Deer lease pond

We have a 10 acre pond that's about 15' deep at the dam. Water stays fairly clear and has a good amount of grass and shoreline cover in it. It only has bass, bream and minnows. The water has been full for the last few years and the bass got real healthy looking in the last year. It seems like it has hit a wall where the largest bass tend to be about 4 pounds and i'm starting to see some skinny fish again. There appears to be plenty of bait and I have been doing my best to take some small fish out. I've probably taken out 100 in the last year. We have a new owner that may be a little more receptive to making improvements to the pond. Wondering what else we could be doing?

Take a good look at the forage base; bluegills. A predator needs prey that is 1/4 to 1/3 it's size. It's a matter of calories obtained vs calories(energy) burned to get the groceries. Also, a predator needs to eat 10 pounds of prey to gain one pound. There are other considerations but these are a couple of the basics.

If the bass are getting thin, you likely have a forage issue. 90% of lakes we survey the owner thinks they have "lots" of forage (bluegill/redear/shinners/shad/minnows). And in virtually all cases they do not have enough. The amount of food a bass eats is astonishing. Removing 100 small bass (1/2 to 1 lb) from a 10 acre pond is likely 1/4 to 1/3 of what you need to remove. Try getting more aggressive with your harvest and see if the weights come up. Moreover, try a measure and weigh a few fish and compare to a relative weight chart. Again, my experience is that most landowners think their fish are "healthy" (meaning their weight is where it should be. But most over estimate their weight by 5% to 15%. Anything over 95% is good. Anything below 85% is poor. 85% to 95% your doing OK.

If your not familar with how to use a relative weight chart here is a chart and brief article.

Relative Weight Chart

we always take a pound of minnows & dump them in ours

Where is it and can I fish there?

If you need help harvesting fish, let me know. I have a kayak so I could help get to the fish and harvest anything under 14 inches.

me too

Me three. ;-)