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Comment by Patricia Wilson on July 18, 2011 at 8:04pm

Great Gills!!!!!!!!!!

Comment by Walt Foreman on July 15, 2011 at 4:51pm

One thing I notice that would be very simple to do and would not adversely affect anyone's goals: stock some coppernose bluegill.  All of the ones in the photo above are northern-strain, which still get big, but not as big as coppernose get, especially in your region.  If three or four hundred smaller bluegill (8" or 9" and under) were harvested, that would make room for the coppernose without adversely affecting the growth rate of either the natives or the new additions.  I haul fish and can get you a great price on pure-strain coppernose.

 

One other thought: one of the two lakes could be managed for big bass, and the other for big bluegill.  Crappie are possible to manage for in smaller ponds, but it's tricky and you'd be asking for it to try to manage a small lake for them and another species at the same time.  But if one of the two lakes was focused on bass and the other bluegill, wow - you wouldn't believe what could be done with them in just a couple years.

 

Again, these are just thoughts off the top of my head based on the very little I know of the lakes from the photo and what you've told me.  You and the rest of the HOA could really have a couple tremendous lakes with a little management.

Comment by Walt Foreman on July 15, 2011 at 4:41pm

You don't need electroshocking.  I could fish it for an hour or two and get enough data to form a thorough and informed overview of the lake, from which management could be taken in whatever direction the HOA wanted to take it.  The founder of modern pond management, Homer Swingle who founded the Auburn fisheries program, used to say that you could formulate a management plan just by looking at a few of the bluegill in a pond or lake (if you know what you're looking at).  It helps to have a little more data than that, but that's just a way of saying, electrofishing a lot of times is more for the pond owners than it is for the pond.  TWRA recently shocked a lake I had sampled for the HOA a couple weeks before; I caught five species of fish and saw a sixth schooling; they shocked up six species of fish.  And their conclusions and recommendations mirrored mine.

 

One of the lakes I manage now is 56 acres and was managed by a very big, well-known management company before I took over.  Under their management, according to the owner, the biggest bass caught from the lake was five pounds; when I took over, the bluegill averaged about 4".  Now, two years later, the bluegill average 8" with many considerably bigger, and just in the last three weeks two six- and two seven-pound largemouth have been caught from the lake.  All I did to sample it was fish it, and observe while I fished.  I caught bluegill, bass, and shellcracker in an hour of fishing, and saw gizzard shad schooling.  A lot of the management plan was based just on the condition of the bluegill, which told me that the lake was overrun with shad.

 

For what you'd spend on electrofishing, I would give you a full management plan and set you up with four or five feeders and enough of the best fish food in the industry to last half a season, and you'd still have a little left over to buy some pellet-trained largemouth, which would allow you to manage for both big bass and big bluegill in a way you can't otherwise.

 

There are lots of different ways to skin the cat - lots of ways to manage a pond for multiple species.  If those bluegill were being fed, within a year or two 1.5 pound bluegill would be common, and two-pounders would start showing up (they'd probably start showing up within a year, based on how big they are already, but two years is conservative).  The bass would also benefit because bluegill spawn considerably more when they're fed high-protein pellets, meaning more forage for the bass. 

 

These are just a few thoughts.  If you can talk the HOA into it, I'd come down and sample the lake for a fraction of what electrofishing would cost, and from there I would give you three or four different possible management plans they could choose from, or we could use my proposal as a starting point and formulate something customized to everyone's goals. 

 

I know it's hard to get them to agree, but I just started managing a 22-acre lake near me that has dozens of lots on it, and nothing had been done to the lake in the way of management for years.  I gave them a proposal with three different options, and they liked one of them and now we're off and running.

Comment by David Helm on July 15, 2011 at 11:07am

Walt, thanks for the comments.  These lakes are owned by a Property Owners' Association, of which I am a member, but just one of approx. 25.  The POA can't even agree on goals for the lakes, let alone any management activity.  One guy wants crappie, another wants trophy bass, another wants big BG, etc.   Fertilization is the only management practice the POA can agree on.  They can't even agree on spending money for electro-shock.  Fortunately, the POA does a decent job with fertilization.  I know of one 1.5 lb BG that has been caught recently (not by me).  Most of the "keepers" look like the ones in the photo.

Comment by Walt Foreman on July 14, 2011 at 9:35pm

Those are some nice-sized bluegill, David.  Are you doing anything in the way of management on your lakes?  Let me know if you ever need anything - I do everything from fish stocking to weed control to selling automatic feeders and aeration systems to selling the top fish fish food in the industry. 

 

The lake that the fish above came out of could be a fantastic bluegill lake with a little management.  Let me know if I can help.

 

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