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FARM DAM BASSING
HOW TO BUILD & MANAGE A BETTER BASS DAM
By Christie Thomas
I had seen the female bass on the nest in
an area that could best be described as a miniature bay.
Actively spawning bass are notoriously difficult to catch
and only take a lure during this period because it is an
intrusion into their nesting area. I knew she was busy and
would be difficult to catch so I decided to leave her and
concentrate on other areas to catch non-spawning bass. I
was at a family gathering near Hoedspruit where my cousin
is in the fortunate position to have a small bass dam virtually
off his front porch. Several other cousins had arrived and
we talked about how the fishing in this particular dam had
been as I had already had a couple of hour’s head start.
One cousin, in particular, was very keen so I told him about
the female I had seen, forewarning him that the likelihood
of catching her would be slim but we would try anyway. There
were only a few minutes available, the rest of our time was
to be spent socializing so as not to appear rude. Having
had quite good success with a white fluke earlier I decided
to pitch it in just past the female but really did not expect
much success. My cousin and I were both surprised when we
say her turning and inhale the lure. She was so shallow and
so close to the bank that the ensuing battle was like a tidal
wave. Needless to say, I was thoroughly splashed by the time
I managed to bring her to the side. She weighed close to
3 kilograms, a trophy by anyone’s standards, and came out
of a small farm dam. I have been fortunate to have caught
several fish in this range and the majority of them have
come out of small, private farm dams.
Nothing compares to the peacefulness and
serenity one experiences when you are fishing a quiet, private
dam. A good bass dam is like a quality diamond; it does not
diminish in value and is a treasured asset to the person
who owns it. Private dams are usually small enough to be
managed for whatever purpose you require of it, be it large
quantities of fishable bass, mainly trophy sized bass or
a combination of both. They are also great for observing
bass behavior and can be used as a testing ground for lures,
techniques or your own private ‘fishing’ theories. It is
really amazing to see how many kilograms of bass a small
dam can produce. Small dams are fish factories and can produce
more excitement in an hour than a larger, municipal dam in
a day. For fun fishing it would be tough to find any public
water that will be as consistent as a small dam.
However, if a private dam is not properly
built and/or managed it can lose that ‘diamond’ luster and
will not produce fish as you had envisioned it would. YOU
are able to control what a small dam can produce! I am going
go through a couple of well-proven guidelines, theories and
techniques on how to:
1. build a better bass dam
2. successfully manage a bass dam.
Developing a first-class bass dam is less
expensive than most would expect and can be achieved by either
rehabilitating an old existing dam, which I will discuss
later, or by starting from scratch and building a new dam.
How to Build a Better Bass Dam
There are a few basic rules to keep in mind
when you consider building your own private bass dam.
• When creating a farm dam it is important
to sculpt the lakebed to provide textbook habitat.
• Then you would need to add a variety of wood cover and artificial hideouts.
• It needs to be stocked with the best-suited and most desirable forage, in
other words, food for bass, and then constantly enriched by well-timed fertilization.
• Then only can you introduce your bass fingerlings to the water.
Ray Scott needs no introduction to most
of us and I have mentioned his name previously. He was the
original founder of the Bass Anglers Sportsman Society about
35 years ago in the United States. He is also known for having
developed his own private fishery which is so exceptional
that even President George Bush (Snr.) has fished it. It
is rumored to contain awesome bass lunkers, Rick Clunn, a
well-known professional bass angler once caught a 13-pound
and a 15-pound largemouth from these waters. Eight of the
top touring professional bass pro’s have caught their all-time
largest lunkers in this lake and other anglers, fortunate
enough to be invited to fish the dam, have reported boating
over 100 bass in a morning!
Because of his success and his reputation
many anglers, who wanted to build their own bass dams or
restore existing ones, sought Ray’s advice. Wanting to share
his ideas with many more people, Ray spent two years producing
a video which explains step-by-step how to build and manage
“world-class fishing ponds and lakes”. I have used Mr. Scott’s
guidelines because they offer a variety of proven techniques
that will not only save money but also increase the productivity
and value of a privately managed bass dam.
1. Analyze the soil type. “Some soils are
perfect, some are OK but some will simply not work”.
2. Proper planning is required and this includes sketches of bottom structure
and changes in depth. You need to know exactly where you want to move the dirt
before you start working. Changes during construction always cost more and
sometimes it is too late to implement them once work has commenced.
