Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations I guess I don't know what I'm looking at???

Algae has kind of disappeared and pond is clearing up. After one of my previous posts someone suggested that I had too many LMB in the pond and I should cull some of them out. In an attempt to catch a few this past weekend, I did a little fishing. Using a small leadhead jig and mistertwister tail I set out to catch these LMB. All I could catch were (I think) Hybrid bluegill. I say "I think" because when I planted them in April they looked like 5-6" bluegill, but what I'm catching are 7-8" bluegill-sunfish cross looking. Is this what a maturing hybrid looks like? They fight well and are getting thick through the body. The only fish in my pond are 300 Hybrids and 100 LMB. Prior to the April planting the pond was devoid of any fish life. Anyboday know where I can find pictures of Hybrid Bluegill? And, yes I am feeding them everyday and it looks like it's working.

If you really just have hybrid bluegill and only hybrids in your pond, you need to add some native bluegill. Otherwise, your bass won't have anything to eat. You need to do this NOW, or sooner if you can. Also stocking some fathead minnows (10 lbs or so) will help tide your bass over until your bluegill spawn. Stock minimum 3" bluegill, bigger is better, and they may still get a spawn off.

Bass generally don't feed train well, so feeding your lake is only feeding your hybrid bluegill. Sounds like they've taken to the feed well, though.

Hybrids have a much larger mouth than a bluegill. I have some pictures on my website, check my profile to get there.

I understood that LMB don't like BG's very well which is why we planted the fathead minnows. I've seen them eat their own rather than a bluegill.

You heard wrong. Bluegills (not hybrids) are an intrical part of a bass pond and one of the most optimum forage bases you can have. How are your bass going to eat other bass if they were just planted and apparently the same size? You need to get regular bluegills in pronto. You've already committed the first sin in my opinion falling prey to the hybrid bluegill sales pitch. After the intial stocking of fatheads if you add more you are just throwing your money away. They are slow moving and will get wiped out rather quickly. And one more thing; hybrid bluegills love fatheads. So much for bass forage.

fourustircom'
Listen to what Cecil is telling you if you want LMB. You don't have much time to correct the problem!

lildumper -

samller bgill on your website is a hybrid bgill either F2 or F3. Your fish look like thery have lower condition factors. Underfed and probably too crowded thus over eating their food source. Too many hogs at the trough or dinner table. 12" bass 8" crappie and largest hybrids are all wanting small fish which are probably in short supply and each getting too little to eat.

forustircom - Did you get your fish from Imlay Fish Farm?.

larger bass will readily eat bgill depending on size of each. The person that told you that should be considered questionable. To keep those bass happy with fatheads it will take 5-6 lbs of fatheads for each bass each year. Get out your wallet again.

Bill Cody - that is the case, we do feed pellets to help suppliment. I was going to cull out several this year, but we have since bought a backhoe and dump truck to go along with our dozer and are planning a major addition to the pond when the rain season is gone. I thought instead of culling it might be cheaper to keep what we have in there and we wouldn't need to stock as much when the new addition is completed, is that not a good way to go? There are smaller bg in the pond, they spawn well each year and the bass seem to have had a good spawn this year.

The day I caught the fish in the pictures I was using a 3/8 oz beatle spin, but switch to a smaller one and you catch the smaller fish, 3-5" bg. We also have several large channel cats in there, around 25 or so are about 6-10 lbs. The new addition will hopefully take us from .33 acre to around 3 times that.

RBC,
Absolutely stock bluegill. They are the backbone of the food chain for largemouth bass. Do it, soon, or your bass(and hybrid sunfish) will be so far ahead, bluegill won't be able to catch up quickly.
Here's the problem. Hybrid bluegill don't reproduce adequately to support largemouth bass. Being a true hybrid, they aren't supposed to spawn at all. But, some do (and they can't possibly reproduce as they are, so you wind up with inferior fish anyway). Either way, hybrids cannot support bass, and ultimately compete with them. Hybrids have larger mouths, and are predator fish. Bluegill, on the other hand, have tiny mouths, and reproduce several times yearly, probably twice where you live. Their babies feed your bass.
Find a reputable hatchery which can supply bluegill at least 4" long.

Bob

Thank you for the sound advice.. I am having trouble locating anyone who can supply actual bluegill in my area. Everybody wants to sell you hybrids. I wil have to hit the lake and try to transplant some. How many should I try to get?
25,50,100?

RBC, the recommended stocking rate of bluegill is 1,000 per acre.

I am already there... Pond is about 1/3 acre and I have 300 bluegill in it, but they are hybrids.
How many REAL bluegill should I add to this population to have enough spawners to feed my bass? I am overstocked on bass (100 in there now). I attempted to fish some out, but the hybrids attack my lure before the bass get a chance. Any suggestions for easy removal of about 75 of the bass??

You still need the 300 bluegill. ASAP. They are your ongoing forage base. The hybrids are only more hogs at the trough. Keep on doing some serious fishing. If you have an area that you can seine, enlist some buddies to help eliminate some fish. You probably won't get bass in the seine. You not only need the bass out but also the hybrids. They are part of the overall biomass and a pond can only support a limited number of living bodies. Somehow, in an optimum scenario, you need only the bluegills and about 20 or 25 bass. Go back and re-read all of the posts, especially the one from Fishman. You are on the verge of a serious problem. Oh yeah; I did the same thing 15 years ago. Wound up with a perch pond after the bass starved out.

Be careful. Bluegill have a huge tendency to stunt on Wisconsin and Michigan ponds. That's why no one wants to stock them for you. The Bluegill/LMB ponds that work so well in the south do not work as well here. I have books published by the wildlife departments of both states and they all warn about the stocking of the bluegills in Northern ponds. We just don't have the water temps warm enough to keep the Bass in high gear long enough to control them.

Be careful. Bluegill have a huge tendency to stunt on Wisconsin and Michigan ponds. That's why no one wants to stock them for you. The Bluegill/LMB ponds that work so well in the south do not work as well here. I have books published by the wildlife departments of both states and they all warn about the stocking of the bluegills in Northern ponds. We just don't have the water temps warm enough to keep the Bass in high gear long enough to control them.

Brian, that is interesting and something I hadn't heard of or considered. Obviously my thoughts are influenced by hot weather, sparse rainfall and ice that is only seen in margaritas. I have always know that BG were prolific spawners but have also figured that the timing of their spawning urge was matched by the timing of the LMB's and other predators appetite, both being water temperature or hours of daylight related. What are the recommended stocking ratios or specie's?