Bait

[bowhunter012463]

I just now notice that they added pond management to this topic so my question is that my buddy has a 1 acre pond that has LM bass and a few hybred blue gills in it and he just stocked it last year with more gill, channel cats, a couple of grass carp and I can't remember what else, I was just wondering what kind of bait fish a person would put it if if any or what about some fresh water shrimp. Thanks for any help.

[chuckster]

down here in bama some people add threadfin shad,,However the lmb slowly eradicate them,and no doubt the channel cats would get some,,His bluegills should provide adequate forage, fertilizing when then water warms would probably be the best bang for the bucks ,on a 1 acre pond the cost per application of liquid fertilizer wouldn't be much,,Main thing is fish it and keep the 3/4 # LMB,,Down here if you don't,,they all wind up that size,,The recommendations on mine when it was overpopulated with lmb was 2 1/2 +,leave em to eat the lil ones,,lessn that fry em,,,,just my take,no biologist here

[bowhunter012463]

Just talked to the biologist yesterday and said yes, thin out the large mouth bass and you have to be a millonaire to be able to add bait to a pond as food. He also stated that true bluegill would be best to add to a pond for a food source.

[chuckster]

he is right,,the threadfin shad people are,,,or were,,millionaires!

[fe1]

I think shad have to have running water source to reproduce.

[NIMROD]

Threadfin Shad die off when water temp drops into low 40 's.

[Lowellhturner]

If the pond is spring fed or over 15` deep some could easily survive the cooler temps...another possible prey species is of course crayfish from the immediate drainage if they are not yet present. Go get about 40- 50 cement blocks and toss them in 4-8 fow and then cover the blocks with 300- 400 10 hole red bricks. Add some crayfish from the immediate vicinity. It is "ideal" crayfish habitat and being cannibals as well as omnivores they will quickly populate that block and brick "crayfish condo". We just put 1 into CJ Brown and have had spectacular results in only 6 months off of it including a 4+ pd smallie and something that SNAPPED Intimidator`s 20lb braided line while almost taking his pole outta his hands...we hope to add 2-3 more this yr...

[INTIMIDATOR]

Just talked to the biologist yesterday and said yes, thin out the large mouth bass and you have to be a millonaire to be able to add bait to a pond as food. He also stated that true bluegill would be best to add to a pond for a food source.

The goal is not to continually add baitfish but to grow a self reproducing population! To do this he will have to provide cover and spawning beds with cover nearby for the baitfish.
This is the number 1 problem with Ponds, people think you just add Bass, gills, and Catfish, and that you start growing 10 pound lunker bucket-mouths! Besides water quality, cover, and other issues, you have to provide more than enough forage for the fishery to be healthy. A Bass/gill/kitty pond faces many "cycles" over it's life, and pond with varied forage, reduces the forage cycle, and allows you to concentrate on slotting your fish to get proper growth rates.
With pallet beds, pallet cover, etc, he could easily start and grow a fathead or local minnow/baitfish population...the key is cover for them! It is normally ideal to start the Fatheads or other baitfish a year or two before predators are stocked but it has also been done with a thriving fishery, it just takes alittle more work!