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Joined: May 2013
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Went out tonight to catch a few perch for dinner in my small 1/3 acre perch pond and ended up catching a dozen 2 to 3 inch bluegill along the way. We never stocked bluegill, and these are big enough, with enough of them in there, that they had to have spawned last year.

I have no large predators in there that could help with the issue mostly because the plan was to use this pond as a nursery for perch and minnows for the next pond that we plan to stock walleye in. I hate the idea of having to add something like a handful of bass, but without spending all my time trying to catch and eat all the bluegill I'm not sure what else I can do.

I noticed that we didn't have the level of fry in the pond this year that we had in the last 2 years, so I'm leaning toward the bluegill being the problem.

We are too far south and the pond is too shallow for a couple walleye (plus they would be a challenge to get clear out here in West TN) so I'm wondering if a few hybrid bass might help or not.

Anyway, looks like bluegill is on the menu now.

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It is always discouraging to find fish species present that were not intentionally stocked. Been there done that. BG will be very prolific in the forage pond and significantly reduce the number of YP recruits. I hope you made the pond so it is easily seined which will probably be your best management method.


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Thanks, didn't think of that. Looks like I need a new toy for the pond. And yes, once I get the technique for seining done we should be able to do it.

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Agree with Bill, I've had to drain, seine, and nuke a 1/3 ac pond of mine several times due to similar infestation issues. It's the only sure way to eliminate the BG. We can help you do this, let us know.


Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after. ~ Henry David Thoreau

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"Nuke the entire site from orbit--it's the only way to be sure"


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I would go with the flow and add male LMB. Ponds are always evolving and will be changing into something we don't expect or in some cases want.


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Seine and sort small YP for restocking.
















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If your goal is a hatchery pond for raising YP, stocking LMB will decimate your YP population. You obviously can change your goals, but agree with Eric above.


Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after. ~ Henry David Thoreau

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Hey BigSteve,
I lived in East Tennessee for 20+ years. If you're dead set on Walleye, I'm pretty sure there are hatcheries in the state that raise Sauger, I've ate both and can't tell the difference. I don't think Sauger get quite as big as Walleye, but if you lean toward adding predators to your nursery, that may be an option you can use as an experiment to see how well Sauger handle both YP and BG as a forage base.

If you're anywhere remotely near other BOWs, having unplanned species in your ponds are going to kbe an ongoing issue. Birds are going to carry eggs in on their feet. My pond is chocker block full of GSF, BG, and BHC. I have also trapped RES, Warmouth, Pumpkinseed, RBSF, Mosquitofish and ruby FHM. I've personally only recently stocked about a dozen larger BG and a single LMB. The rest just showed up, so I'm making lemonaid. Some of my GSF are pushing 6" now and I'm seeing what I believe are HBG fry.


Last edited by Mike Whatley; 05/26/18 07:19 AM.

.10 surface acre pond, 10.5 foot deep. SW LA. The epitome of a mutt pond. BG, LMB, GSF, RES, BH, Warmouth, Longear Sunfish, Gambusia,Mud Minnows, Crappie, and now shiners!!...I subscribe!!
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@Mike, no water near me. This pond is spring fed from a spring on my land. The nearest ponds are across the street about 1/2mile away on the other side of the hill. One of the neighbors suggested that maybe the BG came from the groundwater. That just seems very unlikely to me.

I'm tempted to try a sauger in there. they should love the small BG but we are already making plans to heavily fish the BG out of the pond and set up some nets.

I would consider nuking it if YP were easier to get out here and I was confident in keeping the BG at least controlled.

At least I know where the shiners I catch in my minnow traps came from wink

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Hey Steve, stop and think about it. 1/2 mile for a bird regardless of terrain is like you or I walking across our yard. Ponds 4 or 5 miles away could be reached in just a little while by air and as long as feathers are wet, eggs can stay viable.

My pond is 12' deep and there's no way fish just came up from the ground, but by the time it had two feet of water in it, there were fish in it. GBH, and egrets had been in the pond almost as soon as the excavator was loaded on the trailer.

I think the Sauger would be a good addition and are definitely capable of surving in your area. Water temps may be a concern if the pond isn't deep enough and well aerated tho....just my $.02. Probably not worth that..lol


.10 surface acre pond, 10.5 foot deep. SW LA. The epitome of a mutt pond. BG, LMB, GSF, RES, BH, Warmouth, Longear Sunfish, Gambusia,Mud Minnows, Crappie, and now shiners!!...I subscribe!!
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I don't know about fish eggs but I have seen a green heron (small compared to GBH) catch a small BG as I was driving around the edge of my pond. Having scared it it flew and after about 40 feet dropped the fish. It landed in the same pond but had it started its flight about 20' further east the fish would have been out of my main pond and into my separate sediment pond stocked with CNBG at the time.

