Do you love big bluegill?

Hybrid Bluegill?

Can someone tell me what this is, this is 1 of 3 kinds of sunfish I caught last week from my pond.

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Comment by Magnolia Rick on March 10, 2011 at 12:16pm: The food chain is most importance adding the tilapia was good for my pond to feed the gills and bass the first real full year. But as Walt stated now the smaller gills that the bass would have feed on are now adding to your total fish per pound per sq ft. What I have done is fish the pond heavy. Remove any small gills under 8” and also my bass over 16”

Now again this is just and old man in Texas way of thing. As for the grass crap they are feed eating machines. If you are feed the pond they’ll eat feed and not the weeds.

I gone into just taking a rake on a rope chunking into pond and pulling up what I wanted out. Remember these weeds are where your minnows and fingerling hide.

Now the disclaimer
OLD MAN FROM TEXAS TENTS TO TALK THOUGH BOTH ENDS

Comment by Zach Pierce on March 10, 2011 at 8:52am: I may try to fertilize this year, if you can give me some pointers on that I would appreciate it.

I really hate to use Cutrine or other chemicals if I can keep from it, plus since the pond is about 45 min drive it is harder for me to get over as much as I would like.

That is why I was thinking the Tilapia to help with that and some extra forage as well.

I should have 30-50 LMB in there now and however many make it this year when they spawn. If you remember I also stocked 100 Catfish as well if that makes any difference.

I just stocked 2 grass carp as well since the weeds were pretty bad last year, not sure one of them will make it since it had a nice sore on it. I do however get a replacement when they truck comes back to town.

Do you think I should put it in the pond in place of the one or would that be too many? Not sure where else I would put it but since I get it for free plus my father gets one as well.

Maybe we can find someone else’s pond to stock them in.

Please let me know if you have any ideas.

Thanks

Comment by Walt Foreman on March 10, 2011 at 8:38am: Adding tilapia would result in an explosion of bluegill and green sunfish - I've seen it more than once in a 1/2 acre pond owned by a friend of mine. He has stocked tilapia twice, and both times the bluegill exploded such that the pond was overrun with 3-4" bluegill all season. And he has an extremely high density of bass, and no green sunfish, which are much worse about overpopulating than most people realize.

You can control FA with cutrine, or, if your pond doesn't have too much water shallower than 2', you can control it simply by establishing a good plankton bloom through fertilization, which also boosts the entire food chain of the pond.

Comment by Zach Pierce on March 10, 2011 at 6:21am: Ok that makes since, which if that is the case I was sold an F2, as I doubt my fish were able to spawn since Dec 2009 and get back up to this size.

I probably should not add any more fish this and let time work its magic. I did want to add some Tilapia though to help with the FA but would hate to have a fish kill from adding more fish.

If I due have a kill do you think it would be 100% or just the larger fish?

Comment by Walt Foreman on March 9, 2011 at 7:47pm: When referring to hybrid bluegill, F1 is the first generation of offspring. But the term can get confusing because some hatcheries market their Florida largemouth-northern largemouth intergrades as F1s.

F2 would be the second generation of offspring. The reason I said it looks like possibly an F1 or F2 is because the coloring is not as strong as on a first-generation hybrid (the cross generation).

Comment by Magnolia Rick on March 9, 2011 at 7:04pm: This is a hybird blue gill big mouth like a sunfish I have these in mine pond. You'll start seeing yellow more in the tip of the fins