My neighbor called me to tell me that a friend of his caught and cleaned 27 large bluegill (8-9 inches)off his 2 acre pond this past weekend. He invited me to come over and catch some for the table as well. I voiced concern that it sounded like they were catching large males off the nesting beds. Is this a real concern or can a pond of that size handle taking this many out at this time of the year? My thoughts were that he has a healthy bass population and if anything needs small bass taken - not bluegill.

What are his goals with the bass population? It would be important to know the current body condition of the largemouth.

He is an older gentleman that does not actively manage the pond. It is a phenomenal fishery however. Last summer they caught an 11 lb and 12 pound largemouth out of it on the same day and over the last 2 years they have taken about fifty 14 inch crappie out of it. I have caught and released many bass in the 10-14 inch range and I got my twenty five 8-10 inch LMB for my pond from there. I mentioned to him my concern over taking the large male bluegills out of there. OVer the past 3 years he has had more fishing pressure from 2 or 3 friends that take what they catch.

So I gather that since you're calling it a phenomenal fishery, that you'd like to maintain the status quo, and you're concerned that this change in harvest philosophy (in particular harvest of male bluegills) may upset the balance?

Exactly. Since he has not managed it per se - the balance has been great. Recent harvests have me concerned for him.

If the current fishing experince is considered important and valuable, I suggest to maintain the higher quality BG angling experince and since the RECENT harvest pressure has increased and changed (last 3 yrs), I would encourage the owner to implement a slot harvest for BG primarily in the spring. He and guest anglers should learn to recognize male BG or request the frequent anglers (2-3 friends) learn to recoginze male and female BG. Obtaining a copy of March-April 2006 back-issue of Pond Boss magazine with the male BG article by Cody, Condello & Baird will be a good investment and teaching tool for the anglers to learn to recognize mature male and female BG.

Slot harvest IMO to start would involve a focusing on primarily not removing male BG and target females during the BG spawning period when BG are nesting and males are most vulnerable. Harvest of BG during the non-spawning period could be either sex. The 2 acre pond can accomodate a reasonable BG harvest (depending on fertility / water clarity). Anglers can sometimes get greedy and overharvest a good situation causing the fishery balance to change. IMO it would be a good idea for the owner to request anglers provide a log of fish harvsted so someone can track the annual harvests. Once it is know how many BG-LMB are harvested each year the owner may want to stay with a status quo or change numbers that are harvested.

One thing that I guarantee will happen is the fishery will change. How fast it changes will be dependent mainly on recruitment of new fish and harvest and mortality of existing fish. Other things that I guarantee will change is the conditon of the pond especially plant growth - the weeds/plant community is always changing year to year as the pond ages and plant abundance often affects fish abundance in some way. When the future fish population changes the harvest records will likely indicate how the harvest rate should be adjusted to help make a numbers change. Without any harvest records it will be much harder to correct an out of balance fishery. If the fishery stays in good condition the current harvest rate can continue.

IMO it is not too much to ask for GUEST anglers to fill out a harvest ticket stating the date, what was harvested and approximate or measured sizes. The anglers above all else should be the ones who want the great fishery to not change and continue at the high quality level.