I took off at 5:30 P.M. to the lake down the road that turns out to be only 2 miles away from my house! I kept 24 bluegills to eat and released at least half that many. They are are in less than 2 feet of water but it was hard to say if they are actually on the beds. The males are definitely ready (easily squirt milt with little pressure) but even though some of the females are packed with eggs upon close examination they are not ready yet.
Unfortunately I only came up with one fish that was at least partially a pumpkinseed which was the one pictured below. I'm pretty sure it's bluegill/pumpkinseed hybrid or something else crossed with a pumpkinseed as the mouth looks kind of large.
Thoughts?
I've decided to remove broodstock gills from the holding pond and plant them STAT into the pond I was going to use for pumpkinseeds production before I end up not producing anything this year! I will get pumpkinseed broodfish from a supplier in the fall instead. In reality if I'm serious about starting a selective breeding program with the pumpkinseeds, I need about 200 fish to start with, and with the rate I am going that will take some time from the wild -- if I can do it at all. In the mean time breeding season is upon us and will soon pass.
