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Comment by Zach Pierce on June 20, 2011 at 1:22pm

 

So this would lead me to think that Crappie may not be too successful either at spawning if the GSF are in there that thick.

 

Would this allow me to grow a few large Crappie?

 

Just wondering.

 

Also I have a few options as far as moving some LMB to the pond, 2 ponds I know of have a nice population of the size LMB I think I could use, as well as a creek that runs threw some property.

 

Would it matter if they came from a pond, or creek, would both be ok together?

 

Thanks

Comment by Walt Foreman on June 18, 2011 at 6:44pm

Considering you have GSF in your pond, and are trying to grow big bluegill, you should have at least three times that many bass.  Not many of the YOY will survive with the GSF in there.

Comment by 10.5" RES Sharon on June 18, 2011 at 11:41am

I only have 26 bass in a 1/3 acre pond. I think they have spawned this year though. Trying to catch some of the buggers so I can take a picture.

Comment by Walt Foreman on June 18, 2011 at 11:29am

Bluegill are extremely prolific.  If you put three hundred bass in a half acre pond they still wouldn't be able to eat all of the bluegill.

 

In the best bluegill ponds that I have managed, ones in which no bass whatsoever were kept for ten years, it was common to catch as many or more bass while fishing for bluegill, as bluegill.  One such pond, with no supplemental feeding whatsoever, had bluegill that averaged just under a pound apiece.

Comment by 10.5" RES Sharon on June 17, 2011 at 9:13pm

What keeps the bass from eating ALL the BG walt?

Comment by Walt Foreman on June 17, 2011 at 7:51pm

It's almost impossible to have both large bluegill and large bass in a small pond.  If I remember correctly, one of your ponds, possibly the one under discussion, is less than a half acre?  You couldn't grow more than a couple trophy-size bass in a pond that size even with optimal forage for them, and if you load up the forage for them, the bluegill will overpopulate and average about 4".

 

You want  overpopulated bass in a pond that's managed for big bluegill.  I'm not clear if big bluegill are your goal for this pond, but if they are, the single most important thing you can do is to get a very high density of bass.  If your pond is a half acre in size, and you wanted to manage it for big bluegill, you should have at least a hundred bass in the pond.  So almost 90% more than you have now. 

 

If you added even 50 bass 8" or larger, you would drastically increase the pressure on the GSF, and the chances that you'll be able to get the pond under control in the forseeable future.

 

You could stock one or two northern pike to help the bass, assuming you could find a hatchery that would sell that small a quantity.  I once turned around a 3-acre pond that was morbidly overpopulated with GSF, by stocking 40 pound-class largemouth from two other ponds I was managing, along with 20 12" northern pike, and a year later 75 6" walleye.  Within four years a 36" pike was caught, along with a bass just under nine pounds and dozens of bass in the 4-6 pound range.  The GSF were drastically thinned and also increased drastically in average size, from 2" to 8"; the bluegill rebounded and became the dominant sunfish, and got extremely large.  And a year or two after that a nine-pound walleye was caught from the lake.

 

I have tiger muskie stocked in a couple ponds that are a little under an acre each and which both were badly overpopulated with bluegill two years ago when I started working with them, one of them the worst I've ever seen, and those ponds are doing well.  But stocking more bass is the most surefire way of thinning out those GSF. 

Comment by 10.5" RES Sharon on June 17, 2011 at 1:54pm

BTW - this bluegill was eaten overnight by something that got into the trap while it was still in the water. Raccoon, turtle, who knows? Whatever it was also bent the trap out of line, and now I have to get a new one. The fish can get out now. We have a snapper turtle in the pond, maybe he had dinner

Comment by 10.5" RES Sharon on June 17, 2011 at 1:52pm

The fry I see are 1" and black as a tadpole, and roam individually. However, there is a hole under a barrel in the pond where I think they came from. They hide there when they get scared. That may be where a mass of them are. I tried catching some of the "bass?" fish in my minnow trap, but they won't go in there. Can't catch them with the fish net either, they are super fast. They are gone before I can move, lol.

Comment by Zach Pierce on June 17, 2011 at 1:40pm

Do you see catfish fry?  If they are in a big blog together than they are more than likely Bullheads.  It would take a ton of LMB to eat them, and I think they get smart after they have been fined a few times.

I am not sure how the GSF got in there, but I am sure they would end up again, the only thing is if my LMB are in there before they get in there then they will not have a chance to get a jump start.

Comment by 10.5" RES Sharon on June 17, 2011 at 12:35pm

I eat the GSF myself.  At least if they are 4" or better. I have cooked GSF and bluegill together, and can't tell any difference.  I think if you kill everything and start over, you will have the same problem in a few years. They came from somewhere. In my pond, I also have yellow catfish, and NO ONE ever put those in there. I'm hoping the catfish fry I have are channel cats. Or better yet, they all get eaten.

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