Originally Posted By: jpsdad
OK so this is a bit off topic ...

For BG, there is a floating theory hanging around that a harvest weight needs to exceed 1 lb. Now I am just talking what is described as their "marketable weight". All I can say is that it is quite unfortunate that such impressions prevail for the typical consumer. This weight is quite impractical to make BG a truly commercial fish. I prefer to release BG this weight and keep 5 to 7 in bluegill. I know a lot folks will find it difficult to wrap around their minds but is truly is a matter of perception and I guess in part one's history and roots.

Every BOW needs predators like gehajake and jpsdad IMHO. smile There is so much food, recreation, and enjoyment out there utterly rotting on the vine and in many cases doing this eating, recreating, and enjoying is just exactly what those waters need to improve the quality and size of the fish residing within them.

I like your theory, there needs to be a certain amount of harvesting to keep a pond healthy and well managed, and that amount is higher then a lot of people realize imo, I have a neighbor that has several ponds and will let people fish but would almost rather you didnt keep hardly any, the result is an overstocked pond where you can catch 20 little stunted bass an hr with only a minimal chance of catching anything with any size, same way with the Crappy.
The long term effect of over fishing and removal of too many adult fish I find is usually short-lived, if any effect at all, Ive actually not seen it happen in private water, some public waters I may have seen it.

All the really good ideas I've ever had came to me while I was milking a cow.