another noob - pics and pond question

[evillllsinz]

hey all,

just started fishing for bass (last summer i did a lot of fishing for catfish and ended up getting a 16" striper). i go to a local pond and have had pretty good luck there, trying different techniques. I have caught a 15 1/2" catfish, a 17" LMB, and today i just landed a 17 1/2" LMB (which I released and is the picture).

My main question is... how many fish can i take from it and still have enough fish to fish for next time? I know most of you guys are 90%+ C&R, but i like to eat my fish ( i hope i dont get flamed), but from what i read there probably isn't that many bass in the pond i fish at since its maybe at most an acre. Would it be like... a fish a month or what? i don't think its stocked.. ill have to make a few phone calls to figure that out.

another question i have is.. how do you use a mepps inline spinner? everyone says its as easy as casting and reeling it in. i have tried different speeds and i NEVER get any bites on these things. all my bites have been on artificial worms, t-rigged and wacky style. i read guides on this and it seems like its so easy that the guides don't really get in depth.

thanks!

[roadwarrior]

Welcome aboard!

That fish looks healthy, but until you know more about the pond, you shouldn't keep any.

A one acre pond is really small and may not hold but a few bass.

8-)

[jrhennecke]

Welcome aboard!

That fish looks healthy, but until you know more about the pond, you shouldn't keep any.

A one acre pond is really small and may not hold but a few bass.

8-)

X2  Besides you can eat all the catfish and trout you like.

[SenkoBasser]

The only way I would eat any bass (other than striper) is if I was stranded in the wilderness, and about to die of starvation. Target the trout and perch. They taste way better.

[tyrius.]

A one acre pond is really small and may not hold but a few bass.

My farm pond fishing experience would run counter to this.  The most productive pond I fished growing up was definately under an acre and we caught bass all day long.  We never caught any big ones because the owner wouldn't let us keep any and because we never fished for big fish  But the bass were thick in that pond and some should have been harvested.  

There are also many 1 acre or smaller ponds that have no fish.  1 acre is about the lower limit that the Illinois Department of Natural Resources recommends for being able to manage a fishery in the pond.

My thoughts are that from the picture it looks like a pond in a park.  There really is no way to know who else is keeping fish from this pond so I wouldn't keep any bass from it.  There just isn't anyway to know what the harvest rate is and I wouldn't want to be the one to take the last few fish out of it.  Also, if I'm keeping fish to eat then bass is pretty low on the list.  They just don't taste as good as bluegill, crappie, or catfish.  Just a personal opinion there.

[Quinn]

I know most of you guys are 90%+ C&R, but i like to eat my fish ( i hope i dont get flamed)

Flaming is not tolerated here the moderators do a good job at that.

They do allow poking fun and laughing at each other but is only in good fun, like friends.

I like to eat my fish too !! but I do release them in small ponds etc.

Welcome

[Paul Roberts]

Some thoughts:

There are better tasting fish, and those that grow faster, than bass. Most ponds are stocked with bass and sunfish. Some have the addition of channel catfish. If there are cats, I'd target them for eating!

How many and what size bass you take depends on the pond, and the year. Populations commonly fluctuate in such small waters.

In general, I'd keep a few of the sizes that appear most abundant, realizing that such a small water most certainly won't produce good fishing down the road if you take too many. You'll want to get an idea about how many other anglers are fishing, and keeping, too, when figuring your take.

Not sure where you are, somewhat south I assume, but bass grow relatively slowly. Those 17s you caught would most likely be 7 or 8 years old where I fish. Most certainly, there are not many 17s in such a small pond. So, I'd release the larger ones, as they are harder to replace, the most fun to catch, and proven spawners.

And, in many waters this can be very important: For every bass better than 12inches I take out, I'd also take out at least 10 sunfish.

[HesterIsGod]

Welcome

If you catch a bunch of bass and most of them are long and skinny, and just look plain undernourished, then you should keep a few. This will actually benefit the pond because it thins out the population and there is much less competition among the bass for food, so they grow bigger and faster. Also, a lot of begginers make the mistake of keeping only big fish when they want to thin out a pond. Wrong, only keep the smaller bass, say 8-13 inches is a good starting point.

Dont forget bluegill either they, spawn like crazy and taking a few slabs of them will not hurt the pond too much.

[Grey Wolf]

WELCOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[FivePoundBluegill]

I dont eat anything I catch and have never bothered finding out about how many fish of any species I should keep from any body of water...

However about those inline spinners...

I find I catch loads of dinks on these. Dinks are basically all I have caught with them so I rarely use them anymore.... However if the inline spinners do not work than most likely the fish do not like them in that pond at least at the time of year or under the conditiions you are fishing. T-Rigged and Wacky Rigged plastics work for most people once they have lurned how to use them. They are a consistant bait that works for me year round. I would stick to these when you want to catch fish. However you will probably get bored of these baits at some point and will probably want to try other baits like jerk baits, cranks, spinners, topwater.....

[ventureboat]

x2 FivePound. All I catch is dinks, and not many. Don't even have them in my bass tackle system in my boat. However, I have a buddy (fisheater) on these forums who loves and swears by them!!! He was fishing a #1 in a farm pond for bluegill, and landed a beautiful bass over 8lbs. Now on his wall!!! Go figure :-?

[Perfect Hook Set]

hey all,

just started fishing for bass (last summer i did a lot of fishing for catfish and ended up getting a 16" striper). i go to a local pond and have had pretty good luck there, trying different techniques. I have caught a 15 1/2" catfish, a 17" LMB, and today i just landed a 17 1/2" LMB (which I released and is the picture).

