The idea of keeping the bass from my pond was more of a grow out idea. I don't think it all that bad considering my pond is completely isolated and I have no other fish in my tank. this setup has only even had wild caught natives, rescued from a drainage ditch that flooded then was drying up. Those fish were given away before I left Iowa and the tank has just been snail and plants since. Anyway, I don't think I will be messing with the pond bass since I can not keep them forever in the tank and I don't want to risk a bird or raccoon carrying something from my pond to local waterways, bird mostly since the nearest body of water that is not my neighbors retention pond is a lake about 15 miles away.
I have only been in Missouri for a year and have not had a chance to go fishing at all. How Big do these Ozark Bass get? I am more of a quantity kind of fish keeper, I like watching schools move around the tank. I doubt any size bass could be kept with shiners or minnows.
So, since I will not be housing my bass, anyone know what I have to do to be able to catch local baitfish and put them in my aquarium? Are there any nice looking local baitfish or should I order some from Zimmerman or the other online fisheries?
As a scale of what I consider nice, my favorite setup so far has been my Asian setup with an huge school of White Clouds. Biggest fish in that setup was my Red Tailed Black Shark that got to 6 inches before I lost them all to a winter blackout.
