Hog Basser

Okay, that makes sense then. Too big for the stunted bass to eat. When they spawn, all the babies are being eaten by the stunted bass immediately and nothing is left. I'd say definitely cull a lot of bass, probably more than the recommended amount above. Hopefully, some of the baby bluegill will grow into the midsize range then and keep providing food throughout the year instead of being devoured immediately.

Thanks, I just got one too and I'm planning on putting it to the real test this weekend. Hopefully I can report some monster bass on it.

Try the articles in this section: http://www.bassresource.com/lake-management/ I manage some ponds on our land and this has helped me immensely. Also, the pond boss forums are chock full of information and experts on the subject. My opinion based on what I've researched: cull as many bass as possible from 10"-14", you will not run out of bass easily. Crappie are debatable, in extra large ponds they are okay, but can hurt your forage fish population in something that size if you don't cull some. Crappie spawn is erratic, so a problem may not present itself right away. Leave the bluegill alone, you want them spawning. What size are they? It is odd to have a lot of bluegill and stunted bass, you may need to do a little research. Some experts recommend removing 15-20 lbs of bass per surface acre per year, but it can vary depending on your location and individual situation. If you are really serious about managing the ponds, you may want to look at having an expert come out and do an electrofishing survey. They can get a real idea of the health and size of all fish in the pond and even cull some right then if needed. I'm currently keeping records of all the fish I catch out of our ponds to determine the overall health of the fishery, this takes more time than electrofishing, but it's a lot of fun to get to go fishing. Good luck!

We'd have some world records if that was our mid-to-small range! I wish.

I fished down here in Arkansas about a month ago in the lowlands in similar conditions. Not sure what will work up there, but here are a few baits that worked for me down here. Rebel Craw crankbait - used the darker red version Multi-jointed Swimbait - I used a Rose Kuli I bought online on a whim and it worked. The one if have is the rainbow trout color.

what part of the country?

Oops, typo, I meant 10"-15". I'll edit that. Thanks for catching.

I toss it mainly in a smaller private lake with lots of logs and weeds. It did real well about a month ago for my nephew running it parallel to shore from our boat along some log cover in about 5-6 ft. of water. I haven't tried it in a stream since I don't fish those much anymore. You'll catch some weeds, but I get plenty of action from the bass and even a few crappie when throwing it. I leave both trebles on.

I agree, I can't bring myself to buy those. That's why I always go with the Rebel Craw crankbait. It works well too, already been catching tons of fish on it this year....

Very nice!

Looks like a husky or wolf to me. The snout isn't that big, there just appears to be a log behind it that makes it look bigger.

Nice one! Congrats!

I agree, I will always remember my older brother setting the hook on a T-Rigged plastic when we were younger, he would almost fall out of the boat backwards and you had to be careful if you were standing up too. I thought it was way too much power, but you know what, he caught the heck out of the fish!

A few more of my lake. A nice aerial view from a drone that someone took as well.

I was bass fishin and this guy came up and hit my lure the second it hit the water last summer, right up in the weeds near the bank. Not supposed to even have channels stocked in this lake, but they're in there.

Catch & Release on public waters for the most part for me, but will sometimes keep a few to eat. But I have private waters where culling is necessary and I actually love the taste of bass when prepared properly. I regularly eat bass, catfish and crappie I catch on my own private waters and keep my fishery healthy with the practice. Makes for a lot more bigguns down the road since all the forage doesn't get gobbled up every year.

Where is the pond? What climate? And the most important thing to do is cull bass in the small to medium range. You have to remove several of the predators to improve the forage base. If you just stock new forage and they are edible size, they will get wiped out quick and it is likely a waste of money. The new forage needs to get established so they can spawn and make more forage. There are a lot of options and a lot of it depends on where you are and what you want. I highly recommend reading the articles on this website's fish and lake management section before you make any decisions. They can be found here: http://www.bassresource.com/lake-management/

Wow, what an episode! Looks like they at least fed some fish with all their supplies this time.

Yeah, no other I can find like them.....my nephew caught 10 bass and a crappie on the only one I had the last week of January. I had to get more.

Lol, so I'm not the only one who was worried about them being able to fish the pond! I said that to my buddy at work when we talked about the episode. Man, that would be one way to be a little more sustainable, have a community with a stocked pond where you could harvest for food!

I take mine and my friends' kids fishing when we go to the lake to swim and ski during the summer. It's a great activity to keep the kids busy while mommies take a break. No way to fish yourself, always too busy removing fish and re-baiting hooks. I just use small bream hooks, weight and bobber and fish worms or crickets. And once they're done, they're done. We usually pull up at least 10-20 bluegill (all small) in a 30-60 minute period. Lot's of fun for them and work for you, but totally worth the memories and gets them ready to go after the bigguns in the future! Oh yeah, and I use those short dock rods so they don't whack each other the whole time.

ManBearPig?

Don't think so, they just moved them in at the end of the year and there's still plenty of stock out there from before. Just not as much availability to some of their lures that aren't typically on the shelf of a big box store. Here is an article from my hometown paper on the acquisition and Pradco's plans. http://swtimes.com/business/norman-lures-acquired-pradco-outdoor-brands

Pradco has an office here in Arkansas where I am and Norman was based just down the road. Norman has changed hands a few times over the years, but had remained with people who cared about the sport and were not as much the "corporate" types. Pradco claims that Norman will still continue to develop their own, but I've already seen a drop in accessibility of some of their lures that aren't as popular (but still very good). I was trying to order some off the Norman Lures website and there's just a message there that shipping will be shut down while they consolidate with Pradco's warehouse. They say they should be back up the first week of January. Well, that message is still there and I can't order one particular lure I want and no one else sells it that I can find. I guess I will have to turn to e-bay. The lure is the "quarterback" crankbait, my dad absolutely tears them up on this shallow-diving crankbait and I need some to compete with him!

I like to wine 'em and dine 'em before I bed 'em, but that may just be me.