Pond Boss Forums INTRO New Forum Member Introduction When to start removing fish from my pond

I live on a pond in a small neighborhood. It is at least one acre but not sure exactly how much more. There is only three houses on the pond and im the only one who ever fishes it. This will be my second summer fishing this pond. I have found that this pond is full of fish because no one, not even me last summer ever takes fish out. This pond is full of big bg around eight to nine inches long. I assume they are northern bg and not cnbg since I live in Maryland and it is probably to cold in the winter for cnbg. It is also full of small bass about eight or nine inches long. I have caught a few bass about two to four pounds and even a five and a half pound bass. I have read that this is classic big bluegill pond but would like to have bigger bluegill in it and also bigger bass. I plan to take out around a hundred bluegill this summer and around twenty of the small bass hoping the other ones will grow larger. My question is should I start removing the bluegill and bass now or wait till after the bg spawn so there's more baby bg for the bass to eat? Or should I start taking the small bass out now and wait on taking alot of bg out?

Hi Paul,
You've come to the right place for good advice. However, I'm too new at this to be much help. Never fear, someone here has the answers you seek. I do have a couple thoughts, though. It sounds like the pond is doing pretty well right now. Managing for big BG and LMB in a smaller body of water is do-able, but can be challenging. On a Bluegill note.. can you tell the difference between male and female fish? Growing bigger BG usually involves lessening the competition for the available food supply, and/or providing another food source. How do you feel about feeding your fish? This can lead to a host of other questions, such as water quality, plant growth, possible aeration, etc. It kind of depends on how serious you want to get, and how willing you are to put in the time, money, and effort.

Welcome aboard, sorry I couldn't be much help.

I really dont know how to tell the difference between male and female bluegill. Im sure they both will taste good when fried up. I am gonna get rid of all the small bg's under seven inches that I catch. But most I catch are at least eight inches. As far as feeding them, my house is on a cove and I have a small pier on it. At the end of last summer I started throwing kitten chow in to feed them. The bg's and alot of turtles started eating that stuff up. I even got a bass that was at least a pound to start eating it. Sometimes when I saw the bass come up to eat the kitten chow, id throw a small bg or frog in and it would smash it. This year I bought some fish food called Big Strike and have been feeding it to them. Dont know how good this stuff is but it doesnt float for very long. No where local do they sell the purina aquamax that I read was the best. Its hard to get around the pond on foot so Iv just been feeding the fish in my cove. Guess I'll have the biggest bg's in the pond in my little cove.

If I were in your shoes, I'd check the fishing laws to see if it was legal for me to remove the small LMB. If it was, I'd remove every one that I caught. I don't think you can catch all the LMB in the pond, and they taste as good as the larger ones. There is a good sunfish identification thread in the archives. After studying it, you should be able to tell the difference between male and female adult BG.

I agree with Essup, remove all of the LMB 13" and below (unless it looks really healthy with a fat gut). I would also concentrate on removing as many of the smaller male BG as possible. You can order Purina Aquamax at any purina dealer in your area. Compare the protein % and what the protein is derived from (fishmeal? soybean? chicken feathers? etc.). Consider buying an automatic fish feeder. Start a catch log today with species, length, weight and relative weight. You'll be able to track your progress. Good luck and keep us updated.