So most ponds in the southeast and here in Alabama are stocked with bass and brim and at least have recreational fishing as somewhat of a goal or interest. It's important to recognize though in terms of maintaining that recreational fishing quality, harvest is a key component to that. Only being bass harvest ponds are not like our rivers and larger reservoirs and the fact that they're not limited by reproduction, they're limited by prey availability and productivity. Arbistrates are going to depend on the productivity of the lake, whether it's fertilized or not, we've got a whole other video on that aspect and also based on the harvest strategy. Now when it comes to management strategies, we have a few different options. By far the most common that folks like the managed oranges and what's known as general balance. That's where we have nice catchable two to four pound size large mouth bass and also some nice catchable pan fish or brim at that six to eight inch size. Conversely we can tease that strategy a little bit. Folks can also manage towards what's known as a trophy situation. Whether that situation is for trophy bass or trophy brim is going to depend on what that owner wants to manage for. Trophy brim looks something like this. Nice large size brim but the bass are many and small that reduce the brim numbers that allow those that remain to grow nice and large like these here. The complete opposite of that is true for trophy bass management strategies. That's where the brim are numerous and small, averaging three to six inches in size and the bass are very few and far between but very large. For today's video we're going to focus on general balance since that's by far the most common strategy. However, in a lot of situations where harvest isn't adequate for the strategy or for the pawn size or for the pawn's productivity for that matter, we end up with this trophy brim situation numerous small bass that become overcrowded due to under harvest and over production. They end up growing very small like this, pretty much even themselves at a house and home, very few brim are left and the brim there are left girl very large. Now harvest rates going to depend on the management strategy that you decide to place for your pawn. We have a table at the end of this video that's going to go through in detail. The harvest based on the management strategy and then also based on the productivity whether the pawns fertilized your pawn. Now for general balance pawns, recommendation is that 15 to 20 pounds of bass per acre per year be harvested in unfertilized or low productivity systems. That changes a little bit when we fertilize the pawn. Then we need to take out a bit more fish. That recommendation is 20 to 25 pounds of bass per acre per year. Now it's important to understand that the bass that you need to be harvesting should be smaller, 14 inches and less, total length. Now to give you an idea of what total length actually is, that measurement is basically with the mouth of the bass closed. You'll place them on the measuring board, pinch the tail and that's the measurement of the bass that you need to be harvested. Now there's always some exceptions like this fish here in front of us. It measures the end at about 14 and a quarter inches. It's okay to take fish that are a little bigger than that, especially if they look a little bit poorer like this one does. It's a little bit more fish, bigger head, sunken in stomach, it's not getting enough to eat, it's okay to harvest fish that size if they're a little bit over that limit. Now when it comes to the harvest of a brim, that is blue gale or shell cracker. Regardless of the management strategy, the harvest rates will be the same. It's the productivity that's going to be the difference here. And a fertilized or high productive pawn, don't take out any more than 200 pounds of brim per acre per year. Now when an unpharitalized pawn, we want to be below 100 pounds per acre per year. When it comes to annual harvest, do not rely on your memory. Keep written records in the harvest and the way station. This station is at a convenient location for you and your visitors. We have a bucket for weighing. We have scales, both mechanical and digital. We really recommend the mechanical scales. They're less accurate but you never have to worry about running out of batteries. We also keep a no pad and pencils. In this no pad, keep track of the day, the species of fish, the number of fish, and the total weight of the fish. Before recording your data, remember to separate the bass and the blue gale on the shell crackers. Here we have 14 bass that are going away. So these 14 bass weigh about 9 pounds. Remember to also take and account the weight of the bucket. This bucket weighs almost 2 pounds, so we have 7 pounds of bass and we need to record. Remember to periodically check your records and see how you're doing on your goals. Make sure you're not overshooting or undershooting your goals. If you get to the end of the year and you're having trouble reaching your desired harvest, you may want to hire a fish who's consulted. To come in to your pawn, electrofish, and remove some undersized bass. So one issue that you may face as a pawn owner is difficulty in getting the amount of bass harvest that you need to on an annual basis. One tip that we have for you is downsizing the tackle and lures that you're using to catch those fish. All the fish on this stringer you see here were caught in just a few hours by downsizing our tackle. A small spinner, a smaller lipless crankbait, and this little smaller downsize swimbait is what was used to catch that entire string of fish. The tackle company nowadays are making a lot of downsized offerings that can help to catch those smaller bass. So just remember that tip when you're having trouble with your catch rates for the year. Remember that proper fish harvest is an important part of managing any pawn for quality fishing. The best part of fish harvest is the fish fry they're going to have tonight. Bass and bluebill and especially smaller bass make for excellent table fairs.