Posted: 10/21/2024 7:58:01 PM EDT
| I have a 3.5 acre pond, stream feed, about 12 ft deep. It has Bass and Bream. I don't fish it much but allow friends and family occasionally. In the last 4 weeks I have had a couple family members coming and fishing a few times a week. By my count they have pulled out around 25 bass and 15 bream, in the last 4 weeks. Do I need to slow their roll? |
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Sub 12" Bass need culled and they're damn good eating. Personally, I'd impose a slot length limit before your ecosystem gets thrown out of balance. Bream, I wouldn't worry too much. |
Can't never could 'til try came along.
"All welchers should be removed from the EE".-Aimless
R.I.P. to the EE
"All welchers should be removed from the EE".-Aimless
R.I.P. to the EE
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Originally Posted By alacop: I have a 3.5 acre pond, stream feed, about 12 ft deep. It has Bass and Bream. I don't fish it much but allow friends and family occasionally. In the last 4 weeks I have had a couple family members coming and fishing a few times a week. By my count they have pulled out around 25 bass and 15 bream, in the last 4 weeks. Do I need to slow their roll? Catch and keep as many bream as possible. They may have already destroyed your balance taking so many bass. We never keep a bass out of our pond unless there are too many of one age class. It is hard to take too many bluegills. They spawn up to six times a year while bass spawn once. |
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
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I helped a friend who has a similar size pond with an over-abundance of small fish. I removed a ton of small bass in a week. Added brush piles as there was no cover at all. We "fed" the bass a few thousand minnow, bluegill and tilapia (note, the tilapia removed all the snot grass and it is now clean water). Three years later, there are an abundance of 4-7# and at least one 10# swimming in there. And, yes, there are small bass in there which means they are reproducing just fine. Time to cull again. We are due to feed the pond this spring without tilapia. Based upon my experience, you should definitely remove under 14" and the BG. Less mouths to feed and allow larger fish to grow. Impose catch & release for bass over 14" and you will get some quality fish in there. |
| It’s a good start. 25 bass out of a 3.5 acre pond is not even scratching the surface. You need to remove fish so the others will grow bigger. See if your State Game agency publishes a pond management book. Ohio put out a great pond management guide that several friends use. |