Most all our female coppernose are similar to the one I posted in the beginning. Lighting and angles and such in the photo taking process sometimes doesn't provide a good perspective. The bars on this fish are muted in the photo.
I posted the process in renovating our pond previously under "Renovating a Pond or Lake?," with a thread titled "Grandmother's old Pond," if interested. Our 18 acres, small three bedroom house, equipment shed and acre plus pond is being renovated and managed as a family recreation and gathering point. I'm the chief remodeler, grounds superintendent and pond manager.
With that said, I'm retired and we live only 16 miles away, so I spend as much time as I need on the property tending to the pond and it's fish.
Our goal all along has been to manage for large bluegills, those over a pound. We have successfully moved many of the original stocking to the pound mark. We have second generation fish showing up in the 6-8 inch slot. We have begun to catch and release a few redears but they are well behind the coppernose size wise, which is understandable.
We stocked 800 coppernose. I have no idea their survival to this point. All I know is that our feeding periods are well attended and we are releasing more fish 8 inches and up than we are keeping from the 6-8 inch slot. To this point we have "generally" adhered to the 6-8 slot for bluegill and over 14" for bass, for eating fish. We keep all fish with a low percentage of survival. I monitor closely the condition of all our fish caught.
So, do we continue to keep with our current management while monitoring closely fish condition? Could we widen the slot to 8.5" or 9.0"?
Thanks to all who provide their ideas and experiences.
