some advice

[seaphantom]

I'm thinking about stocking my pond with an alternate prey fish (not bluegill). I don't know how much money exactly it's gonna cost, but a truck full of shiners, shad, crappie, is what I'm looking for.

what baitfish reproduces the quickest and presents an excellent food source for bass?

any advice would be appreciated

[Rebbasser]

I'd contact your fish and wildlife dept and get their advice.

[dampeoples]

Crappies, but I think I've read somewhere that they require a deep part. You live in Georgia I see, so it might not be that big of an issue, but it's something to think about.

Plus - great fun for the kids, and excellent eating!

[zooker]

i have to agree with reb the local dnr should know plus there is special regulations on some bait fish..

my pond got 3 ponds of minnows i added some brim,and a few crappie, 1 dozen bass,10 flat heads, 15 channel catfish..
the cat fish keep the brim/crappie in check. i added a bedding area for the bass using cinder blocks-they have used it-..

the flatheadschannels are about 8-10 pounds now. i got at least 1 bass over 8 pounds.



zooker

[seaphantom]

the dnr are no longer doing to free check-ups on the lake, but I know darn well that every bass I've caught(and I've caught in the neighborhood of 1000 bass) out of there was no larger than 14 oz. . and half the fish are thin as a twig, which tells me that there's not enough food

it's frustrating, cause I believe with the time I've spent out there deserves AT LEAST ONE 4lb'er....but that aint gonna happen till I put some bass food in there

[lizardsrule]

What's the legal size limit. You might wanna consider keeping some legal size, and reducing the Bass Population, instead of trying to add more fish. I don't know what the exact numbers are, but 1 acre of water can only support "X" amount of fish. So adding more fish will not neccessarily help your problem. If you just want to feed them , put in a fish feeder. But you probably need to remove some of the Bass IMO. Crappie are good eating too, but they will compete for the food with the bass. So how's that gonna help? Keep some bass, have a fish fry, and repeat as needed.

Lizards

[Super Fluke]

Put in shad or stickle backs

[seaphantom]

read an article yesterday that suggests that there are too many bass instead of too few baitfish and just remembered that the lake was stocked about 2 years ago with an ENORMOUS amount of largemouth bass fingerlings

I think that rather than filling it up with thousands of baitfish for thousands of dollars, I'll head up to the Coosa when I get my car and catch a few of 10+ pound flatdaddys to put in the pond to loosen the bass population a bit.

...just an idea, almost official, because there are very few cats in there anyhow, needless to say no flatheads to balance the bass


what do yall think?

[skeeter944]

just take a bunch out,thats what i did to my pond and it has increased the size of my bass from a 10'' average to a 13'' average,with lots of 15-17'' fish. their main source of food is bluegill,but they have some crawdads also. i took out over 100 bass under 12'' this year,so i reccomend that. how big is your pond? mine is 7 acres.

[g_mo]

them bass love golden shiners. when i lived in florida, and the bite was slow, live baitin with some golden shiners was the ticket. man we caught many a big bass in a place called doctors inlet (north florida). cool thing about doctors inlet was that it brackish water. you could catch bucketmouths, bog ole bream, or you go after the reds and flounder. best of both worlds right there.

good luck on the water,

gary

[FlyRod]

SeaPhantom,
First, call your Game and Fish officials and, if they won't advise or help, find your local Scoutmaster, tell him you want to help the kids earn their Fishing Merit Badge, and arrange a weekend (two night) camping/fishing affair. There can be NO greater reward!
You provide the 'taters, corn meal, oil, and cast iron cauldrons...the boys provide the spirit!
Catch fish, clean and fry 'em.
Swap ghost stories around the campfire, toast up some S'mores, sing old scouting songs with 'em.
You will know that you have been blessed.

Go for it!

Fr
Former Scoutmaster, Troop 221
AKA "The Fighting Two-Twenty-First!"

[skeeter944]

hey uncle fly,did you do scouts when you were a teenager? i am a life scout and i am working on my eagle project soon.

[lizardsrule]

Originally Posted by g_mo

them bass love golden shiners. when i lived in florida, and the bite was slow, live baitin with some golden shiners was the ticket. man we caught many a big bass in a place called doctors inlet (north florida). cool thing about doctors inlet was that it brackish water. you could catch bucketmouths, bog ole bream, or you go after the reds and flounder. best of both worlds right there.

good luck on the water,

gary

Right around the corner from me. How about a few suggestions on locations. I've only fished there once, and caught a few little fellers.

