Introducing new fish to lake.

[seaphantom]

The lake I live on evidently does not have enough bass food in it.
Yes, there are bluegill, but they are not cutting it for the large bass population in this lake. Therefore, the bass growth is stunted, with a large majority of the fish being around 12 inches long.

So, what I am thinking about doing is fishing the lake out of the little fish as much as possible and transferring them to other bodies of water. Meanwhile, I may stock a good amount of gizzard shad. That way, the amount of small hungry fish will decline and a surplus of food will emerge.

What do you guys think of this idea? Are there other baitfish that may be also suitable for introduction?

thanks,



sp

[bass kicker]

i would check with local regulations first in canada it is illegal to do that

but it would probaly in crease the size of the bass

[striker23]

Check with your department of natural resources, or whatever its called where you live. Sometimes introducing new species can damage the balance of an ecosystem. Its not always easy to introduce a new species, make sure the enviornment will be suitable for them to survive and reproduce. Theres a good chance if you ask the DNR they will say no.

[K-Driz]

Whatever you do, do not introduce gizzard shad. Those things are big water shad and will beat out all of your other baitfish. Eventually they will get big enough, close to 15 inches in length, so that the bass cannot eat them and your fingerling bass that rely on small food sources will also not be able to compete with the gizzard shad. I've seen many small waters in Kentucky devastated by gizzard shad introduction. They overpopulate and stunt all the other fishes' growth. Then Fish and Wildlife gets to come to the lake and eradicate all fish in the lake. Sounds like fun to me!

If you're going to put anything in your lake, stock something that doesn't reach a large size and doesn't compete with the lake's original fish, such as fathead minnows or something of the like.

[fishn'fool]

Sometimes transfering one fish to a new pond isn't always the best idea. The fish you put in there may have parasites, fungus or other diseases that the other fish can catch. If you want new fish to put in you pond its best to get them from a fish hatchery from your local conservation service. In some circumstances having fish stocked is free in some states.

[lizardsrule]

Originally Posted by K-Driz

Whatever you do, do not introduce gizzard shad. Those things are big water shad and will beat out all of your other baitfish. Eventually they will get big enough, close to 15 inches in length, so that the bass cannot eat them and your fingerling bass that rely on small food sources will also not be able to compete with the gizzard shad. I've seen many small waters in Kentucky devastated by gizzard shad introduction. They overpopulate and stunt all the other fishes' growth. Then Fish and Wildlife gets to come to the lake and eradicate all fish in the lake. Sounds like fun to me!

If you're going to put anything in your lake, stock something that doesn't reach a large size and doesn't compete with the lake's original fish, such as fathead minnows or something of the like.

Listen to this man talk, do not put Gizzard Shad in this pond under any circumstances.

Lizards

[bassguy2004]

I would check with your local Fish and Game about stocking this pond. We wouldn't want you to be making posts from the local jail. GET PERMISSION before your stocking endevor.

[squack15]

Definitely listen to K-Driz about the gizzards, they're bad news in smaller bodies of water.

Second, I have a few questions? Are there a lot of small fish in the pond? Bass will reproduce until they eventually overpopulate your body of water and stunt their own growth. If thats the case, about all you can do is remove a large majority of the bass.

I've done a lot of research on this topic, and you have to start from the bottom of the food chain to the top. Almost all baby fish (bluegill, bass, minnows, etc.) eat small zooplankton throughout much of their first year. These zooplankton eat algaes, phytoplanktons, and other microscopic autotrophs. You have to get a healthy reproducing pop of these little microscopic guys to have a healthy growing population of baby fish. There are several products out there that you can add to your body of water to help boost the phytoplankton and zooplankton levels. Next, bass need a stable source of food if they're going to get big. Most ponds rely on bluegill and other sunfish for this (don't use green sunfish b/c they're more aggressive than bass and will take over ponds). Again, this is where food comes into play. Setting up feeding stations that throw dog food or specialized fish food out into the lake is a great way to boost the sunfish population. I've also personally tried adding fathead minnows to the population. These fish are great for getting a pond started, but almost never can keep up w/ the feeding needs of the bass. You can throw 5 pounds (about 50 dozen fish) into a 5 acre pond and they'll be gone in a month. Getting the bluegill pop going is your best bet. Last, and possibly the most important thing. ALL small fish need cover and places to hide. Put some cover, rip rap, brushpiles, aquatic plants, etc to allow the small (and large fish for that matter) places to get away. The baby fish have a place to keep from getting eaten while they grow, and the larger fish have places to hunt for the smaller fish.

Get on the internet and google the topic. You'll get tons of hits. Ray Scott has written several articles about it and even has a video out. Check them out, you can turn a pond w/ nothing but 12 inches into a pond w/ 5 pounders in just a few years if you manage it right.

Oh yeah, and like these guys make sure that all the stuff you want to put in there is legal!

Good luck, you'll have a pond you will want to keep a secret in no time.

