StockinE 107 



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consistent and efficient for several years in succession, the bass population 

 of a lake might dwindle to a few old fish which lived well but were unable 

 to produce a new year-class of young bass, because of an ever-increasing 

 population pressure by stunted bluegills. 



Small bass are also vulnerable to crappie prcdation where the latter 

 are abundant. Young crappies are much more inclined to hide in aquatic 

 vegetation than are young largemouths, and for that reason the latter are 

 usually more vulnerable to adult crappie predation than are small 

 crappies. 



An overpopulation of stunted crappies (or bluegills) plus a few large 

 bass unable to reproduce successfully was self perpetuating and con- 

 tinued until the bass were caught or died of old age. Only drastic thinning 

 of the stunted fishes allowed the bass to bring off a successful spawn. 



In contrast, an overpopulation of small bass might be controlled in a 

 single season of fishing, provided the fishermen were educated to the 

 necessity of taking these fish in spite of their small size.^^ 



If bass could be expected to prey upon bluegills exclusively, either 

 through "normal" feeding habits or through a special taste for them, the 

 bass-bluegill combination would be considerably more dependable than 

 at present. However, bass actually select a variety of foods (including 

 the larger aquatic insects, crustaceans, and fishes), and the evidence is 

 that they will feed upon crayfish and their own young in preference to 

 bluegills. Therefore, in order to control bluegills indefinitely, bass need 

 assistance, several types of which will be described later. 



Other Combinations of Fishes. There is reason to assume that other 

 combinations might be more satisfactory from the standpoint of angling 

 and easier to manage than the bass-bluegill combination. Since large- 

 mouth, smallmouth, and spotted bass are fairly omnivorous in their feed- 

 ing and can get along well on crayfish, large aquatic insects, and their 

 own young, any one of the three bass species stocked in a pond by itself 

 should produce bass fishing without the complications of controlling blue- 

 gills or other fish stocked with bass. Experiments testing the ability of 

 each bass species to survive in its own pond have proved very satisfactory, 

 particularly if the population is set up originally by stocking several year- 

 classes to prevent the development of a dominant year-class, which might 

 become stunted. This was quite easily done by stocking and assortment 

 of bass larger than 10 inches in addition to 100 fingerfing bass per acre. 

 At the first spawning season after stocking, the adult bass produced 

 young; however, the fingerlings already present prevented the develop- 

 ment of a dominant brood. Experiments have shown that populations 

 of bass by themselves are as large, or larger in pounds per acre than are 

 bass populations in combination with other species of fish. 



Several fisheries biologists have tested largemouth or smallmouth bass 



