I would not remove any YP until you see or are catching (angling or trapping and better both) numerous 3"-5" young perch. I suspect that since you have SMB as predators, the smallies will prey a little more aggressively on the YP as compared to the other sunfishes primarily because the YP are a slender bodied prey item and as such a larger morsel compared to sunfish. Large YP of 6"-9+" will also help 'somewhat' to reduce the numbers of small 1/2"-1.2" sunfish especially during colder water periods. IMO your main harvest long term, should be and will be BG. I suggest you just regularly monitor and keep a written record of the sizes and species that you are catching by all methods and remove those that appear to be the most abundant. When one specie and size group becomes prevalent then focus management effort on that specie and size. It would be informative if you would regularly up date us as your interesting fishery progresses. You can use this thread as an up date so all know the pond's background. Thanks.
Last edited by Bill Cody; 03/02/15 10:04 AM.
