overpopulation of bass, causing there to be not enough food to sustain all the bass, in which case the bass are small because they don’t have enough to eat. 

And I know there’s a bunch of bass there because I see them all jumping when it reaches dawn. 

If my theory is correct, or you have any other thoughts regarding the bass population and health in this pond, please feel free to share below. Thanks 

[Bluebasser86]

If you just discovered it then you really only have a very small sample size of the fish population in it. Most areas are in post spawn/summer patterns which means fish will tend to not have big bellies, and big fish are difficult to catch. 

[the reel ess]

If you caught some near 3 lbs or the average is anywhere near 2 lbs., that, to me, wouldn't indicate they're stunted for a pond.

 

Even so, the recommendation by experts is that someone else harvests a minimum of 20 lbs. of bass per acre per year. So, if it's a 3 acre pond, you need to harvest a minimum of 60 lbs. of bass a year. Ideally, those would be the dinks, leaving some larger fish to grow and hopefully become trophy size. So, basically, you should probably keep all the fish under 2 lbs. that you catch there, unbless you can't for some reason.

 

I fish several ponds, but I only practice this at one pond because it's my buddy's and the bass are severely stunted. And my friend tells me to put EVERYTHING I catch in his basket. He either eats them or gives them away. I'll take a mess of them from time to time.

[EGbassing]

Sounds like there are too many bass and not enough food. It's the same way in the pond my uncle fishes. You can catch 10 bass in an hour, but none of them are over 3 lbs.  

[talaveratc]

Agree, probably too many bass. The best bet would be to cull out some, and possibly put some bigger baitfish like bluegill (other types of brim).

[J.Vincent]

On June 22, 2018 at 4:31 AM, Bluebasser86 said:

If you just discovered it then you really only have a very small sample size of the fish population in it. Most areas are in post spawn/summer patterns which means fish will tend to not have big bellies, and big fish are difficult to catch. 

Yes what BlueBasser86 says is most likely the case . Especially if there are plenty of insects, frogs and bluegill. 

[kenmitch]

I guess it could also be competition for the food sources. What other fish live in the pond? Maybe try and target other species of fish if it's a unknown. Too large to eat bluegill would be a bad thing and the same would go for crappie.