new blog up with an article on raising big bluegill

[Walt Foreman]

Hi all.  I've started a blog for my bluegill guiding service on which I will also be posting articles on pond management, especially big bluegill, from time to time.  I just posted an article on common mistakes made by pond owners who want big bluegill.  Here's the URL:

http://bluegilladventures.blogspot.com/

If you visit the blog, leave a comment so Google will know I exist! 

[Walt Foreman]

So were the bluegill bigger when there were more bowfins, or are there a lot of bowfins now?  Hope you catch some big ones this week, Frank!

[Frank Ribble]

THANKS, I APOLOGIZE FOR NON-BLUEGILL RELATED CONTENT.  THE INFORMATION YOU PROVIDE HELPS ME EVALUATE THE AREAS I FISH. THE BEST ADVICE I HAVE GOTTEN ON THIS WEBSITE WAS TO FIND A QUALITY PLACE TO FISH. THIS ADVICE WILL HELP ME KEEP THE PLACES I FISH FROM BEING FILLED WITH DINKS. ONE PLACE I USED  TO FISH A LOT OF FISHERMAN KILL ANY BOWFIN. HAS HUGE SPAWNING AREA & A LOT OF FISHING PRESSURE. RESULT A TON OF 3" TO 5" GILLS WITH 6" RARE & 7" A TROPHY. MIGHT BE A LITTLE BETTER UPSTREAM, BUT I DON'T HAVE A BOAT.  GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR FISHING & ALL YOUR ENDEAVORS! MAYBE I'LL GET LUCKY & CATCH A BIG GILL OR PUMPKINSEED THIS WEEK.

[Walt Foreman]

Thanks for the interest, guys!  Frank, crappie are very difficult to raise in ponds - most pond managers (and DNRs for that matter) advise against stocking them unless the lake is at least a hundred acres.  They may do fine for four or five years, then suddenly they have a big spawn and the pond is overrun with 4" crappie so thin you can see through them.  Crappie have unpredictable spawning rates, and are thus not recommended for ponds.  There has been a new approach developed in the past couple years that involves stocking nothing but threadfin shad, crappie, and hybrid striped bass, but I wouldn't recommend attempting it without a professional pond manager managing the pond.

As far as pike go, both they and muskie can be a great management tool - most of my best bluegill ponds right now have a couple tiger muskie per acre, and I've had great luck with pike in the past (just stocked pike into a couple different ponds that are overpopulated with bluegill).  If you catch a pike 36" or longer, it wouldn't be a bad idea to remove it, but the smaller ones I would release.  I generally release all bass, period; if I were going to take one out of a bluegill pond it would have to be at least 22" for me to justify doing so.  

[Greg McWilliams]

Walt, You just answer my next question, about the 50 , 50 mix!!!! I will get in touch with the hatchery and find out about the coppernose strain!!!!!! I have never seen coopernose except on the pages of BBG!!!!!!!! I have fished even into the southeastern parts of Ok, next to ark.and tx., where the warmer weather is!!!!!! Thanks WALT!!!!! Golden would be awesome!!!!!!!

[Frank Ribble]

AWESOME INFORMATION! ONE POND I FISH HAS A GOOD POPULATION OF BASS & LARGER  PREDATOR FISH(NORTHERN PIKE & BOWFIN). DOES MOST OF THE SAME INFORMATION APPLY TO  GROWING LARGE BLACK CRAPPIE? REMOVE AS MANY  GILLS AS POSSIBLE & CATCH & RELEASE PREDATORS OR SHOULD LARGER BASS BE REMOVED TOO. MI HAS 14" MINIMUM LENGTH ON BASS.

[federico del toro]

Great blog! very interesting facts

[Walt Foreman]

Thanks, Patrick!  

Greg, pure-strain coppernose would struggle if you have ice for more than a few days at a time.  Having 12' water by the dam would help a lot.  What you might think about doing is trying some coppernose and some northern-strain, 50 coppernose and 50 northern-strain.  That way if the coppernose struggle, you've still got northern-strain that have no problem with cold; and if the coppernose do well, you're golden.

[Greg McWilliams]

We will freeze our ponds over but it usually not for an extended period!!!!!  Normal lows are into the 20's!!!!!! We do the extreme weather patterns here!!!!!! Extended highs in the 100's is not normal but it happens!!!!   In 2000 we had 45 days of below normal temps and I couldn't fish for that long due to ice out!!!!!

[Patrick "Bullworm" Olson]

AWESOME blog Walt!!! I will be subscribing!

[Walt Foreman]

How cold does it get in the winter where the pond is?  Coppernose might do okay, or they might struggle if it gets very cold.  If ponds in your area regularly ice over, I wouldn't stock pure-strain coppernose.  

But there's a good chance the coppernose you have access to may not be pure-strain - they may be a cross between coppernose and northern-strain bluegill, in which case they should do better in the cold.  If the hatchery has any photos of their coppernose, especially photos of larger fish, post them here and I can give you an opinion on whether they're pure.  

That's awesome that the pond is in a location where not many people will bother it - that's a major, major plus.