Hey all, recently a 10 acre pond I have been fishing for years has had an explosion of smaller sized bass in the 8 to 13inch range all relatively healthy with normal body conditions and some even having fat bellies. The pond itself suffered a fish kill 7 years ago and was restocked with bluegill, golden shiners largemouth bass and channel catfish/brown bullhead, the adult size bass are relatively healthy with small heads and fat bodies, some growing as big as 5lbs including one I caught the other day on a jig, but going back to my original question. Is this new generation a concern for possible stunting or overcrowding? Here are a few pics of the new bass that have been caught. So far none of these (newbies) as I call them are showing obvious signs of stunting (big eyes skinny bodies) etc

Definitely not stunted  My guess is you are catching males guarding beds 

Tom

2 hours ago, WRB said:

Definitely not stunted  My guess is you are catching males guarding beds 

Tom

But the quantity of them though is that something to be concerned about? 

What does the forage look like in the lake, and how much of it are you seeing? I have a lake near me that has had the panfish get larger each year, but the average size of the bass caught was getting smaller.  This trend continued until shad were stocked into the lake.

Pond management questions suggest Bob Lusk to answer.

Over populated LMB over the carrying capacity is a problem that I can’t determine. Catch and keep the skinny bass and return the fat healthy fish.

Tom

A common strategy to keep growing bigger/healthier fish is a "slot limit", meaning you harvest bass under a certain length (usually around 14" or so). 

They look healthy, but eating some sounds like a good plan.

Yeah - let the 10 - 16" ones go that look greedy and mildly psychotic and hit your favorite lure categories - and keep the ones that seem overly cautious and bite stuff like ned rigs 5 times before committing in that size range.

 

Selective harvest is always pretty much gonna make a spot bigger on average.

Sounds like they're experiencing a population and growth boom by taking advantage of the lack of competition from older larger bass which don't exist after getting wiped out from the winter kill. They'll keep getting bigger in good numbers until they take out too much of the forage. Then things might turn the other direction in a bust cycle. If it were me I'd keep a few in an attempt to level things out and reach equilibrium faster. But that's all just my amateur opinion. No actual experience with pond management.

43 minutes ago, Vilas15 said:

Sounds like they're experiencing a population and growth boom by taking advantage of the lack of competition from older larger bass which don't exist after getting wiped out from the winter kill. They'll keep getting bigger in good numbers until they take out too much of the forage. Then things might turn the other direction in a bust cycle. If it were me I'd keep a few in an attempt to level things out and reach equilibrium faster. But that's all just my amateur opinion. No actual experience with pond management.

There wasn't a winter fish kill. You must be referring to the fish kill I mentioned that happened 7 years ago. And there's plenty of big adult size bass in there. I caught a bunch of solid and healthy 2 to 3lber last year and just caught a 5lbers the other day. 

6 hours ago, Bankbeater said:

What does the forage look like in the lake, and how much of it are you seeing? I have a lake near me that has had the panfish get larger each year, but the average size of the bass caught was getting smaller.  This trend continued until shad were stocked into the lake.

Thousands of bluegill below 5inches. Also schools of golden shiners. In the spring the state also stock a few hundred rainbow trout average depth is around 10 to 12ft with a few 20ft holes in the middle. 

On 4/29/2025 at 9:37 PM, TriStateBassin106 said:

There wasn't a winter fish kill. You must be referring to the fish kill I mentioned that happened 7 years ago. And there's plenty of big adult size bass in there. I caught a bunch of solid and healthy 2 to 3lber last year and just caught a 5lbers the other day. 

Thousands of bluegill below 5inches. Also schools of golden shiners. In the spring the state also stock a few hundred rainbow trout average depth is around 10 to 12ft with a few 20ft holes in the middle. 

Sorry youre right, fish kill. So plenty of big adult bass. Tons of healthy smaller bass. Tons of forage. What exactly are you worried about?

3 hours ago, Vilas15 said:

Sorry youre right, fish kill. So plenty of big adult bass. Tons of healthy smaller bass. Tons of forage. What exactly are you worried about?

None of the bigger bass are biting anymore just little ones. Compared to previous years including last year, and if the new smaller bass population will stunt.

Keep in mind that at 3lbs, a bass can eat the fish you are catching. And absolutely will too. I have swimbaits that size that 3lb fish will go out of their way to try to choke down. 

If they can fit it in their mouth they can and will eat it. Baby ducks, rats, other bass, red-wing blackbirds, young catfish, gizzard shad, etc. They really don't care when they are hungry. 

 

Watch how the bigs look after a little bit. If they stay healthy then nothing to worry about. 

 

In terms of the bigs not biting, probably prespawn funk. Get out there in the 8+ range mid-column on on the bottom and you may find something bigger.

 

two vids:

 

https://packaged-media.redd.it/1tu96pwwtqza1/pb/m2-res_1080p.mp4?m=DASHPlaylist.mpd&v=1&e=1746691200&s=815361ccf3488d34c5dfce4d464ee0473a78eb77