Thank you Bill. Just one trusted retired neighbor fishing. I will simplify to asking him to remove 10 6-10" and 8 12" since he is estimating sizes (if this seems reasonable). He understands that good management means more fun for him. He has been asked to remove 50-60 BG per year from our BG/LMB pond and recently saw the results when a friend from work caught a 6.4lb LMB which he kept along with 4 others 12" and under. Neighbor caught a bunch of nice BG in that same pond in early spring and kept some LMB under 12" as well to thin the herd. All were very fat which I credit very much to guidance received here and a lot of plant cover. It appears that the curly-leaf pondweed was not eradicated by the crayfish in the SMB pond and is doing fine in some spots without reaching the surface. It is much reduced from earlier years though. Is there any harm in adding the culled SMB to the BG/LMB pond? Don't want to screw up a nice pond. And as you guessed or remembered, I am interested in big but fewer number fish. Visiting kids can always catch and release a lot of BG and have plenty of fun. FYI - Neighbor is careful to lip hook the fish and get them off the line quickly when releasing them. I told him many released fish die after swimming away and to minimize time out of water. He is a very responsible guy.

Last edited by RAH; 10/19/19 03:36 PM.