Harvesting

[Wade Jones]

We want a trophy bluegill and bass fishery, we have been keeping the medium sized bluegill (6-8 in.), and the smaller bass, is this the right thing to do?

[Walt Foreman]

No, you don't want to keep smaller bass - they're the key to growing trophy-sized bluegill. I never allow any bass at all to be kept from ponds I manage for big bluegill; that way the bass overpopulate, which means they eat most bluegill at the fry or fingerling stage, and the bluegill that make it past that gauntlet are uncrowded and have all they want to eat, and will grow several times faster than a pond in which the bluegill are crowded.

Are you feeding with an automatic feeder? That makes a huge difference as well, and will give you a decidedly higher upper size limit than if you didn't feed. With an automatic feeder, you can expect to eventually have a few bluegill reach the two-pound mark if you feed multiple times daily during the growing season.

I also would not keep many bluegill of eight inches, as once they get to that size you want to allow them to keep getting bigger; definitely don't keep many, or any, over 9" if you want trophies. But not keeping any small bass is the biggest key by far.

[Walt Foreman]

I just noticed you said you want trophy bluegill and bass - it's nearly impossible to achieve both in a pond, as the ideal environment for growing big bass is overpopulated bluegill (lots of bluegill in the ideal forage size range) which invariably results in small bluegill, and the ideal environment for growing big bluegill is overpopulated small bass. So I would suggest prioritizing which fish means the most to you, and then designing your management plan accordingly.

[Josh Milczski (Omaha)]

Afraid Walt is right Nick. I think you can attain balance, but not trophy status. If you want trophies, going to have to pick which one is more important to you.

[Magnolia Rick]

Walt going this route will make a good fishing pond for my kids. a pond with bunch of small bass and big gills will be fun to fish. Keep the big bass and small gills. I'm like Josh might do another pond for big bass. With having the two ponds should keep the kids and PAWPAW happy. lol FEED THEM CATCH THEM

[Magnolia Rick]

http://www.pondboss.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Numb...
cut and paste this in your brouser. This is a great break down on setting up a Bigbluegill pond. LOL I got it posted in my pond floder at the house.

[Josh Milczski (Omaha)]

Yeah, Bill Cody knows his stuff.

[Magnolia Rick]

In know that right. Just gotta read up before reather that after lol

[Josh Milczski (Omaha)]

That's actually how a lot of people have found Pond Boss. Realizing they made one mistake or another and stumbling across it and wishing they'd found it before they got themselves in trouble. But, you know, just be thankful there's a resource out there like that. It certainly is invaluable. I'm not done digging, so I basically will be giving complete credit to the great guys of that forum for my pond's eventual completion.