Bull to Hen ratios

[Bill "Musky" Modica]

I frequently fish a small local lake in my hometown of Antioch that shares the same name. This 77 acre gem is man made, and is a shallow dishpan type lake with a max depth of 10 ft.

 

Once a weed choked, and almost unfishable body of water, lake Antioch had only been a home to stunted 3-4" gills, and an occasional big Bass. Several years ago, lake management through local associations initiated a weed kill program that turned the lake around.

 

8-9" gills are now common, some with large eyes....and the Bass are bigger than ever.

Crappies, Perch, Pumpkinseeds, and BG/PS hybrids are also present.

 

What seems extremely odd to me is the 20-1 Female to Male ratio within the bluegill population.

For years we have selectively harvested generous numbers of females, and have religiously released all males....yet the ratio stays the same.

 

This particular body of water is private and unpressured......spawning beds have never been annually raided of its bulls....yet the ratio stays the same.

 

Is the gene pool corrupt?

[John Sheehan]

In my home lake (Cupsaw),in Ringwood  NJ. I count 19 Male Gills and 5 Hens in my photos since ice out .With the catches that weren't photo'd I guess that somewhat more than 1/4 were hens

The hens are usually around 7"and Males 8"-8&1/2".

[Jim Gronaw]

Odd, but I have the same gig at one of my local ponds. Today I caught 52 bluegill and I'll bet that 45 of them were hens, and big girls at that. Most were over 9 inches and I had several 10's. This is a pond that suffered a notable fish kill last year that was almost all large bluegill. Yet the remaining gills seemed to have jumped up in size with only a few fish under the 8 inch mark. here's a few pics...

[Eric White]

I would be interested in an answer. I fish an old granite quarry that filled in with water and was stocked with bluegills . I can catch 100 bluegills and out of that 5 might be males. No bass are present but large numbers of catfish are.