Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations Winter and relative weight for LMB

Hit the pond with the thought of culling some smaller bass last weekend. The ice was about a foot thick. Not a lot of fish moving around, but the few we saw wasted no time hitting our bait.



We only managed one bass in the slot we wanted to cull, 10 to 14 inches. I weighed it when I got home and the relative weight was down around 80%. Does anyone else, especially in colder areas, notice a decline in fish condition through the winter?

We also broke the pond record for BG.

That BG is fantastic! Did she get released? Looks like good brood stock.
My RW are usually down some in the winter, I don't know if that is because, overall, the fish are less active and only the really hungry ones hit, or an overall lowering of RW. I know there is at least one thread on here somewhere that talks about RW variations in different seasons.

Yes, the bluegill went back. Thanks!

Could be a male.. WR is usually lower on males. Unit of measurement and weight can add some error too. Grams is much more accurate than ozs., and mm is WAY more accurate than inches. 1/8" and 3/4oz when converted can make a 10-15% difference.
And that is a monster 'gill anywhere in the country! Very nice.

The bass was a female. Eggs were not developed at all. It did spit up a crawdad on the ice.

I do need a better scale.

I guess I'm just picky on weight/length when it comes to management decisions. One of the measuring boards I made I didn't get sewing tape exactly against vertical lip stop and noticed a trend in the direction of lower than expected WR's and after 3 days I finally seen my 1/8" mistake (just over 3mm), after figuring that out and going back to add that 3.15mm, it's amazing how much diff that makes on YOY WAE..
That was a 5% mistake on WR for length, if scale is off 1 oz, that can easily be 10% more..

Brad, how much did that 11 inch bluegill weigh? She is a fatty! Congrats!!

I didn’t have the scale with me at the pond to weigh the bluegill.

Very very nice BG esp for Colorado. Was it an original stocker and do you have a possible age for it? Pellet fed?

I have stocked bluegill in 2010 and 2014. Both times they were smaller than I wanted and I had more predators than I knew about. My bluegill only get one spawn a year, so for now we protect them.

I added some gravel beds last year during the drought, and I plan to add some brush piles near the beds soon to help the bluegill out.

No feed

Yes LMB WR declines in northern winters. Not so much in Fla and far southern locations. The spawn also causes RW decline - significant. RW have to be used in context. Don't compare last years mid summer/fall RW with this years post spawn RW as an indicator of condition.

Very nice BG !!!

I agree. Comparisons should be made during the same timeline to be accurate.