In summer of 2000, 1.25 acre pond “Big Oliver” was renovated. It was stocked in fall of 2000 with 60 bluegill, 30 males and 30 females. These were the 60 fish with the best body condition from pre-renovation that were saved in Coulee pond which is .1 acre and had been provided with pellets all of summer 2000 during Big Oliver’s renovation. Their original source before the renovation was a stocking of bluegill made by previous owner of pond.

It was my assumption that the fish in the best body condition (The ones put in Big O in fall of 2000) were fish that had learned to utilize pellets. They had been sequestered in Coulee for four months, and quite a few of the fish were in poor condition, but at least 60 were beautiful, with Wr’s of over 110.

It was also assumed that the fish that were introduced into Big Oliver in the fall of 2000 did not pull off a successful spawn that year because the stocking was made in late September and no beds were observed for the rest of that year. Secchi readings were 3 meters because the pond had been refilled with well water.

This leads to the following assumption that YOY’s sampled in late July of 2001, which were 1-2 inches long were progeny of these fish. There were no other adult fish of any species in the pond except hybrid striped bass, so these fish were determined to be F-2’s

These fish were left on three time daily feedings for the remainder of 2001.

In June of 2002 Big Oliver was seined and the seine haul brought up 1,750 fish, of which the largest and most robust 155 fish were selected which averaged 6 inches and ranged from 5.5 to 6.25 inches. These fish were moved to Hoover Pond which had been left dry since September of 2001, so it had no other fish present. Shortly thereafter there was a disastrous die-off of all fish in Big Oliver. Big Oliver was drained and rotenone was applied in July/August of 2002.

In September of 2002 60 fish of which 30 were male and 30 were female were removed from Hoover and placed back in Big Oliver. These 60 fish were selected from 130 remaining fish of the 155 stocked in June. It was assumed that the Wr’s of 120 were the result of good feed training. All fish with Wr’s below 120 were left in Hoover Pond. The fish that were placed in Big Oliver were 6.5 to 7.75 inches long.

Young of the Year fish were observed in Big Oliver in November of 2002. It was assumed this was evidence of a fall spawn, since the fish were first placed in September into a pond that had been drained and rotenone applied. These fish were 1-2 inches and were considered to be F-3’s.

In July of 2004 40 fish were selected using angling with a pellet imitating fly. These were obviously healthy, feed trained fish with Wr’s between 115 and 135. The average length was 8 inches and the range was 7.5 inches to 8.75 inches. Another twenty fish were sampled and selected from a pellet fed population, also using pellet imitations to angle fish. These fish were 10 males and 10 females ranging from 8-10.5 inches with Wr’s of 120-125. These 60 fish were placed in Chalk Pond which was a newly constructed pond created just as a reproduction pond for bluegill. In August, these 60 fish were observed guarding nests, and shortly thereafter fry were seen swimming nearby.

In November of 2004, 930 of these fingerlings were moved to FirestoneII pond. These fish averaged just under two inches, with some specimens already nearing 3 inches. These fish were henceforth known as F-4’s. At this point all remaining fish were removed from Chalk Pond and sold.

In July of 2005 Firestone II pond was sampled, revealing fish that were as big as 5.75 inches, with significant numbers of fish over 4 inches. Wr’s ranged from 80-150. The fish with smaller Wr values were as small as two inches still at this time, while the fish with higher Wr values were the longer more robust fish. This pond showed significant pellet eating events throughout the summer of 2005.

On June 15 of 2006, 30 male bluegill and 30 female bluegill were taken from Firestone II pond and placed in Chalk Pond. Males were observed nesting on July 1 of 2006, and fry, and then fingerlings were observed throughout the course of August and early September.

Mid-October 2006, ran a seine and sorted through approximately 3,000 YOY’s and collected the 300 best fish. They ranged from 3-4.5 inches. Other fish seined were as small as 1 inch. The 300 best fish were moved to a tank in the Morton building and fed high protein pellets and krill throughout the winter. These fish were considered F-5’s.

May 2007, approximately 200 F-5’s were given to Cecil Baird and Bill Cody to bring to Indiana and Ohio. Another 104 bluegill were transferred to Firestone I pond. At this time the fish moved to the lined pond were between 5 and 6.25 inches. The ones given to Baird and Cody ranged from 4-5 inches.

June 2007 Baird reports enthusiastic feedings.

July 2007 I sampled a few of the F-5’s in the lined pond and found fish to be in robust condition with Wr’s in the range of 120-140, and lengths of 6-8 inches. 24 males were transferred to Hoover Pond so as to minimize risk of losing all fish to an oxygen event. Fish are still feeding well, and are observed creating nests in small corner of pond that has some silt.

YOY bluegill are observed in July of 2007 in the lined pond, but these fish will likely be discarded or sold due to the fact that they are progeny of bluegill males and females that are rapidly sexually maturing. These fish will not get the designation of F-6’s.



Holding a redear sunfish is like running with scissors.