[Tom Massey]

I know you get em in the US, what about over here in the UK? basically there's a big pond at the bottom of my garden...... :-D

 

[Adrian]

Very few I believe. There's a lake near me that was allegedly stocked with LM a long time ago, don't know if they're still there.

 

[Gareth Jones]

Sod the Bass lets get some of them Snakeheads stocked lol, wed have no native fish left but would be fun on lures lol (This is a joke)

 

[Mike Kennard]

There were supposedly LM bass in Dorset many years ago not sure where though. I doubt they would survive recent Winters. Smallmouth are a different story, now if somebody stocked them they could well survive.....
They do have LM in France and Spain though.

 

[Ben Pratt]

Looked into importing Large Mouth Bass as a possible dissertation subject last year. They are on the Environmental agency banned list. It would make a nice little buisness importing them and stocking them in day ticket fisheries.

I then though what about Barramundi and a few other fresh water lure species. Could make some kind of lure fishing theme park with species from across the globe......dreams.

 

[Adrian]

It was at Creech Mike. what makes you say they wouldn't survive the winters? I know they prefer a warmer climate but they survive OK in the northern US states where the lakes freeze in winter.

 

[Ben Pratt]

The LM's survive in the colder states but dont get as big as the fish in the southern states.

 

[Adrian]

Looked into importing Large Mouth Bass as a possible dissertation subject last year. They are on the Environmental agency banned list. It would make a nice little buisness importing them and stocking them in day ticket fisheries.

I then though what about Barramundi and a few other fresh water lure species. Could make some kind of lure fishing theme park with species from across the globe......dreams.

Problem is they have a tendency to escape (with or without help ;-)). Ref. Zander

 

[Mike Kennard]

I might be wrong, I just didn't think they went that far north. I know they catch smallmouth in the Great Lakes and Canada though. Stock both is they survive!!!!

 

[Matt Newcombe]

I heard the US stocked them at a few of their UK military bases. Would be cool to get something like that going on. I've seen small lakes with some sort of aerator system, could you effectively regulate the temp of large areas of water? Just enough to keep the fish in a state of suspension during our coldest months?

Could be big bucks in something like that I should think.

 

[Adrian]

I might be wrong, I just didn't think they went that far north. I know they catch smallmouth in the Great Lakes and Canada though. Stock both is they survive!!!!

I lived in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania for a summer a couple of years ago and did OK for LM bass on Lake Albert, up to 5lb or so. I learnt a lot about UL there too, fishing for crappie and other panfish as well as the bass and pike. The LM bass fight quite well for a freshwater fish

 

[Tom Massey]

damn it. so I'm not gonna be able to get any to put in my pond then...


anyone got any ideas for other fish I could get in there? (suitable for lure-catching)

There's millions of raoch/rudd in there at the moment, so plenty of food. THey're no fun to catch though, just go for a bare hook.:-?

 

[Mike Kennard]

That looks like a lot of fun!

 

[Andrew Walker]

damn it. so I'm not gonna be able to get any to put in my pond then...


anyone got any ideas for other fish I could get in there? (suitable for lure-catching)

There's millions of raoch/rudd in there at the moment, so plenty of food. THey're no fun to catch though, just go for a bare hook.:-?

Perch, and although i dont like the idea of stocking a fish that wouldnt naturally live there - Chub. Trout would also be good.

 

[Tom Massey]

Nice one guys! this is defo food for thought! There's trout in the stream that runs alongside the pond, but I don't thnk there are any in the actual pond, as they only connect through a waterfall type outlet arangement.

When I was a lad, I used to catch good sized roach in the pond (around a foot long and maybe a bit more) but they don't seem to be around anymore, maybe the heron got em? or would you say there might be a predator in there already? the inlet is just a drainage ditch, so it's unlikely anything would have got in that way.

Someone gave us about 200 Koi, so we stuck them in, but then that was just like a heron's dream! 200 brightly coloured meals just an inch below the water!! that was a couple of years ago now, needless to say there aren't any left now!

Defo need somewhere to keep up the practice when the sea is too hellish!!

 

[Matt Newcombe]

Someone gave us about 200 Koi,

Bloody hell, how big is your pond?

 

[Alex Jordan]

Caught freshwater stripers - apparently they biggest in the resevoir I fished topped 50lb ... oh this was on Lake Mead also known for the Hoover Dam ...

 

[Joe Barlow]

I have caught a fair few LM bass out in the US and they are a great species to catch with spectacular takes and fights.

 

[Tom Massey]

quite big! it's not massive, about 50yards square with an island in the middle. deepest ~6-7' down to about 4' shallows. Big enough for something other than roach though!

 

[Simon L]

Stick a few Pike in there Tom , hours of fun .