Really frustrated...
 

I bought a 6 acre pond that is about 30 years old. Max depth of 12
feet with little/no cover. I stocked it with 200 LM bass (6 in.) 4
years ago.. with 30 channel cat and baitfish. I've caught HUGE
bluegill and about a 20 in. cat but no bass! It's driving me nuts. I
consider myself an average fisherman but do you think the bass are
gone? I don't know what was in there before 3 years ago - but a
neighbor mentioned a winter kill about 5 years ago. I'm in Indiana.
Did icefish a perch 2 years ago too.. Any ideas?

Really frustrated...
 

Me wrote:
I bought a 6 acre pond that is about 30 years old. Max depth of 12
feet with little/no cover. I stocked it with 200 LM bass (6 in.) 4
years ago.. with 30 channel cat and baitfish. I've caught HUGE
bluegill and about a 20 in. cat but no bass! It's driving me nuts. I
consider myself an average fisherman but do you think the bass are
gone? I don't know what was in there before 3 years ago - but a
neighbor mentioned a winter kill about 5 years ago. I'm in Indiana.
Did icefish a perch 2 years ago too.. Any ideas?

6 Inch bass restock, the fish were kind of small for restocking a small
lake, with unknown predators in it. 1 flat head catfish could have eaten
them all, or a gar or two, or a couple of Northerns in there, and those
bass would have had a tough time making it.

How clear is the water ?

Have you not seen any bass along the bank, all these years ?

How often do you fish it ?

I would recommend you using a Rooster Tail, exclusively, for the next
couple of fishing days, if there are "any bass" in that lake now, you
will catch a few on that rooster tail, if you stick with it. What you
really want to catch are some bass "less" than 12 inches long, this
means you have had some of the original 200 that reproduced. You will
also catch any other predators on that lure, so it might tell you what
else is in there, that their parents ate your bass

You catching "huge" blue gills, tells me something must be eating those
small ones, to allow enough food for the big ones, to get so big, we
hope it's your large mouth eating them, but it could be other predators

Small lakes quickly get over populated with bream (stunting their
growth) unless something is taking them out.

I would also add some cover to the lake, sink a few evergreen trees, if
you have bass in there, these trees will hold them in a couple of
locations, not all the time, but most of the time, there will be a bass
or two around them, and be the place to target your fishing.

If you stock again without clearing your lake of all fish, stock 12 inch
or over bass. They will have a 500% greater chance of survival to
reproducing
--
Rodney Long,
Inventor of the Mojo SpecTastic "WIGGLE" rig, SpecTastic Thread,
Boomerang Fishing Pro. ,Stand Out Hooks ,Stand Out Lures,
Mojo's Rock Hopper & Rig Saver weights, and the EZKnot
http://www.ezknot.com

Really frustrated...
 

On Wed, 06 Sep 2006 22:22:13 -0400, Me wrote:


I bought a 6 acre pond that is about 30 years old. Max depth of 12
feet with little/no cover. I stocked it with 200 LM bass (6 in.) 4
years ago.. with 30 channel cat and baitfish. I've caught HUGE
bluegill and about a 20 in. cat but no bass! It's driving me nuts. I
consider myself an average fisherman but do you think the bass are
gone? I don't know what was in there before 3 years ago - but a
neighbor mentioned a winter kill about 5 years ago. I'm in Indiana.
Did icefish a perch 2 years ago too.. Any ideas?

Heh heh, let me guess...is that the pond that is located:
"through knee high grass, across the cornfield, over a barbed wire
fence, across the cattle field (before the dog catches wind of you),
across another barbed wire fence and across 2 muddy ditches about a
mile off of this old county road that nobody knows about..." ?

In all seriousness...the bass might be in there...but just might
be stacked up on 1 specific type of structure (ie. a ditch, huge tree
in middle of lake, wind-blown point)...so don't give up on the bass
yet. You might want to invite a very good fisherman to your lake to
help give you info as to what the problem might be (if you are in
central Indiana, I'm often available for jobs like this...:)

Keep in mind that there are some things that will kill off your
fish (ie. chemical run-off, some types of algae, hard freeze w/o
oxygen). You might want to investigate their food sources too (ie.
crafish, shad, bluegill/crappie, minnows)...but, generally, a lack of
food won't kill off your fish...but will usually just limit their
growth. Consider seining "some" (not all) crawfish from a watering
hole and dumping them into your pond to get them started. Plant some
brushpiles in your lake for some ambush points that the fish can
relate to. If the lake is protected from the wind, consider adding a
fountain or aerator to the lake. If you have a thousand geese
(actually, 25 geese will do the trick) that live on your lake...get
rid of em as your lake might be "pooped-out". There's quite a few
things you can do to get your lake on the right track...the main thing
is don't let one poor stocking make you give up on your pond's ability
to recreate.

IMO, usually the best thing you can do for a small pond like that
is to add a dozen to twenty small fish (8"-14") to your lake every
year as the mix will usually produce a healthy stock of bass.

--
Dwayne E. Cooper, Atty at Law
Indianapolis, IN
Email:
Web Page: http://www.cooperlegalservices.com
Personal Fishing Web Page: http://www.hoosierwebsites.com/OnTheWater
Dog Fishing: http://www.hoosierwebsites.com/onthe...fishing040.htm
1st Annual ROFB Classic Winner

Really frustrated...
 

Thanks guys! Both og you made alot of sense and I appreciate the
feedback.... I will start with some stucture sinking and try to
figure a way to put larger bass in there. I don't have a trailer to
take the boat to a regular lake though. Didn't know catfish ate bass
- I have a feeling they could be a reason, and, the bluegill pop. has
decreased the last few years... I can catch 8 to 9 inchers from a
stream do the road but I heard 'stream' bass might not be good...
true?

Really frustrated...
 

Me wrote:


Thanks guys! Both og you made alot of sense and I appreciate the
feedback.... I will start with some stucture sinking and try to
figure a way to put larger bass in there. I don't have a trailer to
take the boat to a regular lake though. Didn't know catfish ate bass

Bass are great catfish bait, where it is legal to use them


- I have a feeling they could be a reason, and, the bluegill pop. has
decreased the last few years...


I think you need to do some fishing with "live" bream for bait, (catch
them out of your stream) if you have some big cats in there, you can
catch some of them out using live bream for bait. If you have any trees
over hanging the bank, set as many limb lines as you can with live
bream, and leave them over night. Keep setting them until you stop
catching those cats

I can catch 8 to 9 inchers from a
stream do the road but I heard 'stream' bass might not be good...
true?


Stream bass are sometimes stunted, they could be a few years old and
only 8 inches long, this is due to lack of food though, and not
genetics. This just means when they get all the food they can, they will
not live long enough to grow big enough to be a trophy

They could produce some good bass when they spawn though

--
Rodney Long,
Inventor of the Mojo SpecTastic "WIGGLE" rig, SpecTastic Thread,
Boomerang Fishing Pro. ,Stand Out Hooks ,Stand Out Lures,
Mojo's Rock Hopper & Rig Saver weights, and the EZKnot
http://www.ezknot.com