i have been catching lots of longears recently and throwing them out. my goal is to have as good of a bg pond as possible. i think the longears and gsf like the aquamax since i catch most of them in front of the sweeney.

How big is the pond, and how big are the longears and bluegill averaging right now. It's a very interesting question.

pond is about 3/4 acre, plenty deep with good water flow. longears are usually 3-5 inches. pond is 2 years old, bg stocked in sept of 08 and i have some bg males that are pushing 10".

I never knew that longears were pellet eaters. Very cool. What kind of condition are the longears in? Do they look like they're really healthy?

they look healthy to me, (but i am a rookie). i am not sure they are eating pellets, i have just caught lots of them at the feeder last few times i fished. i am also catching lots of gsf and they definetly get culled.

My understanding is that longears don't pose a direct competitive thread to bluegill populations. I would think the longears would make a very enjoyable bonus fish on occasion. I think their reproductive potential is such that if you're managing heavily for bluegill, that the longears would not be a detriment to your management goals. I could be wrong however...maybe just a gut instinct.

I have never PERSONALLY found GSF to successfully compete against BG. I wouldn't worry about them.

If your goal is to grow the biggest BG you can, then I would remove all the longear sunfish(LES) you can. However, if you don't mind a little competition with your BG and enjoy the added variety, then treat them just like BG and harvest accordingly. Just realize that even the larger subspecies of LES rarely reach 6" and an 8" LES would be GIANT! I looked and the Alabama State record for LES is only 8 oz! Could you take a photo or two of the LES you are catching and post them on here for others to see and myself? LES do not generally compete well with other sunfish, so it is unusual they are doing so well in your pond. In parts of the Mississippi drainage where redbreast sunfish(RBS) have been introduced, they generally out compete the LES and have made them much less common than they once were. LES were introduced into the Potomac River and on occasion I catch a few even though the RBS are many times more common as a native sunfish to the Potomac. I have kept LES in my aquariums in the past as they are VERY pretty fish. They will learn to eat pellets and when I have moved fish to outside ponds, they continue with the pellet eating.