Suprising turn of events. North Shore Fish Farm sold you those sunfish as bluegill AND were pellet trained??. I find that hard to believe. Those are pumpkinseed sunfish(PS) as noted by Sprkplug and not bluegill. It will be interesting to hear in the email what the Fish Farm says they are. Dr. Willis at South Dakota St Univ has had limited success with smallmouth controlling pumpkinseeds. Offspring of PS will not as readily accept pelleted food compared to BG. PS do enter fish traps so you can manually remove excess individuals.
Good. Since you don't have BG, I would first try to control the reproduction of YP & PS with SMB and WE. I think it is going to be too difficult for a new, novice pondowner to locate male LMB to use as a controllable predator in this situation. PBoss magazine had an article by Dr Willis et.al. that discussed use of PS stocked into an existing SMB 0.5ac clear water gravel pit in South Dakota. SMB improved by getting larger, but PS tended to be too common and not growing fast nor large. PBoss Mag Jul-Aug 2010: "SMALLMOUTH BASS AND PUMPKINSEEDS. W. Schreck, B. Graeb and D. Willis look at some test results about smallmouth bass growth before and after introduction of pumpkinseed sunfish. Management hints from me would be to keep your weeds to a minimum to aid predation of PS, and use a trap several times a year combined with angling with live bait under bobbers to remove some PS. Keep track on paper of how many and what species you remove each year.
Those PS stockers of 3"-5" will definately spawn in 2013 when water temps get 67-68F (19.5C). Remember that YP spawn at 10-11deg C. Brush branches can be added - removed during and after YP spawn season to optimize use of structure/cover. PS are fairly prolific and can overpopulate a pond. Nest building in shallow water occurs prior to spawning in sand or gravel 12"-24" deep. In spring 2013 try to find some SMB and WE stock them. Having predators present prior to PS spawning will be a big part of controlling the PS overpopulation. In your 0.3-0.5 ac stock 30-50 SMB (3"-6") and try to get 6-10 WE (4"-8") in spring or fall. Keep records of how many and what type of fish are caught in each pull of the fish trap. We will help you evaluate the data regarding fish balance.
Dr Willis and I have submitted an article to Pond Boss Magazine (early 2013) about the main points of using SMB in ponds. I think SMB with a few walleye can work in your situation to control PS & YP with some help from your boys and you. If the SMB and WE do not work to your satisfaction to control the PS and or YP after 6-10 years, you can always add LMB and they will in 5-8 yrs be the dominant predator and will control any of your over abundant species. Consider LMB as your defalt predator.
The fish farm was correct that YP will eat BG larger than 1". I said larger sized YP will eat up to 2.5" but they mostly eat BG 1.2"" and smaller. To verify this check the stomach contents of some of the large 10"-12" YP that you harvest in the future and then report back as to who was correct most often about this topic.
Save the information in this thread as reference and a guide for managing fish in your pond.
Cage raising fish is best done if the pond has a dock (aka jetty). Without a dock as access to the cages, it becomes difficult to feed and properly monitor the fish.
Last edited by Bill Cody; 11/13/12 10:02 PM.