So I am satisfied birds can carry live fish at least some distance. How far and the fish still be alive I have no clue. But I witnessed an "almost" pond fish stocking by a bird.

Last edited by snrub; 05/27/18 09:11 AM.

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Here's another thought. You can build a couple cloverleaf traps for about $30. Use a small Orange juice bottle with holes punched all around it and fill it with dry dog food. Anything will work tho(old bread, flour tortillas, etc) when you go out to the pond for a day's fishing, set it the traps and check them every 30 minutes or so. Remove anything you don't want in the pond, return the rest.

I built two in a matter of hours using zip ties. I was amazed at how well they catch. YouTube has several posts on how to build them. Easy peasy.

Last edited by Mike Whatley; 05/27/18 11:25 AM.

.10 surface acre pond, 10.5 foot deep. SW LA. The epitome of a mutt pond. BG, LMB, GSF, RES, BH, Warmouth, Longear Sunfish, Gambusia,Mud Minnows, Crappie, and now shiners!!...I subscribe!!
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GSF spontaneously generate from the dirt and water in the pond. At least it seems that way sometimes. crazy wink

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I thought they were just a parasitic part of the life cycle of the grass hoppers we see near ponds in late summer.

The grass hopper jumps into the pond, a BG eats it, and the grasshopper transforms the eggs of female BG into GSF eggs.


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I wouldn't be a dang bit surprised!! You think the same holds true for BHC?? I got a mess of them suckers too.


.10 surface acre pond, 10.5 foot deep. SW LA. The epitome of a mutt pond. BG, LMB, GSF, RES, BH, Warmouth, Longear Sunfish, Gambusia,Mud Minnows, Crappie, and now shiners!!...I subscribe!!
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LMB in numbers will eliminate all the young bullheads, and the big ones can be caught out or left in to provide spawns for more LMB food.

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Not to highjack the thread, but...

I've probably caught and removed 25 BHC, so far. At first I was catching fish from 6 - 13 inches, more recent catches have been cookie cutter 5-6 inch fish. Just recently transplanted 3 LMB from 9-12 inches. Don't want to go overboard on those as I really have no idea just how many of which species I have.

My thoughts are to conduct a trap survey. Recording how many of each species I catch and their size, then calculate the percentage of each to the total number caught. That may give me a better idea of how many predators I need. So far I haven't caught any of the BHC by trapping. I think they're too big now to get thru the narrow trap openings. I know I've got BG, GSF, RES, Warmouth, RBSF and pumpkinseed (and possibly HBG) as well. Just not how many of each. I've got a 100 quart ice chest I can aerate to hold them temporarily. It wont tell me how many fish I've got but I'll have a better idea of the mix anyway.

Does this sound like sound logic?

Last edited by Mike Whatley; 05/29/18 11:42 AM.

.10 surface acre pond, 10.5 foot deep. SW LA. The epitome of a mutt pond. BG, LMB, GSF, RES, BH, Warmouth, Longear Sunfish, Gambusia,Mud Minnows, Crappie, and now shiners!!...I subscribe!!
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Yes, sounds good. I would try to get three more LMB in the 12" to 13" class to begin eating those 5-6" BHC.

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My bullhead traps usually don't produce in big numbers until late june - Right now I average 3-7 bullhead a week in the cloverleaf. Late June I can pull a good 30-100/week


If I had BG in a YP only pond I'd seine the heck out of it asap. If you see them spawning in the shallows do whatever it takes to prevent them from maturing to fry - shop vac eggs maybe?


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To add to what Matzilla says about trapping, some fish are much more prone to go into a trap than others.

In my forage pond with only RES, GS and a few GSF by trapping with a minnow trap using percentages for fish in the trap it would say I have lots and lots of GSF. But when I use a cast net I get far more RES than I do GSF. In fact I get very few GSF.

I have learned that GSF are chow hounds and will readily go into a trap for food. RES not so much so. I think the RES stumble into the trap more by accident than by desire. LMB fingerlings I think are the same way, not attracted to feed in a trap very well.

My point is just be aware that doing percentages based on trapped fish may not reflect the numbers of each species you have in the pond. Some fish just go into traps better than others.

Last edited by snrub; 05/29/18 11:35 PM.

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I was reading some posts last night about aeration systems when that exact thought popped into my head. That's ok...I've got a 12 foot cast net!! I had already decided to supplement the survey with it too. Need to probably try it first, then set the traps. I don't want to hold the fish any longer than I have to, will have a bag of ice to cool the tank down a bit and help with aeration. I used to run bass tournaments all over the SE US and we used a big release boat with holding tanks and aeration. Ice works wonders for holding fish for extended periods.


.10 surface acre pond, 10.5 foot deep. SW LA. The epitome of a mutt pond. BG, LMB, GSF, RES, BH, Warmouth, Longear Sunfish, Gambusia,Mud Minnows, Crappie, and now shiners!!...I subscribe!!

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