I went out yesterday and spent about 9 hours on the water. I fished the newly flooded trees in shallow water and managed to catch 12 Bass- 12 inches each,using an *** ***,a Baby Brush hog and a Strike King Zero. All the fish were plump,like they had been gorging themselves.I found A huge crawdad claw hanging out of the gullet of one,and antennae of a crawfish hanging out of another. I know 12 inchers arent trophies,but based on the time spent on the water,and the number of fish boated,would anyone care to say this is a healthy/non healthy fishery? I did miss a good amount of fish,due to inattention or late reaction,so they were certainly biting.

i would say its a very healthy fishery. you can also use crawfish as bait.

NO problemo.

where they be 12 inchers there be 14 inchers

where there be 14 inchers there be 16 inchers.

I can virtually guarantee you there are 5 plus pounders in there.

Now you gotta where and how.

Sounds like the bass are doing exactly what bass should be doing this time of year, GORGING

THEMSELVES! I would match the hatch so to speak, get some good crawfish baits!  That

Huddleston rigged crawfish bait LOOKS VERY GOOD! In fact, I think I need to get some of them!

Anyway, sounds like a healthy fishery from what you described!

NO problemo.

where they be 12 inchers there be 14 inchers

where there be 14 inchers there be 16 inchers.

I can virtually guarantee you there are 5 plus pounders in there.

Now you gotta where and how.

Until every fish gets stuck at 12 inches.  I have seen it a few times happen to what was thought to be great ponds, and no one would touch them as far as selective harvest, now you can catch one about every cast that is 10-12 inches.  But that doesnt sound like your pond, hope you found a honey hole.

I have had SOME success in this lake catching an occasional 2-3 lb'er. On my first outing this year I boated and released 2 fish that were right at 5.5-6 lbs and the other 12 fish that particular day were about 12 inchers. So im guessing this is a good thing?

I went out yesterday and spent about 9 hours on the water. I fished the newly flooded trees in shallow water and managed to catch 12 Bass- 12 inches each,using an *** ***,a Baby Brush hog and a Strike King Zero. All the fish were plump,like they had been gorging themselves.I found A huge crawdad claw hanging out of the gullet of one,and antennae of a crawfish hanging out of another. I know 12 inchers arent trophies,but based on the time spent on the water,and the number of fish boated,would anyone care to say this is a healthy/non healthy fishery? I did miss a good amount of fish,due to inattention or late reaction,so they were certainly biting.

that sounds healthy to me...

but then if we are speaking scientifically...who freakin knows. Some lakes I rate as pretty fair fisheries and seem like healthy  and active lakes to me are actually rated pretty low by DNR...or rated as having alot of one problem or another. I do not know exactly how officials rate lakes...what their criteria is or what benchmarks they are watching.

A good freind of ours is a forester/and forestry consultant and his wife is a naturalist. Hiking in the woods with them is an experience. What I always thought was a gorgeous patch of woods and seemed just fine to me are actually very unhealthy and over run with invasive species choking the life out of the forest.

So how the real health of a lake or forest is determined...who knows. All I know is if I can catch fish there I am happy with it!