Stunted Bass Growth Problem

[seaphantom]

Hi everyone,


there's an evident problem with the lake I live on now...
The bass are overpopulated and 95% of them are below one pound in weight.
An occasional 2-pounder is considered a very big fish here.

...this may link to the fact that the lake lacks structure, especially in deeper water. As I've said before, it is a 50 acre private lake-pond with a great visibility and a max. depth at dam of 30ft.

I was thinking about sinking my Christmas tree at the dam, something that may help.

can you guys think of something that can be done to increase the amount of good-sized bass that this lake desperately needs?

thank you,


sp

[fishn'fool]

If you can get permission to do this, take out some of those small bass! Since I don't know the total fish number I can't say how many bass to take out. This will open up more food for the bass that remain and give them a chance to grow and have less competition for food.
Adding structure probably wont help with the bass being over populated, but it is still a great idea! Not only will it help the bass but other species of fish will benefit too! Not only are christmas trees good but wood pallets, tirers tied together and sunken, and piles of big chunk rock or sinder blocks work great.
How many surface acres is the lake?

[texasnitro]

yea take out some of those small bass. and if there are blue gills in there u need to just chunk out some dog food every once in awhile to get all of the little baitfish healthy and fat for the bass

[betursweetbass]

You can't go wrong asking questions here, there's a lot of sharp guys here that have tons of good advice, but if you find yourself without a lot of good replies....do what I do when I need an answer fast....GOOGLE it...Dropping trees can't do it all, sounds like your going to have to find some way to supply a second or third food source on a regular basis for a while. Maybe your local Game and Wildlife office can provide you will some good advice too. If the lake/pond is indeed privately owned, contacting the owner before hand would be adviseable if you feel it would be possible and fruitfull to do so. I don't see anyway to find a quick fix to this scenario, except to drop a couple hundred 5 pounders in there. Good Luck, I'm sure others will have some good tips for you too.

[Rodman_Rob]

what makes you so sure there's only small fish in this lake? how many small have you caught compared to 2+lbs? hopefully you're making this assumption based on a large # of fish you've caught. Is it just you maybe? If not, you could always dump some shiners in there along with some hog feed(good shiner food). Gizzard Shad have a tendency to overpopulate a lake so I'd stay away from them. I'd also dump a ton of minnows in there as well. They're always cheap, and domestic minnows don't take long to be gobbled up. Dumping the christmas tree would be a start, I'd also dump any other trees, brush, branches from the yard you could find, along with rocks, tires, manmade PVC structures, etc. Of course before you dump anything, check with local and state regulations to avoid trouble with the law.

[K-Driz]

Removing fish from the lake yourself is a good idea, but it would hardly put a dent in the bass population since the lake is 50 acres in size. The best and wisest decision would be to contact your neighborhood representative and present the situation. Another idea would be to call your local fisheries and wildlife officials or DNR and ask them to come to your body of water and do a shocking sample of the fish in the lake. They are the real authorities on lake and pond management and can really help you make the best of your fishing hole. I hope this helps and good luck.

[bassintom]

i agree with driz,the best thing is contact local fisheries or wildlife people and get a professional opinion.

[JB]

You should ask if you can take out those 12-13 inch fish, maybe even transplant them to other bodies of water if they are healthy. You will notice that the younger smaller bass are more aggressive in biting, I am sure there are larger fish in there too.. also observe what bait fish are there, small frey, bluegills, crappie, cats, bass...in other words is there enough forage for any fish to grow bigger...most state have officials that will test the waters or recommend what to do for free.... I am betting there are bigger fish in the body of water than you realize, but the smaller aggressive fish are getting to your lures ....

[everettvet]

Here is an idea, not the cheapest idea, but an idea. If you have several buddies who also fish this lake, why don't you just look under the water and see what is there. Look at getting one of those aqua view cameras. They price for about $200.00. My dad has an 1.5 acre pond and I think I will get him one for fathers day. They are a little spendy, but I think it will give you the most accurate view of the "under water world."

