Amric

Thanks for the interesting discussion. It appears there is no definitive answer other than to manage the pond for the results one desires. I was originally thinking that it would help the bass to have bluegill as well, but now I am not sure. In my case, I would not expect that I could actively manage the pond as it is not heavily fished. Personally, I have a hard time believing that introducing bluegill will overrun the LMB population, but I'm no expert, and if it is true that the bluegill prey effectively on bass fry and eggs, maybe he has a point. Since bass do eat other bass, it seems like the larger fish will always have a supply of smaller fish to prey on. I know there are a ton of smaller bass in there. Do LMB prefer to prey on other species or are they non-discriminatory when it comes to feeding? If they are just as likely to prey on each other, maybe it is better to leave the pond as is.

Our 5 acre relatively shallow pond in SW Michigan has only LMB - the largest I've caught is maybe 10 lbs, but the majority of the population are much smaller. I always thought bass and bluegill were a healthy mix, so we were thinking of stocking adult blugill for forage. Then over the course of my research I came across this article from the Michigan Wildlife Conservancy. One would think they know what they are talking about, but this suprised me so I thought I would pass it by you guys for your opinions on its accuracy. The excerpt I'm referring to is: The best warmwater fish species for most Michigan ponds is the largemouth bass. They grow well and reproduce readily in ponds that have some sand over shallow water. Largemouth bass do well even if they are the only fish species in the pond. A widespread myth is that pond owners must stock one or more prey species for the bass. The ones most often pushed are bluegill, sunfish and various minnows. In truth, the bass-bluegill combination is often a disaster after the first four or five years. The bluegills actually prey more effectively on the bass, gobbling up their eggs and fry, and effectively shutting-down bass reproduction. Bass are generally unable to eat enough of the right sizes of bluegills to keep down the bluegill population, so the result is a stunted population of bluegills and a gradually aging population of bass. Worst still, the overabundant small fish eat-up the pond's supply of tiny water fleas (zooplankton). Without a good population of algae-eating zooplankton, the algae community grows unchecked, giving the water undesirable green blooms. Fishing out the bluegills by hook-and-line is impractical, and even intensive seining and removal of the stunted sunfish seldom corrects the problem. Fathead minnows are a better choice for stocking as a prey species for bass, but they usually must be restocked periodically. Bass eat such a variety of prey, including small bass, crayfish, tadpoles, frogs, and insects, that providing a fish prey species is often not necessary. Bass can be stocked in combination with trout in deep ponds without such serious problems. The rest of the text is here: http://www.miwildlife.org/h-ponds.asp I thought the bass would do better with bluegill for forage, but this author's contention seems to be that the bluegill will outcompete the bass! Is this consistent with anything you have heard before? ???