How to get bigger bass?

[Fish30114]

Yep Toptiger, that is correct. There are none!

Lilmule, sorry but you are off. And goldfish are not bass for sure, but the analogy is skewed. LOTS of bass over 10lbs are taken here in GA every year out of ponds WAY smaller than a 1/3 of an acre! It is definitely NOT common, but with good food supply it happens a lot more than one might think. I personally caught a 7lb13 out of a golf course pond about 3500-400 square feet this year, and it is not a one of a kind setup (the pond) and it does not have feeders on it. It is a matter of food available versus qty of fish to consume it, as a #1 concern, and is a reason supplemental feeding is often utilized. Lot's of other factors for sure, but food available vs amount of food to eat it is number 1. You aren't going to grow a 5lb bass in a 3 gallon fish tank, or a 10lb in a 6 gal, it just can't swim around and survive, but that dynamic changes pretty quickly.

What all goes into it is pretty scientific, with lots of data, but one point in concert with your post, is that there will be a lot more big ones in a larger body of water--but they may be harder to find too!!

PS, Bob Lusk IS one of the best of the best--in fact I think he talks about supplemental feeding on his webpage--or did once.

[kennethdaysale]

Hey Pondbassin-As you can tell pond management is just slightly less overwhelming than Quantum Physics, but it doesn't have to be. Any pond/lake/river/ocean can only support a finite amount of biomass. Analogy..Suppose you currently live alone with your wife and you normally buy and eat $100. worth of food a week. Then 4 or 5 of your neughbors move in and live with you. You still only have that same $100. worth of food coming in the kitchen every week! Whats going to happen? Everybody in the house is going to loose a lot of weight fast and get skinny and stay skinny. Even though you say your pond is not overpopulated I'd be willing to bet that it is extremely overpopulated. So you can ( and should ) remove every single bass you catch under 14", even if thats dozens or even hundreds. Set up a feeder to feed your bream. Fertilze the water.( careful with this one.. get pro advice on amounts and times) Make sure there are adequate and abundant spawning areas. Start keeping a detailed log of every fish you catch (kept or released). Also you'd be smart to start focusing on the number, quality and condition of your Bluegill population. Don't bother adding shiners or craws or anything especially crappies and make a superhuman effort to remove ALL the catfish. ***note** A LMB MUST consume 10 lbs of food to gain just 1 lb. Let that sink in and you'll see why managing your brim might just be the key to raising the weight of your bass.
One last thing ..register and participate on www.pondboss.com