Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations Bluegill Harvesting

When is it time to harvesting your bluegill. I would say my pond is balance fairly well and has been stocked for 2 1/2 years. Almost all of the BG I catch are a nice size and are really fat. The pond is fertilized and the fish are fed twice a day on an auto feeder. To this date I have not started harvesting yet. I dont want to start prematurely.

I'd say you can harvest females and anything under 6".. Not an expert though

My CNBG cull limit is all females over 5 inches unless exceptional size brood stock - no males harvested over 5 inchers unless bleeders.

Cardell,

I would wait until at least the first spawn is over. In your area, that should be pretty soon. After you notice that the big males are no longer on the nests, you can start.

When you say the bluegill are "nice size" -- keep a record of how long they are. When you do start to harvest, try to leave all the males that are at least an inch shorter than the biggest fish you are regularly catching. With a 1/3-acre pond, and with the feeding/fertilizing you are doing, I'd say you can safely start to take several a week for the rest of the season. The bass should start to do their job this season.

Many of us keep records of everything we catch in our ponds, whether we keep the fish, or throw them back. If you see that you have an over abundance of one size fish, then it is time to react. Particularly with bluegill, if you see a decline in the size of the fish you are pulling in, it is time to slow down the harvest. With what you are doing, you should easily be able to attain a good population of bluegill that are at least 9-10 inches, and you can take out most of the eating size fish smaller than that. We find that the filets from two to three 7-8 inch bluegill per person provides a good meal.

Good fishin',
Ken

Thanks everyone, and Ken that was very informative. I will put your good advice to use