Buying Bass for Private Lake

July 30, 2009

Question: We want to purchase some bass and bluegill for our four-acre pond in Northern California. We plan to use catch-and-release techniques to teach our kids how to fish. What would be the best kind of bass to buy? I assume largemouth bass and/or spotted bass would work best. Please advise me as to which type to buy and where to get them. Thanks very much. (Andrew)

Answer: The best bass for a small pond are going to be either the Northern or Florida strain of largemouth bass (LMB). According to Associate Fisheries Biologist Jay Rowan, the Northern strain LMB are generally easier to catch and can grow to very large sizes in a pond environment. The Florida strain LMB are a little more difficult to catch but are thought to have the genetic potential to grow to larger sizes than their northern cousins. Growth rates and maximum size of the fish are dependent on the stocking density, food supplies and water temperatures.

Since this is a relatively small pond in northern California, Rowan suggests you start out with Northern strain bass for several years to see how they do. In your pond, the Northern strain fish should get a longer growing season because they will be less affected by cooler spring and fall temperatures than the Florida strain would be. And because of the longer growing season, you may also actually wind up with larger fish than if you went with the Florida strain from the start. In addition, the Northern strain bass are not quite as wily as the Florida strain so the kids should catch more fish.

Bass, as well as bluegill and other forage fish, can be purchased from the aquaculturists listed on the DFG Web site below. DFG informational leaflets No. 6 and No. 23, which deal with private stocking permits and Farm Fish Pond Management in California, respectively, are available from our Web site and are suggested reading.

Keep in mind that it is not legal to catch fish from one body of water and then transport those fish alive to stock your pond. The only legal source of fish for stocking purposes is a licensed aquaculturist.

Private stocking permits are issued on a county-by-county basis and some counties require new prospective waters to be inspected first by a DFG fishery biologist or aquaculturist before a permit is issued. You will need to wait until after January 2010, however, to apply for a new stocking permit due to a pending lawsuit (www.dfg.ca.gov/news/news08/08131.html). Once DFG starts approving permits again, you can get the stocking permit process started by contacting one of the approved aquaculturists listed on the DFG Web site at www.dfg.ca.gov/fish/Administration/Permits/Aquaculture.

This brings back memories...

Where I grew up in Iowa, we had a small farm pond (about 1 acre in size, 15' max depth) in our back yard. We stocked it with largemouth bass and occasionally put in some (relatively) exotic species. For example, there was one little-known river about 90 miles away that had smallmouth bass. So, we'd catch a few of them and "stock" them in our pond. It was pretty funny when somebody caught one---they usually had never seen anything like it, and they'd often ask why the fish was going berserk. We did a similar thing with walleye, northern pike, channel catfish and lots more. Basically, any worthwhile fish that we could get ahold of would go in the pond.

At that time and place, I don't know whether it was illegal to transport live fish and stock them. But even if it was, it would rank pretty low on the totem pole of stupid things I did as a kid...