Bluegill - Big Bluegill

Do you love big bluegill?

Progress notes on Dad's trophy bluegill pond.

I don't know if it's the barley straw or the aeration system--or likely both--but right now the pond has secchi readings of over 3 meters. This is unheard of on any of the ponds on my farm. I have some Earthtec ready and available for the beginnings of an algae bloom, but maybe I won't have to use it for awhile. The fish are all basically still tiny. Way too little to provide a fishing experience. Maybe we're close to two years away from having a good fishery.

249 bluegill that are 3-4 inches.
35 slightly bigger age-2 bluegill
125 yellow perch that are also quite small. Maybe 5-8 inches.
4 steelheads just for the fun of it. They'll probably last another week or so until we harvest them out.

The feedings are very enthusiastic at least. :-)

I used the Earthtec (buffered copper sulfate) on the sediment/nutrient pond yesterday and I'll check it tomorrow to see if there was an effect. The secchi readings were .4 meter yesterday.

Views: 328

Comment

You need to be a member of Bluegill - Big Bluegill to add comments!

Join Bluegill - Big Bluegill

Comment by Bruce Condello on June 28, 2008 at 1:47pm
I wish I had the camera last night. We caught a couple of fish that would have had, in my estimation, Wr's in the neighborhood of 140+. I'd better get those pictures.
Comment by Theo Gallus on June 28, 2008 at 1:35pm
"Anybody think I should post a picture of one of those really fat male age-1 fish?"

Juvenile obesity is a serious matter in this country. Of course we need pictures!
Comment by Bruce Condello on June 28, 2008 at 11:26am
Water quality rapidly improving now that we've almost gone two days without rain. Clarity sits at 17 inches.
Comment by Bruce Condello on June 27, 2008 at 8:32pm
Thank goodness for a little break in the weather! We're ten inches over normal rainfall, but the last 24 hours have been drier, and the water is beginning to clear up. There is evidently one steelhead left. Saw him feeding tonight. Still lots of little bluegill. Nice body condition, but still too small to put up a serious tussle. Lots of them runnin' around 5-6 inches, but a couple of small males that looked like they had eggs they were so fat. Pretty impressive. Anybody think I should post a picture of one of those really fat male age-1 fish? Water clarity was back up to about 13 inches. I'd love to see it about 30 inches someday.
Comment by Bruce Condello on June 24, 2008 at 9:02pm
It continues to rain time and time again. We're now about six inches over normal for the year, and Dad's pond looks muddy as can be. Very sad. The good news is that the fish continue to feed agressively. Evidently the water quality is acceptable in every other respect. Dad and I have discussed the possibility of harvesting some of the little tiny yellow perch for a good meal. Kayla and I harvested two on Sunday, and they were absolutely delicious. They were between 6 and 9 inches.
Comment by Bruce Condello on June 21, 2008 at 6:03am
Secchi readings, which had dropped to 10 inches after the big rains have improved to 14 inches at this time.
Comment by Bruce Condello on June 21, 2008 at 6:02am
Fishing is not very good at Dad's pond right now. There is currently a tremendous band of rooted vegetation around the entire periphery of the pond. The species are horned pondweed, which makes up the band closest to shore, then there is the sago pondweed, which is a little deeper. The good news is that when you grab a wad of the weeds and observe the inhabitants you will find dozens of damselfly nymphs and chironomids. I think there is a lot to eat for all those little bluegill. Hopefully this will springboard these fish to pellet eating size.

Feedings are still enthusiastic, and there is still one steelhead that hasn't been caught. I'm amazed that he is still eating like crazy every evening.

I'm debating the possibility of manually removing some of the vegetation so that Dad has a nice clear area in front of his dock.
Comment by Bruce Condello on June 13, 2008 at 5:30pm
Dad's trophy bluegill pond took a beating a couple of nights ago! The pond received almost four inches of rain in a fairly short period. I checked it today and the visibility had plummetted from 24 inches down to 12 inches. It looked very turbid indeed. The bluegill that went in at 4-5 inches are now stocky 5-6 inchers. They've been feeding very well, and even after all the rain took some pellets today. I plan to be out at his pond every minute that I can over the next few months.

The barley straw that I added early in the spring appears to be doing it's job. I'm keeping meticulous data on algae levels, and plan to write an article at some future date. The aeration also appears to be helping, as I haven't found a single mortality since it was installed.

