So in the back yard is a pond that was stocked with Largemouth Bass and Hybrid Bluegills(also called perch). Depending on the rainfall it can go from 45'x35' and 4 feet deep to considerably bigger and perhaps 9-10 feet deep.

This pond is typically fished by my father in law, my gf and I.

The bigest bass caught was 5-6 pounds. There were also several 3-4 pounders and many 1-2 pounders. There was also a healthy load of adult perch at 6 inches or bigger.

Now we have a rule that says put back what you catch, however one day last spring the brother in law had some people over fishing. He failed to explain the put back rule, he honestly doesn't have a clue about sharing so he doesn't think about how his actions will affect others.

My best guess as to what happen that day is that these people caught and kept at least 100 adult perch, and quite a few bass.

This in turn caused the bass numbers to drop further off. In fact from about this time last year until two weeks ago all of 5 fish had been caught from the pond. Keep in mind it used to be that I could hop down there with my fly pole and get 15 perch and a few bass in 20 minutes. I believe that the bass kept eating like they always have when the shorter food supply came back to bite them. I honestly think that the adult perch total was reduced by at least 50% if not more. I believe there was a die off of the larger bass.

I also believe that this has become a naturaly repairing cycle. Hurrican Katrina was nice enough to add additional cover in teh way of a couple pine trees. One of these is in the shallows and is the home territory of about 6 perch schools(1-3 inchers).

In the past week I have been out twice with the fly pole for a total of maybe an hour. In that time I hit two large perch one 6 inches the other 8 inch. I also hit two bass one 4 inches and the other about 10 inches. Okay and the darn turtle.

So obiously the pond is recovering. My thoughts were to trap 4-6 perch minnows and try raising them to about 4 inches. Then I would release them back in and repeat. I figure if I were to help the perch out with 20 or more adults large enough to spawn and not be consumed the bass population might recover faster.

My father in law wants to toss 100 catfish in there, he doesn't understand how ecosystems work. Yes I tried explaining that the bass and the catfish occupy the same part of the food chain when they get big, no dice. I've only managed to hold him back by saying, "Those would be some expensive feeders."

Any thoughts on my plan, potential negatives?

Does your local DNR sell fingerlings? It's too bad you don't live up here, We catch tiny perch and nice size bass on a regular basis.

The only problem I see with your plan is getting the fish to eat again once you put them back.
What kind of catfish does he want to put in there? If he goes with somthing small the bass could eat them :laugh:
Are there any kids in the area that you could get get to collect tadpoles to feed your bass? :laugh:

IMO the supplimentation of wild stock is a good idea, (I'd recommend a quarantine cycle b4 adding them), especially of adults. Maybe even introduce a "minnow" species to further enhance the perch food supply (ie speed up their recovery). Re the catfish, I agree with you re it being a bad idea, as you say, they're competing species & it's especially a bad idea in a heavily damaged ecosystem like yours has been. Maybe you could "placate" your father-I-L by getting just a couple, but source all boys or all girls so no breeding. But as they get big they may do some decent damage to the feeder population so I'd definitely wait till that's recovered & is stable for a season or two. That's just imo but obviously. :dunno:

Oh, & smack your bro' in the head :slap: ... that's the other thing I'd recommend. Inconsiderate git!!! :banghead:

PS:
:worthless:

I'll get some pics of the lil mudhole this next week. I could buy fingerlings, but there is part of me that doesn't like potentially wasting money.

I'll gie it a few more weeks of fly fishing I can use that data to figure teh populations.

Just my 2 cents...

Dont put in to many sunies...sunnies eat bass eggs. And you can put in a few bullhead or channel catfish...depending on how large the pond is. They like to have territories.