[fishing_sniper]

if it is a public body of water there probably aint much u can do sept fish out the smaller bass if its a smaller private lake u may be able to get some ferterlizer(search around and find some for this purpose) and spread it around to increase ur small uhh bigword "autotrophs" or plant things ive done this with a few ponds but in most places it is illigal to introduce any wildlife caught any were to an area especialy to an area were they were previously non existant now another thing, white perch is a fish that bass can feed on the smaller ones and the bigger white perch will eat smaller bass but ull have to keep the white perch nocked back because theyll push every other fish out but as i opened with if it is a public lake there is probably very little you can do

[JB]

I agree with bassguy,
contact the state DNR and see what options are available for letting the state stock the pond, they do it here in ohio...plus, anyone that has handled any kind of shad knows, they are hard to keep alive, transport, stock etc...your better off with game fish like bluegills, crappie, perch, catfish, walleye, whitebass, bass....which ever combination that the water will support.

[squack15]

That last post reminded me of something. If you want a good bass fishery, don't introduce crappie!! They will out compete largemouth in smaller bodies of water every time.

[bass kicker]

start keeping the bluegills sounds like an article i read in a magizine about over population of blue gills so start eating them

[seaphantom]

Originally Posted by bass kicker

start keeping the bluegills sounds like an article i read in a magizine about over population of blue gills so start eating them

Why keep bluegill, if apparently there's not enough food as it is?


seaphantom

[LoneStarAngler07]

Check and see if its legal first...if it is...add some large minnows to that mix. great idea...if its legal

[Mac3]

You may wish to call the attention of the Wildlife folks to the problem. They may wish to introduce a slot system or other means of control. They may even do some of those shocking surveys with the electricity.....

That way, they could tell you if the bass are truly stunted, or if you've done like me and gone on a small fish catching spree. Normally, I've read that the larger bass only compose about 3 percent of the total bass population in any given body of water.

As a lot of the folks have already pointed out, introduction of a new species can easily backfire. Best to talk to a fisheries biologist before trying any introductions. Just my opinion.....good fishing, Mac

[Bass Ackwards]

The last thing you would want to do is be responsible for destroying an ecosystem.

Alert the governing bodies to the possible problems but be careful with your actions as it could end up costing you big bucks if you are caught doing damaging the environment. Big corps can and do a lot of damage as it is but they get away with it because the fines are much less than the profits. I'm not sure you can afford that kind of trouble.

[senko]

first off,make sure it is legal.then try threadfin shad or bluegills.that way,you can match your lure color to the color of the forage.

[seaphantom]

Checked with Georgia DNR, they do not do the shocking survey any longer.

I don't know, I'll just probably fish this thing out of little bass as much as I can for now.

It's strange though, that out of 5 whole months of flat-out fishing, the biggest fish was a 2 pounder. I used senkos, lizards, worms, real worms, roostertails, poppers, flukes, recently p-n-j, and none caught larger (at least 3lb) fish...

I don't know what to use. I was told by several neighbors that a several 9 pounders have been caught out of here. One man claimed that he hooked into a double digit bass.. on a regular plstic worm in April.

I haven't tried live bait yet.. maybe I should freeline a minnow or two? Then again, I'd probably catch one of those 14 ouncers..

I've seen large fish showing on the fish finder, sitting on the bottom of the dam. How the heck do I get them to bite? I never could...


sp

[flbassman]

Are there any lakes nearby? If so, introduce some bait from there. Also, you can build a shock fisher from a large battery and some other standard garage supplies. I have never succesfully done this, but have tried, and fried a few of mom's koi My friend and I saved the 15 acre pond he llived on by exporting small bass, and bringing in bait. Build a bait pen out of wood a screening material, and submerge it in the lake, begin filling it, and after a few days, the bait will be used to the climate. Let some out, bring in more, let some out etc.

[fishn'fool]

I don't know if I would try and make my own electircal fish shocker. Mixing electricity and water isn't very good when you don't have the know how. Plus making a shocking pole is alittle more than a car battery and some wires. To shock fish they use generators and they regulates ampage in water, because certain lakes on certain days my take alittle or a lot of amps to shock fish. I've delt with shocking equipment, and some levels of ampage that are put into water to shock fish can be very harmful to us!! So it's best to leave the shocking up to your conservation agency so you don't kill the fish or yourself.

[flbassman]

Oh, it's DEFINITELY a bad idea...

[striker23]

Hey seaphantom , what kind of a lake is this exactly? Ive fished lakes with monster bass that dont bite but the smaller ones around the sizes you are mentioning do bite. is this a recently man made lake?

[basstech]

I think the growing season is probably more affecting the growth rate of bass. Bluegill and other small sunfishes are preyed on just as much as shad. I would consider the size of the impoundment also. If it's under three to five hundred surface acres. I wouldn't do it. You may get bigger bass for a year or two, but after about 5 years you'll probably see a big decline in numbers of bass because the fry and fingerlings compete for the same forage and shad can easily out breed bass. They (the shad) tend to grow faster eat more. So a lot fewer fish will reach adult hood. That shad gorge them selves on the bass's eggs as well as many other small fish.

[abugarcia6]

well i had an old pond and my grandpa built me a new one so i fished all those bluegills and small bass out of the old one and put in the new one and i went down to the old pond to fish today...and it worked i caught some very nice sized bass