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Joined: May 2018
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J
jpsdad Online Content OP
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J
Joined: May 2018
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Hello,

This is my first post in which I am seeking whatever information the members may consider useful. So a little background. I enjoy fly fishing for large bluegill and fishing for large catfish and bass with bait. I live in Texas in an urban area. There are ponds in a variety of parks that provide me and my kids with fishing outings every two or three weeks. I release all bass and large catfish but keep maybe 40-50 6 to 7 inch bluegills each year. In most of the water I fish the bluegill mature at 6 to 7 inches. Where they grow much larger, I never harvest.

There are a couple of ponds near my house where one drains into the other. In the upper pond there are channel catfish stocked by the state (and Gambusia). In the lower pond there are bass, bluegill, and channel catfish. I was fishing the lower pond two falls ago where I was close to the upper pond and when I caught an easily identified male I just tossed it into upper pond. Maybe 12 of them and I would say they averaged between 6 and 7 inches. The following fall, last fall, I caught and released several 9 inch plus bluegill from the upper pond. I'm not sure what they weighed but they were plump. So I was dreaming I might ultimately catch even larger bluegill this year.

So far I have yet to catch any and I am beginning to wonder if they are still there. The pond is small (less than 1/4 acre) and no portion of it cannot be reached by fly casting. So three things come to mind to explain why the fish appear to be gone.

1. Perhaps someone harvested them.

2. They were finicky on the day I fished.

3. They have died of natural mortality.

It is the last possibility that concerns me the most. Perhaps they were pretty old when they were stocked. I would think that their lives in the upper pond would have been relatively free of competition stress and I was thinking last fall that their lives might vastly exceed what they might otherwise have been in the lower pond where they are overpopulated.

I know Cecil and Dr. Condello have done male only ponds and perhaps others. I am wondering what other's experience has been with regard to natural mortality under this scenario and if their male only bluegill live longer?


Last edited by jpsdad; 05/20/18 11:58 AM.

It isn't what we don't know that gives us trouble, it's what we know that ain't so - Will Rogers


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Welcome to the forum.

How big do the CC get? If there are some 5# and above CC in that upper pond they could eat some pretty big BG.

That sounds like a pretty neat setup. Be interesting to see you keep repeating your process and see if you can get more big BG in the upper pond again.

Seems like I read here on the forum that 5 or 6 years is a pretty good life span for a BG (depending on where you live somewhat) but they can live a couple years longer than that.


John

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jpsdad Online Content OP
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Thank you John,

The CC have been relatively small with relatively poor growth. That said we've caught and released CC up to 4 lbs which I think are about 10 years old from the first stocking. I saw evidence that the pond was fished for catfish last fall and I suspect they kept all they caught. Most of the fish were about 12" last fall. I haven't tried this year but did notice the bite was greatly diminished after their appearance last fall.

Most of the public ponds in the city have stunted bluegill. I have noticed also that most contain large but thin bass and large CCs that are very hook shy. In most, I have noticed 8 in - 14 in bass are rare and these are either harvested by fishermen or consumed by the large predators in these ponds. I've considered teaming with others to improve bluegill in these ponds but it seems a pretty daunting task.

The 1/4 acre pond may work out for a male only situation. Even so, two seasons from from when this story began, I can tell you that catching a bluegill from the lower pond that is large enough to be certain its male is more time consuming than was 2 years ago. I'll not be stocking it with many for sure but I think I would be quite satisfied if only a few survive long enough to eclipse my personal best bluegill of 12" 1.5 lbs caught some twenty years ago.


It isn't what we don't know that gives us trouble, it's what we know that ain't so - Will Rogers



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