[seaphantom]

Originally Posted by Rodman_Rob

how many small have you caught compared to 2+lbs? hopefully you're making this assumption based on a large # of fish you've caught.

Me and a couple of other guys have fished this lake for about 7 months now.
Between us, I hold the record fish lol, a 2 lb 7 oz caught on a senko before a thunderstorm. Obviously he was released.

Overall, out of about 210 fish, two were 2lb +, and the others were 16 oz and below.

I have heard stories from last year that some individuals of around 9lbs were present in the shallows from time to time.

caught and took out a few bass today, had a good time,


sp

[seaphantom]

Originally Posted by everettvet

Here is an idea, not the cheapest idea, but an idea. If you have several buddies who also fish this lake, why don't you just look under the water and see what is there. Look at getting one of those aqua view cameras. They price for about $200.00. My dad has an 1.5 acre pond and I think I will get him one for fathers day. They are a little spendy, but I think it will give you the most accurate view of the "under water world."

we've acutally already got one, about to try it out


thanks for the suggestion,


sp

[everettvet]

Let me know how it works. I am curious to know if they are as good as it shows on the tv. Usually they are not! Good luck!

[Nitro911]

It has been a number of years since my fisheries management classes, so I don't remember the exact numbers, but a body of water will only support a given number of pounds of fish. If on a given body of water you can support 1000 pounds of bass, they can be either 1000 1 pound fish or they can be a 100 10 pounders (wouldn't THAT be nice?), or some combination thereof. It sounds to me like your lake has not had much in the way of a harvest and is overpopulated with fish, but the only way to be sure is to have your Game Warden come out and take a sample and make recommendations for improving the fishery.

Catch and release is the only way I fish for bass anymore, but I think that we, as fishermen (and women), have overdone it to a degree. It works fine in large reservoirs and lakes, but can do real damage to the fishing on smaller bodies of water.

[fishn'fool]

Nitro911
In my aquatics class we learned that a surface acre of water should hold about 50 to 75 pounds of bass for an acre, and 250 pounds of blue gill per acre. I know this formula is for a pond, but I'm sure it's similar for lakes too.

[lizardsrule]

Originally Posted by Nitro911

It has been a number of years since my fisheries management classes, so I don't remember the exact numbers, but a body of water will only support a given number of pounds of fish. If on a given body of water you can support 1000 pounds of bass, they can be either 1000 1 pound fish or they can be a 100 10 pounders (wouldn't THAT be nice?), or some combination thereof. It sounds to me like your lake has not had much in the way of a harvest and is overpopulated with fish, but the only way to be sure is to have your Game Warden come out and take a sample and make recommendations for improving the fishery.

Catch and release is the only way I fish for bass anymore, but I think that we, as fishermen (and women), have overdone it to a degree. It works fine in large reservoirs and lakes, but can do real damage to the fishing on smaller bodies of water.

Couldn't agree more

Lizards

[everettvet]

I don't know about your state, but Kentucky will send someone out and go around and "shock" the pond and will survey the fish they get. It does not kill the fish, but will give you a representation of the fish population. My dad had this done last summer to assess the "quality" of fish in his young pond. I was not able to see this, but he said it was really neat and he got a great report on the pond. Just an idea!

[seaphantom]

I will take advice, as long as this is not costly,


sp

[everettvet]

Originally Posted by everettvet

I don't know about your state, but Kentucky will send someone out and go around and "shock" the pond and will survey the fish they get. It does not kill the fish, but will give you a representation of the fish population. My dad had this done last summer to assess the "quality" of fish in his young pond. I was not able to see this, but he said it was really neat and he got a great report on the pond. Just an idea!

I talked to my dad and he said that he contacted the local university (Murray State University) and he talked to someone in the biology dept. that deals with aquatics. This person gave him the name of the person in the state to contact. The fee was $0.00. He said they also did water quality samples to.