Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations when to start the harvest

If you are managing for big BG, concentrate on removing a higher % of small males and small to middlin' females.

The basis for small male harvest is that large, mature male BG suppress early maturation in smaller males, who then concentrate on growing big before next year rather than spending energy on spawning. Think of the bully on the beach kicking sand in the 90 pound weakling's eyes, who then bulks up via Charles Atlas so he can win his girl back.

You remove more females simply to reduce the total number of eggs available in the pond, to in turn reduce BG fry numbers (and hopefully total YOY numbers). Fewer mouths eating your pond's BG food supply means more for each BG to eat, hence bigger BG. But since the biggest females have the right genes to grow big, leave them be.

WRT managing for big bass, we get into supposition. I have hypothesized that, doing much the opposite of big BG harvest practices, one would want to leave as many females in as possible. Also, perhaps harvesting those big males could be beneficial, by enabling more small males to mature and start families at an early age. I present this SWAG at BG size/sex harvest practices for big bass management, once again in the hopes that someone who knows more about big bass management than me (there are thousands of you out there) will give better advice.

Either way, whether you want big bass or big BG (or in between), since this is the first full year for your stocker BG to reproduce, I would not hit them hard until after their initial spawn. Let the full range of genetic diversity in them have a chance to reproduce before you take many of them out.

P.S. Just saw you added your "balanced pond with larger bass" management goal, Calvin. In that light, I'd say don't mess with the BG until they're off the spawning beds the first time. Meanwhile, let's force those big bass managers to tell us what sex & size of BG to harvest. I'll start a thread here.