Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations harvesting bluegill

I have a 1/2 acre pond averaging 6-7 feet deep in southcentral Illinois. It was stocked with bluegill/redear combination in October '02 followed by lmb in June '03. I have yet to start harvesting any of the bluegill so they don't overcrowd. I'm looking to help my bass grow larger. Last summer '04 most bluegill caught were 4-6" and bass 8-10" with the largest weighing 1 1/2 lbs. Are these good growth rates and how many bluegill do you recommend harvesting this coming season. I would appreciate any advice on this. Thanks!

How many bass did you stock in the pond? and did they spawn? How many bass have you culled?

I would recomend "Handbook of freshwater fishery biology" by Kenneth D. Carlander. It is an older book but has a good section on LMB and various growth rates. Check your local library for this or similar books.

I stocked a total combination of 400 bluegill/redear and 50 lmb according to state recommendations for my size pond. The original bass did spawn this past year but, I have not culled out any of the 8-10 inch bass from the pond yet. I feel I should start taking out many of the medium sized bluegill and a few of the cull bass?

Monitor bass growth rates. Compare that to bluegill numbers, size ranges and their growth rates. If bass are growing at acceptable rates, and their relative weights are within 10% of "average", don't cull. Begin culling the second generation bass, once they are 10 inches long. Only cull bluegill if bass growth rates slow down. Overcrowded bluegill typically occur when bass stunt, then bluegill stunt at a particular size. When culling bluegill, never take the largest size...always take the next size down.
Here's a direct answer to your question...I think it's too early to begin culling any of your fish. Wait until next fall to make that decision.

lfbass - Bob used the term relative weight. If you do not know what it means learn more about it by using the search feature.

Basically relative weight is a number produced by dividing the weight of your caught bass by the fisheries standard weight for that fish's length and then multiply the answer by 100. As a formula it looks like this: (live fish wt / std weight)X 100. When the relative weight is well below 100 (60-70) for a fish then it is considered too skinny. When the relative weight is above 80 to 100 the fish is considered plump to real plump, fat or real well fed. Keep in mind that a bass that is weighed with eggs is a biased, incorrect assessment or answer. The standard fisheries weight for numerous species of fish can sometimes be a little hard to find for a novice. If you want to have a small computer program to give you relative weights, go to www.ibnature.com and on the lower right part of the front page in the Fish Info box click on Fish Calculator. This will provide you with a small download program to calculate a fish's standard weight. I keep this handy program on my computer desktop.

Thanks for all of the input! I know where to go now when I have more questions. I'll do more extensive monitoring this spring/summer and see what I come up with.