Stocking 105 



spawning season, while the bass did not, and by the time the bass had 

 reached sexual maturity after a second growing season, so many yearhng 

 and two-year-old blucgills were present that thcv limited the survival 

 of bass cmbr\'os and fr\'. To prevent this carlv shift toward an overpopula- 

 tion of bluegills, mid-continent fishery biologists stocked ratios to give 

 bass a better chance to survive and reproduce: 100 largemouth bass 

 fingerhngs to an equal number of bluegill fingerlings. During the first 

 season, the bass fingerlings would prey upon the bluegill fingerlings re- 

 ducing their number to a low figure but still not so low as to preclude the 

 survival of a small number of bluegills to spawn the following season. 

 Furthermore, the pond was not too crowded with bluegills by the second 

 season to prevent a successful spawn of bass when they became sexually 

 mature. Fishing for bluegills is ponds stocked originally with 100 bass 

 fingerlings and 100 bluegill fingerlings might not be satisfactory until 

 after individuals of the first bluegill brood spawned in the pond, had 

 reached a length of 6 inches, usually late in the third summer. This 

 process could be speeded up one full season by stocking fingerling or fry- 

 size bass at the rate of 100 per acre along with adult bluegills ( that would 

 spawn the same season as stocked) at the rate of 10 to 30 per acre. Clark -- 

 stated that this was the only satisfactory ratio for stocking bass and blue- 

 gills in Kentucky; more recent findings do not support Clark's specific 

 statement for a satisfactorv ratio. ^^^ ^^ 



In soudiern Illinois, six ponds on the lands of the University of Illinois, 

 College of Agriculture Dixon Springs Experiment Station were stocked 

 with stunted largemouth bass, 6 to 10 inches long and with bluegill finger- 

 lings averaging 1 inch in length.^- Then their progress was followed 

 closely for six years. Three of the ponds scheduled to receive fertilizer 

 were stocked with 89, 91, and 109 bass and 1127, 1250, and 1630 bluegills 

 per acre, respectively. Three unfertilized ponds were stocked with 21, 30, 

 and 36 bass and 310, 396, and 412 bluegills per acre, respectively. A nearly 

 complete creel census throughout the 6-year period showed that bass 

 fishing was best during the first year. By the second season bluegills were 

 of worthwhile sizes (6 inches) and the bluegill fishing (rate of catch) 

 improved for the next few fishing seasons, reaching a peak in about 5 

 years. 



Often it is impractical or impossible to obtain enough fry or fingerling 

 bass for stocking new artificial impoundments of 100 to 1000 acres at rates 

 of 100 small bass per acre. In these instances, stocking might be done at 

 rates of 1 adult bass per 3 to 20 acres of water along with bluegills at a 

 somewhat higher rate. Usually, after the first spawning season, young 

 bass can be collected in numbers in all parts of the lake, and it is nearly 

 impossible to find any bluegills. Two seasons later the lake might furnish 

 excellent fishing for both bass and bluegills. 



