Do you love big bluegill?

bluegill-oct-12

Slow day today - most of the fish were 8" or less. We fished a pond that I have suspected for a while now has had large bluegill kept out of it by a guy I encouraged the owner not to give permission to; after today I'm fairly certain of it.

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Comment by JBplusThuy on October 13, 2013 at 2:23pm: The way things stand now, it looks like continuing to put your own money into that pond is - or will soon become - a case of throwing good money after bad.

David has an interesting point. Making the pond owner a partner who can financially profit from following your advice might change things. If you make the offer and he doesn't take you up on it, that makes it pretty clear that you will continue to get a worse return on your investment over time. If you walk away from it and the average size of the BG there drops of to 6 or 7 inches in a couple years, he might come to the conclusion that you were right and call you back.

Good luck with, and sorry you're in this tough situation.

Jonathan

Comment by David, aka, "McScruff" on October 13, 2013 at 7:33am: Was this owner to expect a "cut" of guiding profits? I'm guessing no.
Wherever money is an issue, I naturally think in legal terms.
The fact that he allowed random harvesting obviously shows he cared little for your efforts.
Could the pond still produce and become a hinge pin for your guiding? ? If so, it may be worthwhile to change your relationship with the man. Making him a partner child turn the tide in your favor. If the potential is really there, as you suggest, it could be seen as an investment.
Then YOU COULD COULD WORK THE POND to advantage, choosing clients with the most leverage to advance your business, etc.
Like I said, I think this way. Sorry of I'm a little over the top.

Comment by Walt Foreman on October 13, 2013 at 7:03am: You're right, David, it's not the best situation. I have ponds that I am paid to manage, and for those obviously none of my own money is in play. The ponds I spend my own money on are for my guide business; if business had been better for the guiding, perhaps these things wouldn't be an issue. Although the flip side of that is, this pond would likely have unbelievable fishing now, good enough to make the guiding business take off, if I had gotten better cooperation.

Comment by David, aka, "McScruff" on October 13, 2013 at 4:03am: It sounds discouraging. Very interesting glimpse into a facet of pond management
not often mentioned. I don't know enough about the "business" to offer suggestions.

Im guessing no binding agreement in play, just a "handshake"... where you do all,
the work. Considering the kind of fish you're getting, walking away is indeed a grim prospect.
I've considered feeding my neighbors neglected pond, as well. This opens up some THINGS
to think about.

Comment by Walt Foreman on October 13, 2013 at 2:57am: I've pondered for a while now just abandoning the pond, since it's one I spend my own dough on, and that expense seems to be taken for granted. I just hate to give up on it because this is the pond that produced the 2-lb. hybrid for me in July, as well as the 31-oz. hybrid last October, and two 1-12 hybrids before that, not to mention an 11" pure-strain northern bluegill this past June. But it was way ahead of all of my other bluegill ponds four years ago when I began putting my own money into some of them, and now I have two or three other ponds that have more big bluegill than this one does. There are dozens of Canada geese that have taken up residence on the pond, and they eat a lot of the fish food I'm offering up via feeder, and the owner won't let me dispose of them.

This is the pond that the owner caught a pure-strain bluegill he measured by his hand at 14", two summers ago. It has holes over forty feet deep, and if I had any kind of cooperation I think I could grow a world record in it, but the present situation is pretty exasperating.

Comment by Tony Livingston on October 12, 2013 at 6:20pm: Well.......crap.

Any options available to you Walt? Certainly nothing wrong with the gill pictured here.....great shape!

Comment by Jim Gronaw on October 12, 2013 at 6:14pm: What a drag...you just can not continually remove the alphas and expect big fish to remain or continue to spawn future generations of high-quality fish. Especially true in smaller venues but applies to bigger waters as well.

Sorry to hear that, Walt. A seven incher tastes just as good as a 10, and there are usually a ton more of them out there.