My 3 and 4 inch bluegill had a HUGE spawn last summer. We could see fish along the shore all summer. Last weekend I drilled through 18 inches of ice, dropped my Aqua-Vu through the ice, and am happy to report I saw tiny bluegill within 5 minutes checking out my camera. It's been a long winter, and I feared oxygen might be an issue, but we have 18-20 feet at the deepest part of the pond and it apparently is enough.
Initially I stocked 450 BG and 150 LMB in May, all in the 3-4 inch range. The bass were 6-8 inches by the end of the summer. After the BG spawn, my BG population should be through the roof. Between the BG fry, invertibrates, tadpoles, etc, he LMB will have all the food they desire. I added 50 SMB as "bonus" fish. I don't expect them to spawn, but the LMB and BG (again) should both be ready to spawn this summer.
