Big Largemouth Bass too aggresive. Any suggestions

[surfer]

If it ain't broke don't fix it.

I am going to play devils advocate here.    You have already beaten the odds by producing such a productive pond.  There are many imaginative ways to look at why and how.  Some are more scientific than others, but the variables are great and in 2 acres it may not be hard to screw it up.  

While an aggressive fish may be the sign of a hungry fish is killing 15% of the population the only answer.  Since you are already feeding them why not feed then 15% more? Wouldn't this have the effect of fattening up the entire population?  If you introduce minnows and other easier pray would the older bass be able to learn to eat the new forage.  I think so but wanted to ask anyways.  If the fish are fat dumb and lazy would you be able to catch as many of them.  Would it still be as fun catching three 4 to 7 lbs as catching twelve 3 to 5 lbs?  And that is if everything goes right.

Contacting the specialists is a good thing, but make sure they have pond management experience and make sure their management practices have produced fish bigger than 5 lbs.  Other wise you could probably do better by your own research and tests.  Be careful introducing new species and anything transported from another environment.  They can carry disease.  You may need a holding tank to make sure the new fish live for a month or so and are not ridden with parasite or disease.

The BassProShop near my house has a swimming pool size aquarium with some 8lbs and smaller.  They put a lot of work into it and use very educated people to manage it with lots of safety techniques.  Maybe large aquarium managers would be a good resource for you to contact..

 best of luck.

[GAMEOVER]

Adventually your pond will stabalize on its own. Nature will take its course, but what are the Bream eating?

Please tell me you are not serious?

Not serious about which? I have a man made pond (and 3 others near it) in my backyard that is visable in mapquest/google map if you wish to see it. Nature WILL take its course. Bass were introduced in these ponds years ago simply by ducks flying in with eggs on there feathers. There is now Bluegills, Sunfish, Perch, LMBass, and Pike in this pond. No one has stocked it except for me last year. Im no biologist but I did learn quite a bit because of this. I know nothing about bream though. Bass are very adaptable fish and can live in some of the most unbelieveable ways.

[SPEEDBEAD.]

As far as I can tell, the guy is trying to grow the biggest bass possible in a small body of water. If you let "nature take its course" (which I would guess by that you mean for him to do nothing), it will result in stunted bass or a massive fish kill due to not enough forage for the fish.

Proper management is key to a successful big bass pond, heck, any body of water. Sitting idly as you seem to suggest is counter-productive.

[jb_adams]

ya get rid of the smaller bass and bream and get u some ducks come spring when they have babies the bass will have a buffet and u will have a trophy pond

Kiddin', right?

I have a buddy in Lake Charles that swears bass love baby ducklings.  I saw a baby duck bait in the store not long ago.  I laughed when I saw it.  Compared it to the Heddon Silver Bullet Torpedo bait and then remembered my buddy telling me he watched a largemouth chase ducklings one morning.  They eat more than we think.  

[senile1]

Adventually your pond will stabalize on its own. Nature will take its course, but what are the Bream eating?

Please tell me you are not serious?

Not serious about which? I have a man made pond (and 3 others near it) in my backyard that is visable in mapquest/google map if you wish to see it. Nature WILL take its course. Bass were introduced in these ponds years ago simply by ducks flying in with eggs on there feathers. There is now Bluegills, Sunfish, Perch, LMBass, and Pike in this pond. No one has stocked it except for me last year. Im no biologist but I did learn quite a bit because of this. I know nothing about bream though. Bass are very adaptable fish and can live in some of the most unbelieveable ways.

Gameover, the good thing about your ponds is they have predatory fish such as Pike that will eat smaller bass.  In a body of water where the bass face no predation they can overpopulate.  

[Brians2000]

Adventually your pond will stabalize on its own. Nature will take its course, but what are the Bream eating?

I hope everything is ok and the Bream continue to produce. I have a fish feeder that comes on Sunrise and Sunset. I feed them small brown pellets made for Bream. Late in the evening when it comes on the Bream feed on the fish food and the Bass sound like they are going to war the way they roll the water chasing after the Bream. I guess they know the Bream are concentrating on eating and they try to take advantage of this. I want to buy a camcorder to tape the feeding because it is something  no one would believe unless they saw it.

[tyrius.]

By feeding the bream you're setting up the situation where the bass are going to key on them for their primary food source.  You have two times a day when the bream are concentrated, in the open, and more interested in eating than being aware of their surroundings, in other words, defenseless.  This provides the bass with a perfect feeding opportunity that they can not resist.  So, when the bass spot a bream that is out in the open and swimming erratically, as it would when hooked, the bass think that the bream feed is on and automatically attack the bream.