3. Most farm dams are simple, bowl-shaped reservoirs created by making an earthen
wall across a stream or other depression. The bottoms are barren and most of
the shoreline is usually too shallow to be of any use as habitat. YOU NEED
TO SCOOP DIRT FOR THE WALL AND OTHER STRUCTURES WITHIN THE DAM OUT OF THE SHALLOW
ENDS OF THE DAM. You would need a minimum depth of 3-feet (approx. 1-metre)
but preferably 4-foot. Bass do not spend a lot of time in really shallow water.
Place any excess soil in the deeper portions of the dam in the form of ridges.
Ridges and drop-offs create vertical structure that largemouth bass love, especially
when wood cover is added.
4. Ridges should be 5 to 6-foot (1 1 -2m) below the surface, dropping to 8/10-foot
(3/4m) depths or deeper. Clearly defined breaks should be carved out of the
ridges at 30/40m intervals. This creates points that, when sweetened with brush
piles and other cover at the tips, focuses good concentrations of bass.
5. Structure in a dam means good fishing. You need structure to hold and attract
bass. Structure is anything in a lake that is irregular and includes brush,
properly placed tree-limbs, rock piles, drop-offs and even junk cars. If there
is no structure or cover in a dam it forces bass to roam through-out the dam.
As a top predator in the dam’s food chain bass will feed whenever they like.
But without structure and ambush sites their feeding requires more energy,
causing a diminishing weight gain. The rest of the time they will be inactive
and will bite only as a reaction to the intrusion of their holding space. Cover
not only provides habitat for bass, it also offers anglers a target they know
is attractive to bass and would most likely harbor a lunker.
6. It is important that the proportion of bass to bait be in balance. This
begins by stocking the proper density of fish at the correct time. It is suggested
a 10-to-1 stocking of bream (Vleikurper are reported to breed fastest and stay
relatively small compared to other tilapia species) to bass. The timing of
your stocking program is vital. It is best to stock the bait fish during the
autumn months, approx. 2 000 bream/hectare with 200 bass/hectare being introduced
the NEXT autumn. The bass should be sexually mature by the next year in warmer
regions.
7. Some bass will eventually have to be systematically removed from the dam
to maintain the proper balance and increase the opportunity for TROPHY BASS
but you should not remove too many bass or harvest them all at once!
How to Manage a Bass Dam
There are several alternatives to having
access to private farm dams other than owning or building
them yourself. With a little bit of money and a fair amount
of work you can easily obtain your own private fishing hole
to enjoy for your own recreation or to share with your friends
and family.
• The least expensive option is to obtain
permission to fish someone else’s well-managed dam. However,
in some parts of the country, landowners have been ‘burned’
by slobs who have previously been given permission to fish
these properties and others who simply do not want strange
people on their land.
• Another approach is to learn how to manage a dam for maximum fish production,
then either offer your services as a ‘pond manager’ in exchange for fishing
rights or lease the fishing rights for a particular dam from the landowner
and manage it yourself. In some places you might be able to lease a dam for
a year for about the same price as a good-quality fishing rod and reel. If
the price is higher than you can afford you might consider ‘inviting’ some
of your friends to form a club that can afford to lease a private dam for their
own enjoyment.
• The last alternative is to either build a new dam or rejuvenate an existing
dam on your own property.
Small dams that are properly managed, where
fishing pressure is controlled and a fertile food chain sustained
has the potential of CONSISTENTLY producing trophy sized
bass (10-lbs or heavier).
1. Firstly you would need to find a dam
with the potential to be managed and leased.
2. Then you would have to determine the amount of people who will be fishing
the dam. If your objective is to produce trophy bass you would need to have
at least two to four hectares available per person fishing. If your objective
is to supply a fair amount of average-sized fish with a few lunkers thrown
in here and there you would be able to get away with fewer hectares per person.
3. Once you have selected a couple of dams you would need to make a preliminary
evaluation to see which dam would have the most potential. To do this you would
need use the following guideline:
• DETERMINE THE FISH POPULATION.
A dam with an existing population is easier to develop than a dam that needs
to be initially stocked. This is because you already have a population with
a couple of different year classes and then all you might need to do in the
way of management is add a little fertilization. Sometimes you might find a
dam with an overpopulation of other undesirable fish and only a few large bass.
In this case you would either have to forget about rehabilitating the dam or
completely drain it and start the initial stocking program. This way you could
have 2-lbs bass within 2 years with good management.
To evaluate the fish population you would need to combine test fishing with
seine-netting. The rod-and-reel catch will be a good indication of size and
condition of the majority of catchable fish in the dam while seining will give
an indication of the reproduction levels for the past 2 years. It is best to
seine the dam at 2 to 3 different locations with a 20-ft net. Choose areas
with a smooth bottom and try to keep the seine on the bottom as you move it
towards the shore.
