Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Help This is a male Bg......right?

Help me out here;

Is this a male BG?
This is a picture of a friend after landing a BG thru the ice a few days ago.

I added 17 male only BG to this trout pond to test a theory last summer.
This guy caught 2 of the 17 in a three acre pond in less than 30 minutes.
I was supprised with the first one caught.
Now..............if this is a female, I really messed up! Please lie to me and tell me this is a male?

Thanks,
Ed

[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v342/Eitel/Bluegill.jpg?t=1173314878[/img]

Absolutely, positive a male. And a really nice one, too. No lie.

Geesh!
Thanks Bruce.
What a relief!

I honestly studied real hard last summer, the 7 (Condello, Cody, Cecil, Ewest, etal.) methods of positively identifying male BG.
(or was it six methods)

Ed

Ed that is a really well conditioned plate like male BG. Did you by chance get it from Bruce ?

Ed - I also think that fish is a male. Although I would prefer to see the color markings of that fish closer to spawning seasonbefore I would put that fish in my pond containing only male BG. The size and shape of the opercle flap leaves room for a little bit of doubt in my opinion. I am continually suprised at the variation that I am seeing in the opercle flaps of mature male bluegills from various parts of the country. I attribute it to variation of the genetic strains of bluegill throughout the US.

Ed,

Nice BG!! What theory are you testing by addiing the BG to the trout pond?

Ewest – Actually the BG came from our LMB / BG pond.
My wife, a friend and I caught 17 specimens on the spawning beds.
( I know, probably not the most ethical tactic. But it works!)
I would love to have some of Bruce’s genetics; hint hint.

B Cody – I totally agree with your decision to catch mature spawning fish to make for easier sex identification. That’s why we captured them off the beds.
I agree with your observation about color and other genetic variability across the Country. I might add that some fish will “pale out” or loose color under prolonged ice cover. These BG were vibrant last summer. Trout and even LMB are well “colored” under the ice however. Go figure?

Russ – The theory goes something like this; Rainbows and Browns prefer deeper and cooler water, especially during the warmer months. They will feed on mayfly, damsel fly, other insects and macros, fatheads and also regular feedings of pellets.

I figure the BG (male only) will occupy the shallow water less than 4 ft. to thrive on their favorite prey, insects, macros, and fatheads. They may even utilize the fatheads to a greater extent than trout.
We do have a dedicated FH minnow pond so restocking them into this pond is do-able. I am very serious about male only BG as I have been down the trout/BG (male & female) road before. It was a WRECK.
Does this make sense?

Ed

Makes sense to me, Ed - utilize a different niche, and Male-only lets you keep that niche from over-filling.

Ed those BG should also eat some pellets. Watch the feeding area after a few weeks and see how the trout and BG interact.

Compare the opercle flap of the male BG from Ed's pond with the one in this photo. There is a big difference in size and shape between the gill flaps of these two fish. The fish in my photo is not the typical male BG that I see in my region. However a few local ponds do have BG populations where the males have these impressive gill flaps.

Thanks for the explanation Ed. Please report back with how things turn out.