I like bluegill. They are tasty, fun and easy to catch, and give the grand kids a thrill, best of all I know where they come from. But I want a balanced pond and don't want to feed the fish to get lunkers. I originally stocked (or so I thought) 350 BG, 150 RES, 30 CC, 75 LMB, 6 GC and some FM (which have all been eaten I presume). The pond is about .88 acres, 9 ft deep and averages about 4-6 feet I would guess. I am adding aeration to hold down the FA and have the GC in there to hold down the CLPW to a dull roar. When it is blazing hot in July and August I plan to jump in the pond and cool off, weeds and all. I have lots of buffer between me and any agricultural runoff. I caught and released a CC last year that was 21 inches, I have caught and released a few LMB approaching 14 inches. The BG, HBG and RES are all at risk for being eaten, and some days I go out and keep lots of small fish destined to be frozen and canned. At some point there may be some slot limits for the LMB. The CC are probably going to die of old age, but they are down there in their niche and if one of the grandkids hooks one they will have something memorable. And unfortunately, I have no idea how many HBG are in there and whether I was shorted BG or RES.
Last edited by FishyFishy; 05/31/15 09:59 PM.
