Is it possible for bass to never reach the 12" length?

Question

Please read this explanation:There is a man made pond that was once a nice little fishing spot for baby bass and catfish. Now too many people have seen us fish it and it has become pretty crowded with people who don't respect catch and release. The pond has been holding fish for about two or three years now and the bass have not grown one bit. They are all small enough to grip completely with one hand around the width of them. What factors do you think are making these bass not grow at all? Do you think that there are still a few big ones in there? If so, how would I go about locating those ones since they must be spooked. The place is too small for a large boat really but paddle boats can fit comfortably so depth finders are out of the picture. I don't think there is really alot of structure and cover in the pond either. If there is any good sized ones where would they be holding in a place like this. And if there isnt any, then why? Is there a way I can change this?

Answer 1

Fish grow to match their environment. You have a man made pond - not much you can do except increase the depth and width of the pond! Feed them more maybe, but not likely.

Answer 2

There are two main explanations for small bass. First, overpopulation. You can tell this by the very aggressive behavior. The cure is to start culling bass. I did this to a small pond by keeping any bass under 9 inches, after several years it became possible to catch 7-8lb fish. You may need to remove catfish because they compete with the bass for the same food. The second is genetics, they just wont get big. As for catching larger fish, in that small pond the only way to get the big ones to bite was to catch a small bass or brim and hook it like a minnow with a large cork. That worked, they wouldn't hit a lure at all. Good luck.

Answer 3

There are many factors such as ph level, oxygen and bait fish. If the pond gets over crowded it needs to be fished;However, if people keep pulling the fish out and don't trelease them back you should have less Bass in there and depending upon the fishing pressure will decide the pond's fate.
Now here in Georgia I was fishing a pond at Mr. Geers property. He won't let many people fish it because they are only about 3 lbs and growing . I had the opportunity to check his pond and told him the pond is balanced and they won't get any bigger than 3 pounds because there is a 20 LB Bass in there eating them all up. He said there isn't a Bass in there that big and I told him how much you want to bet? Mr. Geer finally realized I was telling the truth. This was 5 years ago and he told me just last month that the fish is growing much bigger, but he can't catch her, she busted a 17 Lb test line. He belives she is world record size now, but I told him if it isn't a public fishing spot it won't make the record chart/.

Answer 4

There could be a number of reasons. I'm an English fisherman but the same logic applies. Firstly, there could be too many Bass all competing for food, you can tell if the fish have stunted growth due to the size of their eyes. I know of a pond full of Perch that have abnormally large eyes - they are mature fish but stunted in growth due to lack of food. The second could be the type of food available, are there small bait-fish for them to feed on (high protein content)? Catfish/herons may be taking the larger fish, which is another factor.

Now, here's the one that few people ever consider;
Big fish have only gotten big for one reason - THEY HAVE NEVER BEEN CAUGHT. Think of a young child trying to cross a busy road for the first time ever, the casualty rate is going to be high. The ones that do make it will eventually learn the dangers until, when they reach adulthood, there is no chance of them getting run over at all (due to cautiousness) unless they are very unlucky, i.e. a near invisible and silent car comes along and they don't realise until the last minute. Try being very quiet on the bank, keep a low profile, scale your tackle down to something lighter and less conspicuous and try to match the food items that they feed on naturally. Try fishing away from the main crowd and look for fish holding areas, larger fish tend to be more territorial and solitary. Sunken logs, reed beds are good. If you would like to know more about the psychology of it please feel free to contact me.

Answer 5

overfishing has very seldom hurt a pond. over population will hurt one every time. Think of a pond and fish as you would a pasture and cows. Apasture will only grow so much pounds of beef with out supplement feed. A pond is the same way. You will only have so many fish pounds per acre w/o supplement feeding. Either a bunch of small ones or fewer big ones. Either poison out and start over or start eating a lot of fish.Like some of the others said, fertilization and stocking w/ minnows and small perch will help.

Answer 6

if the bass wont grow, the reason is lack of food(small bream and minnows). there are too many bass in there. a lot need to be kept out. catfish in a bass pond, not good either, they compete with bass for food.

to get the bream population up, in addition to keeping bass and catfish out of there, the pond probably needs fertilizing. if the water is clear, it DEFINITELY needs fertilizing. fertilizer jump starts the food chain. fertilizer increases microscopic plant growth> the small bugs, plankton eat the small plants>the minnows eat the plankton >the bass eat the minnows.

edit*** i dont know what state you are in , but in my state and several others, the state dept of fisheries will send a man down to check your pond and make recommendations. it is free to do this. check with your county agent to see if the service is available.

the biologist will test water quality, seine a small area and estimate # of fish, do lots of things that will help.

Answer 7

yes. growing season, fishing pressure, etc. i've also seen bass get stunted because there were too many and not enough were culled out. look for any structure, rip-rap, weeds, trees, rock piles, etc. if you can get a paddle boat you can use a lead slab and manually check the depth. any sharp depth changes or creek beds can also be used by bass as cover. if you find a sharp break you can place christmas trees, tire reefs, etc. on the break. be sure to check on local ordinances before doing this though.

Answer 8

yes factors include food suply , over crouded , and over fishing
look for the big ones in hles and near heavy cover