Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations Where are my bigger bluegill?

We bought our property last summer and for the most part could always catch .5 - .9 lb bluegills everytime we fish. Sometime as few as 2 sometimes near 20. We did a stocking in the fall of a few hundred 3” Bluegill as well and added 10 PVC fish structures of various types.

This year I can’t catch a big bluegill, I do see 15-20 small 4” or little bigger bluegill when I feed aquamaxx. The pond is not overcrowded with LMB or CC.

I don’t see beavers or outters, I do know there is a 10lbish snapping turtle. Is it spawning time and they don’t bite? I don’t know, I never owned a pond in spring time. I keep a close eye on the pond as it is in my backyard. It is 1 acre in size with two coves. Deep and shallow parts and aeration.

It is possible you've caught/removed most or all of the larger BG, if you were keeping them. The top end predators may also have grown large enough to consume larger prey as well.

my bluegill are fed 4 times a day. in the last 3 weeks i am seeing less and less large males at the feeder. they are spawning right now. i can go to known bedding sites and toss feed and see the males come after it. a friend came to the house today and caught about 20 females within no time. he took them home to eat. we put all the males back that we caught, which has always been our strategy. most of the time it is hard for us to even catch a female at the feeder, i am beginning to believe the males keep them pushed away.

do you feed on a regular basis? if not, install a feeder, you will be glad you did.

and please leave the snapping turtle be. he doesn't eat enough to hurt anything due to his slow metabolism. i have tried putting several large snappers in my pond, but they always seem to leave. i know a man that has 2 huge ones in his pond. been there for years and years.

We only catch and release except small bass, I hand feed every night and as soon as I walk to the shore the 4” blue gill come right out. Tonight had at least 30 feeding. I don’t see any of them spawning but then again I don’t know their spawning sites.

All I am looking for is easy fish for my 5 year to catch. He had a blast last summer, lost his interest this year so far because the bobber doesn’t go under :-)

I have seen what looks like rain hitting the water is spots when I feed but then I look at the spot and it’s hundreds of tiny fish. Don’t know what they are.

Could be small BG yoy or FH or other minnows.

My larger BG are bedding now and majority of feeding activity is from small fish [3-6"]. I'd be patient, suspect they will return soon.

Few more pieces of info:

I am getting 20-30 4"-5" BG daily when I feed which last year I barely saw any. I did stock a few hundred BG HBG and RES in the fall. I am wondering did I possibly have a fish kill from the hard winter we had in Kansas City. The pond got about 2-3' low this winter and it was EXTREMELY cold. During most of the winter the pond was completely frozen over and at one time the ice was 12-16" thick. This was a record setting cold and dry winter here.

Last year I saw around a dozen catfish every night feeding on the pellets. This year I have seen as many as 7 but for the last 10 days or so I am lucky to see one.

Are the catfish spawning now and not feeding?

I have seen a growth in the average size of the LMB from last year. The bass don't seem to be overpopulated at all and I have caught several over 1 lb this spring but less than 2lb.

I was thinking of adding 200 more BG, 25 catfish, and 2 grass carp.