Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations Age of Small Bluegill

Does anyone know the normal age of a 1-3" bluegill. I have seen a lot of this size bluegill aroung the edge of my lake in the last couple of weeks. I know they would be from this year's spawn. I am trying to increase the bluegill population, so this is what I want to see. Also, is there normally a "fishy" smell in the air when bluegill are spawning? I noticed a very distinctive smell around the lake this weekend, even though I didn't see any beds in the shallows. My lake is in Southeast Georgia. Thanks for your help.

Tood you can definently smell 'em. The 1-2 inch bluegill are from this year but a three incher is probably last year's spawn. Are you fertilzing and feeding? If so they will grow quicker. What you want to see if managing for quality bass is lots of 3-5 inch bluegill.

I was told that distinct "fishy" smell was Bass coming around in that area....So is this true? Can you actually smell different types of fish and there activity? Is this true?

Greg,
Thanks for the info. I do not fertilize, but I have been feeding approximately one year. I installed a feeder two weeks ago, and that should help. The bluegill really come to the food and eat well. I do seem to have a pretty good quantity of 3-5 inch bluegill, and the numbers have increased since we began removing small bass almost two years ago. I had a survey performed in October of 2001 and it showed the lake to be bass heavy with relative weights in the 70-83% range. The most recent bass I caught had a relative weight of 100%, so I believe things are improving.

Todd, the smell is probably associated to the August heat. I live near a large lake and the hotter it gets, the more it smells like fish !

Anybody know how long Bluegill and/or Channel Cat live?

Tood sounds like you are doing things right. The Wr index is an awesome analysis tool if looked at over time. Is the pond a canidate for fertilizing? If so you may want to explore this as well.