My main question is... how many fish can i take from it and still have enough fish to fish for next time? I know most of you guys are 90%+ C&R, but i like to eat my fish ( i hope i dont get flamed), but from what i read there probably isn't that many bass in the pond i fish at since its maybe at most an acre. Would it be like... a fish a month or what? i don't think its stocked.. ill have to make a few phone calls to figure that out.

another question i have is.. how do you use a mepps inline spinner? everyone says its as easy as casting and reeling it in. i have tried different speeds and i NEVER get any bites on these things. all my bites have been on artificial worms, t-rigged and wacky style. i read guides on this and it seems like its so easy that the guides don't really get in depth.

thanks!

how many fish can i take from it and still have enough fish to fish for next time?

I wouldn't keep any type of fish until I knew the body of water. Some waters are polluted in all type of ways and some have warnings posted.  If the water is clean and contain healthy fish I would suggest keeping the smaller 12in Bass at a rate of a 2 or 3 fish every other week if not longer.

how do you use a mepps inline spinner?

I usually just reel it in very slowly. I never caught a bass over 2lbs on one. These spinners do work great for Perch and Crappie

What size of mepps inline spinner are you using?

Around here I see people keeping more sunfish then bass, I believe its because, they are easier to catch, can be found any where, and taste better...

When it comes to not having a lot of big bass in small ponds I beg to differ though pond size varies depending on who you talk to.

[HesterIsGod]

http://www.bassresource.com/fishing/iaconelli_panic_box.html

Check that out for inline spinners. Its about Ike's panic box. Read it and you'll find info about inline spinners. I am with you guys I never catch nothing but dinks on them except for smallmouth, especially in the winter. Thats the only time i fish them

[Paul Roberts]

[Guest muddy]

There you go Paul, Proof is in the puddin 8-)

[ohiobassmaster93]

The only way I would eat any bass (other than striper) is if I was stranded in the wilderness, and about to die of starvation. Target the trout and perch. They taste way better.

x2 for that

[Big-O]

Welcome aboard, glad to see that you are management minded from the get go. As above mentioned take out all the catfish you want and keep a close eye on how the bass numbers are cking out.

[LooksLikeSinbad]

Release the bass and pick one of these up at the drive-through on your way home!

Welcome to the board.

[Fish Chris]

SO much more logical !

To go somewhere and buy your fish dinner is:

1) So much cheaper, than the money we spend trying to catch them.

2) So much better for keeping our own fisheries good.

3) Guaranteed that you will have your fish dinner every time you choose to.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Personally speaking, I'm just so darn picky about the fish I eat. Most of the time I'd prefer a big booming fillet of fresh Salmon from Costco.... Or a Carls Juniors fish sandwich....

When I'm lucky enough to catch the Cali Halibut, I'll keep a few of those..... and maybe a few Crappie. But in general, I end up releasing about 98% of my catches for the year. Come to think about, that was 100% in 07'.

Peace,

Fish

[Popeye]

Welcome to BR!! Not much I can add that hasn't already been said by the other members. I personally catch and release ALL the bass I catch BUT will keep and eat catfish, bluegills (on occasion) and am looking forward to catching and eating some Walleye when I get back to the Midwest later this year (supposedly one of, if not the best tasting of the fresh water fish so I've heard:o) As far as inline spinners, all I've ever caught on them is Northern Pike. I reel them in at various speeds and try to change the direction of the lure ever so often by sweeping the rod tip from side to side. Northerns will demolish a spinner when they're in a feeding frenzy mode. Large spinners are very effective for Musky too, but there's probably none in the pond you fish (IF there were, then there probably wouldn't be any other fish - "Musky: all other fish are just bait!"). Again, WELCOME to BR!!!

[ba7ss3in]

Welcome to the boards, hope you have found what you were looking for.

[SV1000]

Welcome!

I disagree with 90% of people here, I like the taste of Black Bass as much as Crappie and hands down over any catfish. The Filet O' Fish is one of the primary reasons for me needing a bigger outboard; and, the fish in the stores are filthy compared to what I am eating.

I live on a private lake and I record how many people I see fishing and on what days, but I can't determine how many fish they catch or keep. There are not that many who fish the 55 acres though.

I am doing as much as I can by sinking crappie and bass habitat, logging the fish I catch to access as much as I can about the bass population, and will probably buy a few 1000 Coppernose Bluegill this summer out of my own pocket...and I am on a tight budget.

I WILL eat one or two fish every week from our lake. If I find that fish are disappearing or becoming scarce I will change my approach.

Here is a link to Pond Management from TP&W

http://www.sdafs.org/tcafs/manuals/tcafs_pond_manual_2005.pdf

Hope this helps!

[roadwarrior]

The section on Proper Harvest is particularly interesting. "Improper harvest of largemouth bass ruins future fishing in Texas ponds more often than any other cause." However, the opposite is often true! "Management" is the key.

I see nothing wrong with keeping bass in general, but I am not in favor of taking big bass that have the potential of becoming bigger bass. I want to catch 'em when they grow up!

8-)

[Shadcranker]

I'll defer to the stae fisheries biologists and wildlife resource regulators on the subject. They set size limits and creel limits for a reason, and I do not have a problem with people harvesting legally, as long as they have a license, and eat what they take.

I personally choose to practice catch and release, b/c I don't want to hassle with cleaning them, and if I do want meat, I'll go catch crappie or walleye / sauger.

From what I read, selective harvest of spotted bass and smaller LM / Sm is a good thing in many fisheries.

SC

[FD.]

I prefer catch and release for one reason only.....So that someone else may have the pleasure you just experienced.  I think it's selfish for someone who loves to CATCH bass, to remove that possibility for someone else.  I'm thinking mostly of my children and future generations.  Fishing pressure is on the rise in most areas and will not ever go down..One fish released today could be responsible for thousands of fish 10 years from now....