How to Build A Trophy Fishery

AS SEEN PUBLISHED IN POND BOSS MAGAZINE

Many biologists throughout the south would agree that double digit bass are the pinnacle of fisheries management. As a result, they are used to solidify the trophy status of the best Largemouth Bass fisheries across the country. In some instances, fisheries produce double digit bass from a single generation of fish, but fail to produce additional double-digit fish from a future year class. Producing just one bass greater than 10 pounds is a significant accomplishment and should create lifelong memories, but trophy fisheries are most exciting, as well as legitimate, when multiple generations of Largemouth Bass reach double digits over time.

This brings us to a property located in North Carolina where a private landowner’s passion for fishing led him on an 11 year journey to hopefully join the relatively small group who can say they have double-digit bass in their lake.

Over the years, the tobacco farm shut down and the farm was sold in 1998. In 2010, around 50 years after the lake was built, the new owner decided to give the lake a fresh start. His goal was to create a fishery where kids and adults can both have high odds of fishing success, and maybe with a little luck land a few double-digit bass. The experience has been fun for him and he took a path of learning as he went, studying the subject matter and seeking advice from professionals when he felt the need.

While the water level was down, the owner then applied rotenone to the two shallow pools of water that remained. This was to eradicate any remaining fish, providing the lake with a fresh start and greatly increasing his odds of achieving the desired fishery.

In March of 2011, 8,500 Bluegill and 1,500 Redear Sunfish, as well as Fathead Minnows, Golden Shiners and Threadfin Shad were stocked. Then in July, 500 F1 Largemouth Bass fingerlings were stocked.

A couple of years later, after self-managing the lake, he was ready to better understand how the fish were doing. So, in the spring of 2013, the owner reached out to schedule an electrofishing study. After learning more about his journey, we were ready to provide some professional guidance.

The owner was very surprised to see the Black Crappie in the lake, since he had taken precautions to ensure this issue would not occur. Although it is hard to say how many Black Crappie were present, it was likely that the number was the same or larger than the bass population. To make matters worse, the forage base was greatly depleted, in part because the lake had at least twice as many predator fish than it was originally designed to support. The Bluegill population was lacking both juvenile and adult fish, which led to the Largemouth Bass having poor Relative Weights (body condition) compared to what a recently reset waterbody should exhibit.  

Overcoming these issues was going to take some work, but the problems were observed in time to correct them. Ideally, the lake would have been electrofished the year prior, but hindsight is 20/20, and a valuable lesson was learned.

Following the study, harvesting Black Crappie became a top priority. The fishery went from being rarely fished because the bass were young, to being fished aggressively. Although it was understood that the Black Crappie would likely always be present in the lake, the owner made it very difficult on them. Between annual fishing tournaments with friends, as well as a retired neighbor who enjoyed catching and eating Black Crappie, their population was suppressed. In one of the early years, over 1,400 were harvested. 

In the spring of 2013, Bluegill were restocked to boost their depleted population. Another feeder was also added to the two that already existed. A more aggressive feeding program was implemented to boost Bluegill growth, and gravel was added to several locations to improve bluegill spawning success.

Additionally, the owner started an annual tradition of gathering unsold Christmas trees and adding them to the same five locations each year. The brush piles are located in five feet of water, out from gravel beds which are located in three feet of water. These bush piles have worked incredibly well, serving as predictable staging areas for pre-spawn female bass.

At the time of writing this (spring of 2021), his bass are still pre-spawn, so the probability of landing an egged-up female this year that finally tips the scales over 10 pounds is decent. If not in the spring, then this upcoming fall will provide another good opportunity.  

The owner’s journey up to this point has been filled with many fun times, as well as hard work. If it were not for the unwelcome Black Crappie, it is highly probable that this fishery would have already produced bass over 10 pounds. Fortunately, the owner’s dedication to hitting his goals and understanding that he needed accurate data in his decision making process, ensured the problem was identified and corrected in time. Although any length of time for a trophy bass fishery to be off track is too long, it appears that these 10-year-old bass have the propensity needed to finally produce the lake’s first (of hopefully many) double-digit bass.