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second edition • Nebraska Pond Management • 55 larger ones. If, after a couple of years, the bass become skinny or appear to be all head and very few 12- to 15-inch bass are caught, the removal of some 8- to 12-inch bass, about 15 per acre per year, may be necessary. This annual bass harvest may need to be continued or increased until 10 to 30 percent of all bass caught are 12 inches or longer. If small bass become too dense, they may remove too many bluegills or compete with them for food. If your pond contains sufficient depth and clarity, has crappies, bullheads, or green sunfish, and you do not wish to drain the pond or kill all the fish in the pond, following the above management strategy would be your best bet. By purposely overcrowding bass in your pond, you may be able to control the numbers of these other species, possibly allowing you to eventually catch some of decent size, and maintain a good bluegill fishery. Stocking an additional predator, such as northern pike or walleye, might also help control the numbers of these other species provided the pond is of sufficient size and contains appropriate habitat. The important thing is the predators must be protected from angler harvest. Management Option 4: Large Bass (Unbalanced Pond) If you really don't care about bluegills and just want the chance to catch a big bass, this option is for you. After your initial pond stocking, do not harvest any bass for four years. After that, start harvesting 30 to 50 bass, 8- to 12-inches per acre per year and 5 bass, 12- to 15-inches per acre per year. By reducing bass numbers, survivors will have little competition and grow well. Release larger fish so they can continue to grow to trophy sizes. Remember, your pond can only produce a certain poundage of bass per surface acre. Whether it is ten 3-pounders or three 10-pounders depends on management, along with environmental and habitat conditions. But, if you want to catch a 10-pounder, you have to throw the 9-pounder back and keep the 1-pounders. That will give the 9-pounder a chance to grow and hopefully live long enough to reach record-size so you can reconnect. Since this management option produces high numbers of small bluegills, it may be a good option if you have young children learning to fish. They can enjoy catching lots of small bluegills while the adults go after trophy bass. There are no bluegill or catfish harvest restrictions with this option. 3) Removing or Controlling Unwanted Fish Species If your new pond already has bullheads, carp, or green sunfish established, or you would like to restore an old pond containing these same species, it will be very difficult to establish or restore a balanced bass-bluegill fishery. The easiest and quickest way to resolve either problem will be to eliminate all the fish in the pond and start over with the appropriate pond species — largemouth bass, bluegill, and channel catfish. This option only works in water with visibility of at least 18 inches and when aquatic vegetation isn't excessive. This allows bass to easily see and capture their prey. BLACK BULLHEAD COMMON CARP GREEN SUNFISH