so my tournament partner and I got invited to fish a private 16 acre pond that we were told had "tons of double digit bass in it". We fished a couple hours Thursday afternoon and we caught ~50 bass biggest being 5.1. We then fished Friday sun up till 12 and caught over 100 fish including a 23" fish that only weighed 3.5 pounds (look like a triangle). We caught several that were 20"+ but only weighed 3-4 pounds (these fish looked malnourished). We were a little disappointed we didn't even break the 6lb mark. We tried several different techniques depths ect.

The problem.

the next day i get a call from our host saying a kid caught a 9.5 pounder from the bank, and that 4 guys caught 40 fish that weighted 6-8 pounds in 2.5 hours all fishing from the bank.

My question is, is this possible? My fishing partner is a wildlife biologist, and said based on the condition of the fish we caught its not possible.

Possible yes ...likely no. Sounds like the lake is over populated. That being said somedays the big fish just all turn on. We have a 15 acre lake and ond day I caught probably a dozen in the 6-8lb range. Next day I couldn't catch a cold. But to say caught 40 fish all between 6-8 lbs I am calling Bull****

Highly unlikely unless they were fishing a different pond. Could maybe explain it if they were using water dogs/bluegill/large live goldfish.

Most likely explanation. Kid caught a four pounder and said it was seven. The host stretched it out to 9.5
The four guys caught 6-8 fish each averaging 2.5lbs and they got their numbers reversed.

Regardless, sounds like the pond you were fishing needs some serious double gilling of everything under 16 inches.

Sounds a little fishy. The 150 you caught is a good sample size for that size pond; probably should have seen several in the 5+ range in your catches for the day after report to sound reasonable.

It doesn't matter to me. Feel blessed that you have such a place to go and catch quality Bass. I am available anytime.

Sounds like the tank you guys fish is full of stunted bass.

I got invited to fish a pond one time that had "12 pounders" in it. Well I caught one of the "12 pounders", but I didn't have the heart to tell the owner his "12s" were really 6s. His guesstimator was multiplying by a factor of 2 on his fish but it was still a great pond.

Highly unlikely given the density of fish per acre you are describing and the likely depth of the pond (assuming the pod is in North/East/South Texas).

If it was stocked with a ton of bluegill or tilapia, I could see it. Sounds like alot of the bass you were catching could have easily been in that 6-8lb range if they were fed. They will usually all be in the same shape nutritionally, so I wouldn't think it was possible.

We had a pond back home where we caught 10 over 6 in a day and none under 4, with the biggest being 8.5lbs. They were all mud fat though. That pond also had some great crappie. They were all identical, 1.75lb healthy fish. You have to have some good food sources to have a pond like that though.

Yeah I'd say that what ya'll caught over the 2 days is a more accurate representation of what "exists" in the lake. And like some mentioned above if the fish have bigger heads and stunted looking bodies then some "culling" is necessary. Would make for a dang good fish fry too!! :-) Either way sounds like you had a BLAST catching em!!

My family has a pond back home and it got really bad a few years ago with 12" bass that had 2lber looking heads and you could catch like 30 a day easy- almost as soon as the lure hit the water they would strike. So took about 10 home one day and a few days later 10 more and maybe it helped some (not sure as I only get back there like twice a year to fish it).

A 23" bass should weigh 7.13 lbs. It was just 3.5 lbs. That fish is less than 1/2 of its relative weight (What is should weigh). In more than 300 electroshing surveys I don't ever recall a fish with a 50% relative weight. That is beyond skinny. The 20" fish that weighed 3-4 lbs are about 75% of relative weight. When weights are below 80% you have a severe issue. You have too many predators ( bass) to support the forage base. There is less than a zero % chance the other group caught 40 6-8 lb fish. Amazes me how many guestimates people have that are so far off.

Yep. I see it 3-4 times a week at local events. Some are pretty close, most are off by 50% or more.

Nope....kid is full of [censored]

Bass are voracious feeders....not enough food in a 16 acre pond....have to supplement it constantly

we have a 30acre lake on the family ranch. Last spring there was a 12 and a couple of nines caught out of it. The lack of rain last summer and heat pulled it down to about 20 acres of water. I assume it was full-on baitfish slaughter but between that and the floods this past winter and spring, the fishing has been terrible and we've not caught a fish over 5lbs out of it this year.
We have a biologist scheduled to come out and have a look and tell us how to proceed.