Guys I need to guidance on how to quickly restore the population of bluegills in my 1.25 acre, southeastern Iowa pond. My end goal for the pond is to have a sustainable group of excellent 9+ inch male bluegill, some catchable 15-20" bass and the occasional decent crappie.
I currently have a very aggressive and healthy population of severely stunted 4-5" bluegills, 4-6" crappies and 8-10" yellow bullheads.
We plan to seine the pond in the spring to remove the bullhead and get a better overall idea of the numbers of fish.
I have access to a couple other private ponds and can bucket stock 15-18" bass, and some mature bluegills in the spring.
My question is, what would be the proper number of bass to stock in this pond to help create my goal bluegill population? How many mature bluegills should I add this spring? Should I add some mature crappie or just let my existing group of stunted crappie grow to size? Should I consider any other species of fish to balance out my pond?
This pond hasn't been stocked since the 1970's and hasn't been "managed" since around the same time.
