Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations What size are your BG fry in northern ponds?

I have yet to see any indication that my BG have spawned. I have noticed more than one shiner spawn in thew pond, but thats it. I have seen some new fry this week only a 1/2" long, but I cannot tell what they are yet. They look like more shiners

I have not had any luck trying to catch anything in my minnow trap either, only a 2.5" perch so far. What are you other northern guys experiencing this year?

I've been thinking about putting my trap in. I'll post when I find out

Mine spawned about first/second week of June. I need to get a trap like Rryan, probably be a lot easier.

I put some males and females into a production pond just after they started spawning in the pond I took them from three weeks ago. I finally saw a male on a bed in the deepest water about 4 days ago. Still no bluegill fry although I have plenty of fathead fingerlings which I must have pumped in when I filled this pond.

Perhaps the cold spring followed by a quick warm up has them screwed up in some of our ponds up north?

Bluegills seemed to be a couple of weeks late onto the nest here -- probably mid-June rather than early. Strange, too, as the full moon was early June.

We caught our first bluegill larvae in our north-central Nebraska study lake this past Wednesday, and they were NEWLY hatched (tiny).

We have quite a few BG fry about 1/2 inch long. I think our main spawn is about over, at least looking at the beds along the shore.

I put my trap in Saturday evening and pulled it yesterday evening. I had about twenty BG that were barely 1". I also had about five 2.5" bluegill, probably from a late spawn last year. In past years I would have had that many in 45 minutes so either the spawn wasn't as successful as previous years or it's time to cull some predators.

mine just hatched. they look like they are about half an inch.

The BG hatch here is later than normal too. I think we had a small hatch 3 weeks ago but the bulk of them seem to have spawned recently. I base this on the less than gravid conditions of all of the females I caught yesterday.

We have gazillions of LMB in the 1-1/4" to 1-1/2" ranges everywhere, in the last 22 years I have never seen a LMB hatch this large at our pond.

Shorty,

we had a large LMB hatch this year too and they are in the same size ranges as yours. They are everywhere. I hope the bigger LMB thin them out otherwise I'm on track for a LMB crowded pond again.

This is the largest LMB spawn I have ever seen in my pond also.

What kind of traps and bait are you guys using to catch these dinky BG? I am having very little luck catching minnows.

I use those cone shaped ones from Walmart, and just add bread.

"don't know, don't care" - Al bundy