Lizards

[Rodman_Rob]

Originally Posted by lizardsrule

How about a few suggestions on locations. I've only fished there once, and caught a few little fellers.

Lizards

here's a suggestion, fish for the bigger fellers.

[g_mo]

its been probably 11 years since i fished there. we would put in at a ramp on the southside and head back towards the east going towards the bridge for the reds. mullet would get in a frenzy, like the top of the water was boiling, swim a rattle trap back though the mullet. lots of reds that way. back towards the west is where we had the best luck with the shiners for bass. i go back to jax a couple times a year to visit family. maybe next time i go, i'll get a chance to get back down there and do some fishing.

[seaphantom]

Originally Posted by skeeter944

just take a bunch out,thats what i did to my pond and it has increased the size of my bass from a 10'' average to a 13'' average,with lots of 15-17'' fish. their main source of food is bluegill,but they have some crawdads also. i took out over 100 bass under 12'' this year,so i reccomend that. how big is your pond? mine is 7 acres.

my pond's 40 acres and gets to 30ft at the dam

I heard if you take out a bunch of fish on hook and line, you are taking out fish with genes that allow them to be caught, leaving the hard-to-catch fish to reproduce, resulting in a pond full of picky fish

idk, this might be bogus, but there's truth in it

flathead is a monster at eatin' bass like candy, and considering that they eat half their own weight in a month, about 10 of them would take out more bass in a month for sure.


better get my gear ready

[skeeter944]

well,you could try that, it might work.

[commanche]

you dont want a fish like a perch,bluegill, sunfish,crappie..

bass like a SMOOTH fish to eat, the backs of the others prick them..they will eat them..

also those fish grow bigger and then you have to feed them//

stick with shiners or minnows.

[texasbasser]

Originally Posted by commanche

you dont want a fish like a perch,bluegill, sunfish,crappie..

bass like a SMOOTH fish to eat, the backs of the others prick them..they will eat them..

also those fish grow bigger and then you have to feed them//

stick with shiners or minnows.

bass have no problem eating bluegill or anything with spines.

[flbassman]

Originally Posted by lizardsrule

Right around the corner from me. How about a few suggestions on locations. I've only fished there once, and caught a few little fellers.

Lizards

Pull out the depthfinder, and find a nice hole. You want something about 10 feet deeper than normal. Thats where everything will be in summer and winter. Rest of the year it's better than normal, but not neccesarily a fish gathering place. You can jig a rat-l-trap or .5 inch t-rigged ribbontail worm if you really want to fish artificials, but usually it's best to drop shrimp or any kind of live baitfish. I like to weight one down on the bottom, freeline one about halfway down, and put one up on the surface with a bobber. Bass, reds, cats, trout, something is gonna eat one of 'em if you give it time.....

Originally Posted by texasbasser

bass have no problem eating bluegill or anything with spines.

They do prefer a smooth backed fish though....

[lizardsrule]

Originally Posted by flbassman

Pull out the depthfinder, and find a nice hole. You want something about 10 feet deeper than normal. Thats where everything will be in summer and winter. Rest of the year it's better than normal, but not neccesarily a fish gathering place. You can jig a rat-l-trap or .5 inch t-rigged ribbontail worm if you really want to fish artificials, but usually it's best to drop shrimp or any kind of live baitfish. I like to weight one down on the bottom, freeline one about halfway down, and put one up on the surface with a bobber. Bass, reds, cats, trout, something is gonna eat one of 'em if you give it time.....


They do prefer a smooth backed fish though....

Thanks,

I'll look for some hoe's, er um I mean Holes

Lizards

[flbassman]

For hoe's, drive up to the northside of Jax at about 11 pm in a flashy car. Go to the corner of Phillips and Emerson and tell the man in the leapordskin overcoat: "The Oyster Wears a fine Wristwatch." He'll know what to do.... Just kiddin, I don't think thatll work, but hey, ya never know these days....

[Vabass22]

rofl flbassman

[commanche]

Originally Posted by texasbasser

bass have no problem eating bluegill or anything with spines.

bass do have problem eating a bluegill or sunfish..not only shape of those 2 and the back they prick the bass..

a bass will eat a perch over those other 2 if they are in your lake..a crappie is eaten before any of the other 3..

why, because crappie is nice and smooth going down..

minnows are best for bass over all the others,suckers,trout, crappie next, perch..

[hackattack]

maybe check for parasites if they are all skinny