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What kind of baitfish to put in a 1 acre pond #14681140 04/04/23 06:23 PM
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N. D. L. Offline OP
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i have a pond with a couple sunfish and 15 small bass, i want them to get big. what would be the best forage for them?

Re: What kind of baitfish to put in a 1 acre pond [Re: N. D. L.] #14681469 04/05/23 12:21 AM
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Tilapia


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Re: What kind of baitfish to put in a 1 acre pond [Re: N. D. L.] #14681977 04/05/23 03:24 PM
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By a couple sunfish, do you mean the population of sunfish is a couple or you have a couple species of sunfish?

Generally a combination of bluegill (at least 25:1 ratio of BG:LMB by number) and tilapia (50-100 lbs/acre) work well in Texas. Add at least daily feeding from an automatic feeder and your bluegill and tilapia production can easily double, which increases forage abundance and condition for your bass to eat. Harvest any bass that are less than at least 95% relative weight by two years post-stocking (https://www.aces.edu/blog/topics/fish-water/fish-relative-weight-calculator/). Keep the bass population low by harvesting under-performers and you'll have giants in a few years (assuming the pond has good water chemistry and about 30% of its area occupied by some type of cover/habitat).


Scott Jones
Re: What kind of baitfish to put in a 1 acre pond [Re: N. D. L.] #14683438 04/06/23 08:39 PM
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Start with about ten pounds of Fathead minnows. After a short while, add about 500 3 inch bluegills.

To really do it right, get rid of unknowns, rotenone and start over.

Re: What kind of baitfish to put in a 1 acre pond [Re: Outdoordude] #14690740 04/14/23 06:26 PM
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It has like 3 or 4 medium sunfish total

Re: What kind of baitfish to put in a 1 acre pond [Re: N. D. L.] #14708340 05/02/23 07:38 PM
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Fathead minnows they reproduce several times a year.

Re: What kind of baitfish to put in a 1 acre pond [Re: N. D. L.] #14721234 05/15/23 04:32 PM
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NDL, what size is the pond?

Re: What kind of baitfish to put in a 1 acre pond [Re: Dave Davidson] #14721239 05/15/23 04:39 PM
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Originally Posted by Dave Davidson
Start with about ten pounds of Fathead minnows. After a short while, add about 500 3 inch bluegills.

To really do it right, get rid of unknowns, rotenone and start over.


This right here

Re: What kind of baitfish to put in a 1 acre pond [Re: N. D. L.] #14723000 05/17/23 03:17 AM
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My take: forget the fathead minnows. With 15 bass they will be gone before they even think about spawning. Instead add 10 pounds of Tilapia followed a month later by 500 3 inch bluegills. The Tilapia will begin spawning right away and take predation pressure off the bluegills. They wlll also keep your pond algae free and that is no small benefit.

Re: What kind of baitfish to put in a 1 acre pond [Re: Meadowlark] #14727989 05/22/23 01:39 PM
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Originally Posted by Meadowlark
My take: forget the fathead minnows. With 15 bass they will be gone before they even think about spawning. Instead add 10 pounds of Tilapia followed a month later by 500 3 inch bluegills. The Tilapia will begin spawning right away and take predation pressure off the bluegills. They wlll also keep your pond algae free and that is no small benefit.




Plus #1. This guy knows pond management! thumb


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