# Private trophy bass lakes



## notnksnemor (Aug 4, 2012)

Are there any small private lakes strictly managed for trophy bass in Georgia and do they sell fishing leases?


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## dmor71 (Aug 4, 2012)

Pond 26 (Metz) on Fort Stewart is a managed trophy pond. Minimum keeper is 24" and only 2 per day. Only need to have a GA license and then buy a $30 (civ. price) post license and you are set to fish all the ponds on Fort Stewart. In addition to large bass ponds 1 and 26 have some very large crappie as well as bull brim. Boats are allowed, just not your big motor, must use trolling motor but you can have the big motor on the boat just don't use it...it's a big fine.


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## noah3d (Aug 5, 2012)

Bienville Plantation!


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## LTZ25 (Aug 5, 2012)

West Point


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## mdgmc84 (Aug 5, 2012)

Rutland Farms in Tift Co. Great place to go and have an opportunity to catch a trophy bass. been there three times, two of the times me or whoever i was with caught a trophy sized bass, and the other time i was there my fishing buddy and i both had trophy bass break off. its catch and release only for bass though.


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## notnksnemor (Aug 6, 2012)

Thanks for the replies.
The reason I ask is I recently bought a 12 acre lake that has a pretty good poulation of large bass (4 to 6 pounds is pretty common, several 7+ this year and the largest I know of is 12 lb.). I've had a lake management company look at it and they say it has the potential to be a real trophy lake but it is an expensive undertaking. I was trying to get a feel if there is sufficient demand for a pay by the day of yearly lease to help offset some of the expense. BTW it would be C&R on bass.


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## mdgmc84 (Aug 6, 2012)

Rutland Farms really has a great set up, its 10 dollars for half a day, 20 for a full. They manage their ponds quite well. I will gladly pay their price for an opportunity to catch fish like that. May want to look into insurance and legal stuff though.


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## Anr1990 (Jun 9, 2017)

Mdgmc24, I am planning to fish at Rutland Farms this weekend, are there any specific ponds at Rutland that you would suggest to someone who has yet to fish there? Mainly looking to fish for bass. Thanks in advance


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## caughtinarut (Jun 9, 2017)

PM sent


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## Cletus T. (Jun 9, 2017)

Yes…….there is a demand for it, with it being 12-acres you would have to limit the number of people on it but it sounds like you have a special fishing hole!!!

I’d pay good money to fish it and the folks that you would cater too would all be catch and release guys anyway so that wouldn’t be a problem!

Good luck with the venture!!!


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## across the river (Jun 9, 2017)

Personally I think it would be more trouble than it is worth on a 12 acre pond.   You would have to allow a pile of people fish it to make any significant money.  Then the more it gets pressured the more difficult it is to catch them for yourself.  You get to the point when you are spending so much time running a "pay pond" that you don't have an opportunity to enjoy your own fishing pond.   What are they suggesting doing that is so expensive?  Sounds to me like they are just trying to make a buck.  Fertilizing programs and much of this extensive management programs will help the produce larger numbers (pounds) of fish,  but if you aren't planning on keeping a lot of fish out of the pond, that can make it even more difficult to manage.  Lets say you need to remove 40 pounds of bream and 10 pounds of bass per acre per year in an unfertilized pond.  If you fertilize you can probably triple that, so do you really plan on fishing enough to take out nearly 1500lbs of bream and 400lbs per bass per year.   Probably not for most people.  If you already have a good population of larger bass, it often becomes mainly a deal of maintain the numbers you want to prevent them from overcrowding and eating up all the food.  As long as they have plenty of food and ambush cover they will continue to grow.   The problem typically arises when you have too many bass(bass crowded) and not enough food.  You can typically manage that for the most part by having a bunch of friends and family come over in early spring, and you keep every small bass you catch out of the thing.  I'm just curious as to what they are suggesting to you that needs to be done that is so expensive.


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## shotgun (Jun 9, 2017)

I would like a membership depending on your location.
12 acres wont support many members but the main thing for trophy bass is the food source. Three different kinds of shad and plenty crawfish and blue gill.


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## 61BelAir (Jun 9, 2017)

First off let me say that I don't know much about pond management, but have read and talked a lot over the last year about it.  
My thoughts on your 12 acre lake:
With the current conditions (back in 2012 anyway) being that there is a good population of large bass, then I would think the lake would not need much more than some thoughtful planning to keep it on track.  It sounds like it's already a nice trophy lake to me.  Maybe set a size slot and adjust it as needed to control the population.  I'm betting it has a very well established forage base.  You could probably just stock it with a lot of minnows regularly to supplement things.  Stocking thousands of minnows grows everything in the lake.....bigger forage equals bigger bass.


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## oops1 (Jun 9, 2017)

I was on lease where we drained the 17 acre lake.. Let it dry..cut terraces.. Flipped tree root balls over and added skidder tires in strategic spots.. Fed em shad and in two-three years..were catchin 4-5 lb bass.. No lie. Hire somebody. It werks.. The owner charges about a grand just to fish a year and he's got a waiting list.


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## KyDawg (Jun 10, 2017)

There are a lot of ponds less than 12 acres that produce trophy bass in South Georgia. I caught an 8 pounder in one a couple of weeks ago and know there are some a lot bigger in there. This pond has 0 management and the only interest the owner has in it is to irrigate crops.


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## AStrick (Jun 14, 2017)

Panic pond wma?


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## Dog Hunter (Jun 14, 2017)

AStrick said:


> Panic pond wma?



Was an awesome pond at one time.


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## russ1745 (Jun 15, 2017)

I'd be interested in a membership - willing to pay up to $1,500/yr for the right setup.  I'd use it mostly to take OWL/TWF participants that I've gotten to know.  Send me a PM.

Dittos on Bienville Plantation - took my Dad there in 2005 and he caught a 13lb 6oz bass.  Very expensive, but worth it.  Before that, I didn't know appreciate the old expression:  "That bass had big brown marbles for eyes."


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