By feeding the bream from feeders, you're basically chumming the water for the bass.

So, if you TRULY want to stop this situation you probably will need to stop feeding the bream.  BUT, since you have been feeding them for so long that may cause major issues with food availability for the bream which could result in a bream die off, which would result in the bass not having as large of a food source.

Just my cheap two cents.

[fishingfrenzy]

I said harvest 10-15% of the mature bass, but I also said not to harvest the biggest ones.  Having 50 mature bass in a 2 acre pond is way over populated.  You can either feed the fish more or cut down on the mouths to feed.  I would not let nature take its course, because sometimes thats not always the best thing.

[Brians2000]

My family and I are going to start keeping the smaller Bass when we catch them. We are going to leave anything 3lbs or bigger in the pond. Hopefully this will keep the Bass from overpopulate and hopefully the Big Bass will keep the Bream from over population. I wish I could introduce tadpoles back into the pond like they were the first and second year we built it. We have been concerned about introducing minnows because we have heard some bad things about them. I am going fishing tomorrow and I plan to take some pictures of the fishing trip. Thanks for all advice. Brian

[BackOnTheWater]

have you tryed the "Robo-Gill"???

its basicly a free swimming robotic bluegill, and they have a sunfish colored one too

built to help pond owners with this same problem....

anyway, its motorized, has razor blades as fins, and provides a 20 watt electro shock to anything it touches.....

that will teach those bass to mind their manners.....

That's phunny, Philly! Mind their manners! I like the baby duck buffet better, though!

[GAMEOVER]

Man I cant believe you made your own pond. How much did it cost you? Id rather have my own pond and a jon boat then buy a boat and fish everywhere else. That has got to be awsome. Ponds can be some of the very BEST places to fish as most people over look them and will catch a few small fish then leave thinking theres nothing. My last two PBs have came from ponds.

[Brians2000]

Man I cant believe you made your own pond. How much did it cost you? Id rather have my own pond and a jon boat then buy a boat and fish everywhere else. That has got to be awsome. Ponds can be some of the very BEST places to fish as most people over look them and will catch a few small fish then leave thinking theres nothing. My last two PBs have came from ponds.

Four years ago when we decided to build the pond we called around and got a few prices from guys we know have built ponds in the past. We got two quotes. The first guy was going to charge us 20,000 and the second guy charged 16,000. I dont know if prices vary from state to state. We went with the lower price. So far the pond has been really nice. I actually went fishing today and because of the recent weather change the fish didnt bite as well today. I think I caught about eight or ten bass. I took pictures so I will post them as soon as I get them on the computer. I didnt catch any bigger than four lbs, at least the biggest looked about four pounds but it may have been alittle bigger. I will post them before the weekend. You should build your own pond if you have a creek that you could dam up. Brian

[GAMEOVER]

Not bad at all considering, but there deffinately would be costs involved in maintaining it and if your in  the Great Lakes area by any chance you will have to add water every few year to keep it stable. We our in the worst drought ever in the history of the Great Lakes. Just watch this and youll be shocked. http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2007/09/30/obrien.great.lakes.cnn

[Brians2000]

Not bad at all considering, but there deffinately would be costs involved in maintaining it and if your in the Great Lakes area by any chance you will have to add water every few year to keep it stable. We our in the worst drought ever in the history of the Great Lakes. Just watch this and youll be shocked. http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2007/09/30/obrien.great.lakes.cnn

That is a scary video. It is hard to believe the great lakes are drying up unless you see video like this.

[GAMEOVER]

Believe it or not all things have been in favor of Bass in Michigan with all this "global warming" stuff but many MANY species like Salmon and Walleye it is not good for, not at all.

[Brians2000]

Some pics from yesterday. Hope the pics are not too big for this post.

PS. How can I attach more than one pic. I have about five or more different Bass so I might have to just keep posting if I cant add them on this post.  Some of the pics are of the same pic. I didnt take pictures of all the Bass but this gives you a look at the ones I catch in the pond. Brian

[Brians2000]

Here is another one

[Brians2000]

Here is another one

[Brians2000]

Here is another one

[Brians2000]

Here is another one

[Brians2000]

Here is another one

[Brians2000]

Here is another one

[Brians2000]

Here is another one

[Brians2000]

Pond Picture

[Brians2000]

Pond Picture