• DETERMINE PH-LEVEL, WATERSHED SIZE, AVERAGE DEPTH & VEGETATION.
PH should be about 7. If the PH is between 6 and 7 the dam will probably respond
well to management. However, should the level be lower it will be harder and
more expensive to get the dam back to a manageable level.
Watershed should not exceed 10 hectares per 1 hectare of dam. If the watershed
exceeds this it will mean that when it rains the large influx of water will
dilute the fertilizer and cause it to be less effective. You should try to
get a dam where the watershed is forested or has a constant crop cover as this
helps to prevent siltation. Also try not to select a dam that has a river feeding
into it year-round because this could be a constant source of undesirable fish.
Average depth should be about 2/3-foot and not exceed 3-foot with the deepest
depth not exceeding 12-foot. If the average depth is less than 2-ft the dam
would be less productive and water depths greater than 12-ft will cause the
dam to form layers of water with some layers being devoid of oxygen, which
could have the potential of killing fish during the summer/autumn turnover.
This happens when the water on top cools down and sinks. The oxygen-depleted
warmer water will then rise and some of the fish could get trapped without
oxygen and die.
Vegetation should be non-existent. It can cause problems by providing a safety-zone
for small fish which could limit the growth of bass. Weeds can hamper fishing
and boating and some varieties can quickly take over a shallow dam. Vegetation
can be controlled by introducing sterilized grass-carp at rates determined
by a certified fisheries biologist.
4. Once you have located your soon-to-be
hotspot you need to start negotiating your lease with the
landowner. A 5-year lease is to be recommended because it
gives you enough time for your management to bear fruit.
You will need to determine with the landowner how many and
which other anglers will have access to the dam. IF THE OWNER’S
FAMILY AND FRIENDS ARE GOING TO FISH IT HARD AND KEEP THE
BASS THEY CATCH ALL YOUR EFFORTS WILL BE FOR NOTHING. Be
sure to clarify this on your lease agreement!
5. After the lease has been signed you can get down to business.
• First and most important, begin a water fertilization program in the early
spring. As soon as the water temperature reaches 60F you should start fertilizing.
The key is to get the dam fertile early, before the spawn, so that the young
fish will have plenty to eat as soon as they are hatched. When your dam looks
like pea soup, it is primed and ready. You need to continue fertilizing each
month through to early autumn. In the USA fish pond fertilizer is sold in most
farm stores and comes in a liquid or granular form but in South Africa ‘fish
pond’ fertilizer is not available. However, standard agricultural fertilizers
can be used but it is important to have a soil sample done to check the alkalinity
level of the lakebed. Most South African dams need to have agricultural or
dolomite lime added to the water. In the place of ‘fish pond’ fertilizer, super
phosphates can be added and the most productive way to do this is to place
the whole bag of fertilizer in about 1-ft of water and then slash the bag crosswise
on top so that the phosphates will slowly dissolve by themselves. The amount
of bags you place around the dam will depend on the size of your dam. The general
ratio of 20% phosphate fertilizer should be about 40kg/hectare. Obviously the
stronger the concentrate, e.g. double super phosphate, you would need to half
the quantities.
• Next you need to test the spawning success. Once again, the best way to do
this is by seining and the best time will be during the summer when you will
be looking for bass and bream that have spawned that spring. Bass will normally
be up to 3 inches long and the bream about thumbnail size. A typical seine
in a well-balanced pond will show a good number of small and medium-sized bream
with a few larger specimens in between.
If you find few bream it might mean that your pond is overpopulated with bass.
A quick way to determine this is to catch a few bass and examine their stomachs.
If their bellies are flat, you might want to reduce the bass population or
increase their food supply. Providing food can be done by stocking more bream,
especially vlei kurper, as they reproduce 2/3 times in a year. After doing
this your bass should really take off.
6. Once the lease has been finalized, fishing
should be closely regulated and a program established that
would measure the harvest, growth of bass and the food base.
This should be initiated by a certified biologist and each
person fishing the dam should strictly adhere to the rules.
Within a couple of years, as few as five, your private bassing gem could be
producing lunker bass weighing in close to 8-pounds. Just imagine what it could
be producing in 10 years? If this is not a great incentive to properly manage
your bass dam then I do not know what would be.
Ray Scott’s video series, GREAT SMALL WATERS,
can be ordered by phoning:
USA 091 (800) 518-7222
Or writing to:
Great Small Waters
P.O. Box 3006
Pintlala
AL, 36043
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