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Dylan Tackitt
Mrs. Crist
English 4
November 7,2016
Overpopulation of bass
Lakes and ponds play a huge roll in the earth's ecosystem, without an ecosystem there
would be no life on earth. Fish are a key fundamental of lakes, ponds, and rivers. Radical fishing
consequently results not only in the annihilation of fish but affects the whole community.
Although modern fisheries rarely cause the complete destruction of a specific species they have
already impacted the ecosystem.
Bass need food just like any other animal in the world, bass feed on small
bluegills,shad,crawfish,and worms. Having too big of bluegill will cause a problem because
bluegill have spiny dorsal fins and it makes it difficult for bass to eat. Shad are a lot easier for
bass to eat because they grow longer and not as big in girth. BIG FISH
"BIG FISH Small Pond." BIG FISH Small Pond. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Nov. 2016.
In a bass pond or lake it is important to have the right amount of Ph balance so the water
is healthy for the fish to live in."Water is considered 'acidic' when the Ph concentration is below
seven, and 'basic' (normal Ph) when it's above seven. Pond owners can also have to much
vegetation, they should only have about 20% vegetation. There has to be just enough food and
Ph in a pond or lake to let the fish live and thrive.
Bass that are under 12 inches should be put back in the pond and anything over should be
kept.Bass in lakes and ponds need food and habitat and if they are overpopulated the bigger bass

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will dominate the smaller ones due to survival of the fittest. Bass that are under 12inches should
be put back in the pond and anything over should be kept. There are a few options to keep a pond
going, catch and harvest all the fish, drain and restart the pond, or try and figure out the
population of each species. Keeping a pond or lake healthy is a lot of work and requires day care
and attention to keep it healthy.
In largemouth bass/bluegill populations, there are only four natural situations, Here are
the four: Balanced situations, where there is a variety of size classes of the different species, all
in good body condition. The second, and most common, is Bass crowded. That's where, you
guessed it, bass have overeaten the food chain and have stopped growing. Most of the time,
the bass are one size class, maybe 9 to 12 inches and as much as 40% underweight. In these
cases, bluegills are giant, trophies in their own right, but the bass are anything but bragging
size. The third scenario, most common north of the Mason-Dixon Line, is Bluegill crowded. In
this case too many bluegill dominate the underwater landscape, completely disrupting
largemouth bass reproduction and recruitment. Bass are few and far between, but usually nice
and fat. Bluegills in these situations are a disappointment, often smaller than 6 inches. The
fourth situation is Everything else. It's a fish population in transition, trying to figure out which of
the above three it wants to be. For example, there's a drought. The pond drops six feet over two
years. Fish are confined to one-fourth the area and one-eighth the volume of water. Over that
span of time, fish adjust. Big fish eat small ones and their numbers drop, overall, to the size
water in which they live. Then, rains come and the pond refills. Now, you have less than
one-fourth the crop of fish this new water can support. Your fish reproduce and fill these new
niches. Another one is post-flood. Another is how a pond might respond after a partial fish
kill,due to hot, overly-fertile water in summer or winter kill in the cold months. The following two

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to three years in each of these cases is spent recovering to become one of the other three
situations

Works Cited

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"BIG FISH Small Pond." BIG FISH Small Pond. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Nov. 2016.
Lusk, Dave Willis and Bob. "BassResource.com." How Can I Tell If My Bass Are
Overpopulated? | The Ultimate Bass Fishing Resource Guide LLC. N.p., 2011. Web. 16 Nov.
2016.
Management, SOLitude Lake. "Getting to Know Your Pond Fish: Bass Overpopulation?"
SOLitude Lake Management: Full-Service Lake And Pond Management. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Nov.
2016.
Lusk, Bob. "BassResource.com." The Ultimate Bass Fishing Resource Guide LLC. N.p., 2011.
Web. 16 Nov. 2016.

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