Thanks for the info on cage rearing the bluegills. Teehjaeh57: thanks for asking about the ponds. #1 was built in 1966 - 1/4th acre x 5ft deep. I raise minnows in it - mostly fatheads, some shiners. I probably harvest 5 to 10 thousand minnows a year to feed in my larger pond and to fish with. #2 is about 1/3rd acre x 5ft deep. I originally raised yellow perch in that pond to stock in my larger pond and to eat. Somehow bluegills invaded (ducks or muskrats may have carried fertile eggs from my larger pond) this is the source for the bluegills I want to put in the cage. I caught over 100 2 to 4 inchers ice fishing three weeks ago. #3 was built in 2007 - slightly larger that an acre 4 - 14 feet deep. It has an irregular shoreline with rock and brush piles a 4 foot dropoff 7 - 11 feet with stone wall stocked with LMB, YP, CC, BG, crayfish, large clams, and 3 huge koi. All three ponds have an abundance of green and bull frogs. I trap hundreds of the tadpoles every summer from the two smaller ponds and move them to the larger pond.
