Has anyone here ever seen a real life example of Bluegill taking over a pond? I'm starting to think it's a myth.
Now, I very familiar with the issue of Gizzard Shad taking over a pond. Adult Gizzard Shad grow too large for LMB to eat. When those large Gizzard Shad get crowed, spawning declines. Without successful baitfish spawns, the predator fish fail to grow. Thus allowing even more over-sized gizzard shad to escape predation, and so on.
My understanding is that overpopulated Bluegill will stunt, making them easy prey for LMB. Plus even if some Bluegill grow large enough to escape LMB predation, they still spawn well. So there's no way they can take over the way that Gizzard Shad do. For this exact reason they make a great forage fish.
If someone says they've seen it happen, I'll believe you. Otherwise I'm calling this one a total myth.
-Scott
