Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Creating habitat Creating Bluegill spawning area

Tires will have a tendency to float up if not securely sunk.

there not on the rim ewest lol. due to semi tires have so much steel belt from having to take a lot of road use, long as you don't trap air in the sides they sink on there own, they have been in the same spot he have thrown them in at for over 20 years. He didn't fill them with any thing the BG just found them and dished it out even deeper, I figured sand and gravel would make it more appealing to them.

Yes I know. If you have water depth swings (drought/flood) like many here they can get air in them and float up. Been there myself and with steel belted tires and bricks. Air will get in and flow to the lightest weighted side and float that side up. Any current will then move it around. We fixed by torching holes in the sidewall to let air escape.

Torching a few holes in the side wall of each tire to keep them on the bottom is a very good idea.

man this is getting to be a hot topic lol! cant wait to see what every one else comes up with

I made a shelf in my pond when it was renovated for BG spawning. Sand bottom pond. They turned up their nose at it and made nests on the complete opposite side of the pond.

The more I do this, the more I realize that I have to listen to the fish, they won't listen to me.

If you aren't a fan of filling your lungs with rubber smoke, a hole saw and cordless drill will ensure your tires stay on the bottom.

I've never made spawning areas, just let nature figure it out for herself. Seems to work okay.

There is a excellent article about the topic of BG nest choices by our friends at SDSU in a prior Cutting Edge Report.

Here is a part of the report - guys if you don't subscribe to Pond Boss mag you should !!!

A new article titled Factors associated with bluegill nest site selection within a shallow, natural lake by Kristopher J. Stahr , Mark A. Kaemingk & David W. Willis in Journal of Freshwater Ecology, 2013 , DOI:10.1080/02705060.2012.755647 gives a good overview of factors effecting the nest selection process or the habitat requirements needed for bluegill in their early life stages.

Another study addresses substrate composition importance. In Role of Male Parental Care in Survival of Larval Bluegills by Mark B. Bain and Louis A. Helfrich in Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 112: 47-52, 1983 the authors noted optimum Bluegill nest materials were exposed coarse gravel ( 8-32 mm diameter) and pebbles (32-64 mm) in nest substrate and that Bluegill removed particles smaller than 2 mm. Particles larger than 8 mm provided suitable interstitial space to accommodate bluegill larvae. Survival of larvae was directly correlated with the proportion of coarse substrate in the nest.

Of interest were their findings about predation. Predation on larval bluegills was inhibited by
nest-guarding male bluegills. The data implicated juvenile bluegills as the major
predators on bluegill larvae, followed in importance by pumpkinseed. Bluegill (3-12 cm total length) were the most abundant nest predators. Pumpkinseed (7 -11 cm), largemouth bass (4- 5 cm), and whitefin shiners (5-6 cm) also were nest predators.


The first study noted above provided that its results and previous studies suggest that three primary habitat variables may play a pivotal role in nest site selection for bluegills: suitable nesting substrate, reduced levels of submersed plants, and protection from wind and waves. However, some habitat variables may be more or less influential depending on lake characteristics and geographic location.


In that study the authors found suitable spawning substrate throughout West Long Lake and all
nests were located along the south shoreline (wind and wave protection) whereas other studies found nest sites along multiple shorelines in areas with gravel and hard bottom
substrate, which were not found throughout the lake. Therefore, bluegills in that lake appeared to select sites primarily based on substrate with less influence from wind and wave protection. Alternatively, bluegill nesting substrate was similar throughout West Long Lake, and contained lots of sand which allowed bluegill to nest in areas that provided the most protection from wind and waves.



My research identifies the following as factors which pond managers can manipulate to aid or reduce Bluegill nesting success: substrate composition, submersed plants and woody cover, wind and wave action and siltation. We can add optimum sized gravel to nests, locate nests in places with the least wind and wave action , remove or add as needed plants and woody cover and avoid locations where silting could exist. Another idea is to leave large nesting male Bluegill alone during the spawn as removing them from guarding the nest even for short periods results in high predation on the fry/eggs. Give it some thought.


One additional note about this study is that it was performed by our own Pond Boss associated Fisheries Scientists doing what they do well – applied fisheries science - as noted in the quote below by Kris Stahr the primary author. He along with both other authors, Mark Kaemingk and Dave Willis are some of our SDSU connection.