Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations Catching Trout in HBG Pond

I thought I was so clever in creating a "put-and-take" pond.

A little over two years ago, I built a 1/3 acre pond for hybrid bluegill, channel catfish and winter trout. I also included two koi.

I don't see much of the catfish or koi.

The hybrid bluegill are incredible. They are vicious and voracious. They've grown incredibly fast. The 1-inch fingerlings are now about 7-9 inches.

That is the problem.

Last October I added golden and rainbow trout to this pond. They too have been feeding like crazy. I just can't catch them because of the HBG.

If I throw any kind of bait into this particular pond, I've got a hybrid bluegill on the line within seconds. The trout are there at feeding time, and I see them trying to get our baits, but the HBG keep beating them to our hooks.

Any suggestions on how to catch trout instead of HBG?

Thanks,
Ken

P.S. Next year, the winter trout are going back in the main BG/LMB/CC pond.

Ken, have you had any luck with artificial lures for taking the trout?

I've only tried small Mepps spinners with treble hooks and very small rubbery minnows with about #6 hooks, with and without a split-shot a few feet above the bait. The silly HBG get them in seconds of hitting the water.

It is the same with any Stubby Steve's or Gulp product that I've tried, whether on a small hook, behind a small spinner, or on a jig.

Gotta love those HBG. I'm thinking about hugging a bunch of them real tight around the gills!

Thanks,
Ken

Ken, try larger lures. A neighbor has caught 2# trout in my pond on a #3 red and white Mepps.

Scott - thanks. I'm going to go into town early tomorrow morning to our "big box" outdoor store, probably with a stop at Wally-World on the way back.

I'm going to try a number of things.

This is one of those good-news/bad-news scenarios.

Those silly HBG are just crazy, and they seem to be faster reacting than the trout. I'll have a HBG on the hook as soon as something hits the water. A fraction of a second later I'll see one or more of the goldens shoot by like a rocket.

It is fun to watch them. I just would hate to see all the trout die in June because we can't catch them. My mouth is savouring smoked trout dip in cream cheese.

At least it is a lot fun watching them at feeding time.

Ken

Right now our HBG are fairly easy to catch also. They have the feedbag on in pre-spawn mode. However, after a few weeks of catch and release they usually become highly conditioned and will be much more difficult to entice.

There you go Ken. Just fish and catch the HBG until your arms fall off and once they get tired of getting their lips ripped off, they'll leave those lures to the RBT.

There's a lot of truth to that. We all know many times when a fish is caught and released you won't catch it again for a while.

When we're harvesting yellow perch I'm pretty sure we rarely catch the same ones in a day or two's time.

Hmmm. I gotta think about this one.

I wonder how long the memory is for HBG. I hope it ain't as long as a CC's or grass carp's memory. If it is, I'll have to seine the pond to have fish-fry party!