I'm ready for the rain to stop.
Comment by Bruce Condello on May 8, 2008 at 7:22pm
Water temperatures are now consistently in the upper 50's to about 60 degrees. All of the bluegill are feeding actively, but the smaller bluegill are much more agressive. The big bluegill are "sippers", and take a much more cautious approach to pellet feeding. It rained 1.5 inches two nights ago so the water clarity has dipped from 3 meters down to about 1 meter. This does not seem to have affected the fish's hunger. I had a GBH pay a visit to me while I was working on the pond. I am installing a security system. The heron has been leaving footprints on the edge of the pond so I'd assume he's been fishing. We installed another electric wire layer of security in the area of the footprints to try to discourage him. Obviously they are illegal to shoot, but I wish I had one of those propane cannons to freak him out a little bit.
Comment by Bruce Condello on May 2, 2008 at 3:59pm

Two of the steelheads have been harvested. I'll post a picture. They are awesome fish, but one of the two we harvested had over 100 pellets in it's belly! I'm sure the bluegill are getting pushed off the feeding grounds by these maniacal steelies. My secchi readings are around 3 meters as of last night. I'd like them to ultimately stabilize around 1 meter, because that's a great clarity for predators like bluegill (yes, I said bluegill), but not so clear as to indicate a lack of primary productivity, which is a measure of the amount of phytoplankton and zooplankton in the water. This is crucial so that the fish aren't subsisting entirely on pellets. In order to grow huge bluegill you need to have a natural component to the diet. I can't stress this enough.

Latest Activity

John Sheehan commented on John Sheehan's photo
Thumbnail

Spoon Bass

"Thanks Jeff!"
16 hours ago
John Sheehan commented on John Sheehan's photo
Thumbnail

Rattle Trap Bass

"Yes, the front one at least! What do you suppose happened there ,Jeff?"
16 hours ago
Jeffrey D. Abney commented on John Sheehan's photo
Thumbnail

Rattle Trap Bass

"Another good bass…..his dorsal fin is almost gone completely….."
16 hours ago
Jeffrey D. Abney commented on John Sheehan's photo
Thumbnail

25"+Spoon Pick

"Big chain, very nice!"
16 hours ago
Jeffrey D. Abney commented on John Sheehan's photo
Thumbnail

Spoon Bass

"Nice bass John!"
16 hours ago
Jeffrey D. Abney commented on John Sheehan's photo
16 hours ago
John Sheehan added a discussion to the group Lure History
Thumbnail

Discontinued Lures

Some of my favorites I can't find anymore: Acme Fash King Flutter Spoon, Eppinger Flutter Chuck,…See More
yesterday
John Sheehan posted photos
yesterday
John Sheehan commented on John Sheehan's photo
Thumbnail

25"+Spoon Pick

"25+inch Pickerel was best of the 13 Fish caught today a day after the Worm Moon. Two Bass and the…"
Tuesday
John Sheehan commented on dick tabbert's photo
Thumbnail

IMG_0186

"1/16th oz., good!"
Tuesday
dick tabbert commented on dick tabbert's photo
Thumbnail

IMG_0186

"These are my last build. I added more colors."
Tuesday
dick tabbert commented on dick tabbert's photo
Thumbnail

IMG_0186

"No Jon I went with the 1/16 oz jig heads so I could have a larger hook for crappies. It's a #4…"
Tuesday
John Sheehan commented on dick tabbert's photo
Thumbnail

IMG_0186

"Colors are great !"
Monday
John Sheehan commented on dick tabbert's photo
Thumbnail

IMG_0186

"Thats a good Crappie size! Are they 32nd Oz Jigs?"
Monday
dick tabbert commented on dick tabbert's photo
Thumbnail

IMG_0186

"They are right at 2" long."
Monday
John Sheehan commented on dick tabbert's photo
Thumbnail

IMG_0186

"I Can see Crappie and Bass chomping on them, Dick!"
Sunday
dick tabbert commented on dick tabbert's photo
Thumbnail

IMG_0186

"I made these up for crappie in mind. They might be a little big for gills unless it a bigger gill."
Sunday
John Sheehan commented on dick tabbert's photo
Thumbnail

IMG_0186

"What Species you got in mind for these great Minnow ties , Dick?"
Sunday
dick tabbert posted photos
Sunday
John Sheehan commented on Sam k.'s group Trout Bums
""Trout Season opens April 6th 2024 in New Jersey. Waters are runnin' high for…"
Sunday

© 2024   Created by Bluegill.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service