Some observations and a question. My pond is down 5 feet (6 feet before the recent rain) due to the drought conditions in Texas. I began feeding bluegill a week ago and they are already very active. During feeding I have noticed a conspicuous lack of midsized 3-6" BG. The large ones appear in great numbers and seem to be in good shape (stout/healthy). There are also numerous larger fry (not sure which species) near the waters edge but I have seen few tweeners out there. The LMB that I've been catching/culling are stout regardless of length. The largest of the LMB seem to have fared particularly well in these conditions.

I am wondering if there is anything out of the ordinary I should be doing from a management perspective in response to such a dramatic draw down? I've been thinking it may be a good idea to intensify the culling of these thick midsized LMB but I'm not sure. Any thoughts?

You should be praying for rain like I do every day. My pond is also about five feet low and I am concerned that if we don't get some rain this spring I won't have a pond by the end of the summer. Bob Lusk made a comment about a month ago about the dynamics of having less water causing a concentration of the fish. You might want to read it.

To encourage more 3"-6" bluegill, try removing 6"+ bluegill and bass less than 12". It is difficult to say exactly how many because we haven't seen the pond, but for starters remove 10-20 large bluegill per acre and any 12" or less largemouth bass. Bass larger than 12" may need to be harvested, but again, it is difficult for me to make this recommendation with little knowledge of the population.

Fertilize the lake this spring to encourage plankton production.

When feeding this evening it appeared to me that there are far too many large CNB so culling them makes sense. My pond is only 1.75 acres (when full) so it can't support enough lunker LMB to justify huge numbers of large CNB, correct? I've found that culling 8-12" LMB is something that I need to do continually - otherwise I end up with a bunch of skinny ones at that length. Overton, given your input I'm thinking that the best course of action is to begin harvesting large CNB and to possibly increase the upper limit on my LMB slot.

I'm thrilled with the effect this drought has had on my lunker LMB but that also represents an imbalance in the population. I'm reticent (actually horrified) at the prospect of harvesting 4+ pound LMB but what would signal the need to do so?

I'm right there with ya bro... From a management perspective I have to go on the assumption that rain is on the way. If it isn't forthcoming there isn't a thing in the world I can do to save the kids. We are all counting on ma nature providing us a good dose this spring .

Thanks for the tip on Bob's post - I'll be sure to check it out.