Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations Bluegill fry chased onto beach

My first post. I have have enjoyed reading and learing from all the experts here. Some background and a question if I might.

New pond 2/3 of an acre created last November
11 ft max depth, average 8 ft.

Following the advice I have read on this forum - I first wanted to establish the forage base. I stocked 100 bluegill (2-3") end of May. The kids hand feed in the evenings a couple of times a week. I really didn't appreciate how quickly they would grow or reproduce. They have spawned no fewer than 3 times, have more than doubled in size, and the shallows are teaming with 10s of thousands of fry of all different sizes.

I added 100 LMB (2-3") on August 1 in an attempt to get this under control. This was the only size I could get locally in upstate NY. Well these bass have easily put on 1-2" in the last month, many are fat. It is a riot to watch them hunt as a pack and chase the fry right out of the water.

Now my question if I might. If 1/10th of these fry mature I will have a real problem. Do I need to buy some larger predators to get this into balance before we head into the winter or should I seine these fry out and toss them?

This pond has been a great experience, and the bluegill are a riot! They chase you around the side of the pond and the school makes waves on the water as they chase the kids.

Thanks for any suggestions on adding larger Bass.

Larry

I am not an expert but....If you put 100 bass in a 2/3rd acre pond. You will not have many bluegill survive the predation. The bass will destroy the bluegill population

Larry,
I do a fair amount of pond management work near Clyde, NY, east of you, north of the thruway. Don't worry about your bluegill gaining an edge. You want them to, right now. Believe me, your bass will quickly catch up. Besides, since your pond is fairly small, it's easily managed. My advice? Leave as is. Bluegill numbers will dwindle, quickly. Bass will absolutely gain the edge.

Larry - In addition to what Bob said, one year after your bass have spawned and their young are 8"-10" long and ready to spawn THEN you will need to re-evaluate your bass bluegill ratio. This I predict will be in the spring of 2008. Your original stock (Aug 04) of bass will not spawn until May 2006. These 2006 young will be 3"-4"at end of 2006 and will spawn in May of 2008 at 8"-10". When this happens you will have 4 year classes of bass in your pond (2004's, 2006's, 2007's, 2008's that are creating a lot of predatory pressure on your bluegills. At this point you may begin to have too many bass in your pond and may need to start doing some of your first bass harvest by thinning them to maintain a population of good plump bass. Bass in a small pond that is only catch and release can easily become too abundant and over eat their food source of bluegills. To learn more about this read Bob Lusk's article in the Sept-Oct 2004 issue of Pond Boss magazine.