Bill Cody, George, and Norm,
My method of raising big bluegill has evolved over the last six years and is constantly being modified as I learn from research and from discussions with other educated fisherman such as yourselves. It involves a combination of natural selection and induced selection, or culling, to favor delayed maturation of male bluegill. I also advocate "compensatory feeding" to speed growth rates.
There are two important prerequisites for such a program.
1. It is necessary to have at least two other holding ponds which are easily drained or seined.
2. It is necessary to be a little off your rocker to spend this kind of time researching and raising a fish that is next to impossible to catch.
Bill, I'm extremely flattered that you would like to see a detailed explanation of methodology and if Pond Boss is interested I could go into extensive detail. I already have photos of my 11 year old daughter with a two-pounder that is quite impressive. Off all bluegill sampled through angling or other methods this year the average weight was just under one pound. My daughter nearly drove me up a wall because I said she wasn't fishing right. Every cast she'd drag her bait right into the rooted vegetation along the edge of the pond. Time and time again I'd have to pull the giant mess of weeds off of her hook. Fittingly, though, she ended up catching the biggest bluegill I've ever seen! It made it worth all the trouble.
