Fish The Pond of Your Dreams When managing for trophy largemouth bass it is critical to establish and maintain an adequate forage base. The initial fish stocking needs to have an abundance of forage fish (fathead minnows and golden shiner minnows) and the proper predator to prey ratio. The predator to prey ratio should be approximately 1 largemouth bass to every 20 bluegill or redear sunfish. As largemouth bass grow in size, they will become less dependent on smaller prey. Supplemental forage stockings should switch to just golden shiner minnows after the first or second year. Golden shiner minnows are significantly larger than fathead minnows and offer a greater payoff to bass chasing down their prey. It is important to emphasize that the primary forage species necessary to grow trophy largemouth bass is bluegill sunfish. Golden shiner minnows should be stocked as supplemental forage, but it is vitally important to maintain an ample sunfish population.
