Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Creating the food chain Possible Forage Options For Bluegill Only Pond

Wondering if there any suitable forage options for a bluegill only pond. I'm not able to feed the fish in these pond regularly (and don't want to spend the money on an automatic feeder and food) do I was wondering if there any suitable options to provide forage for the fish in this pond. The pond has a good population of large bluegills so I was considering mosquito fish as a possibility. Even with many larger bluegills I'm still thinking that there is the possibility that they may not be able to keep the mosquito fish population in check and I'm also concerned that the mosquito fish might eat the bluegills' eggs. Any thoughts or experience?

What is the goal for the fishery in the pond? What will control the Bluegills and prevent them from overpopulating and stunting?

The goal of the pond is to raise large bluegill. I'd like to be able to raise as many large fish as possible. Most of the fish I remove are around 3-5 inches. Harvesting bluegills is the main means of controlling the population. I harvest some to eat and also transplant some to other ponds. It's a small enough pond that I feel I can keep them in check just by harvesting them.
With the amount of larger fish in the pond I'm also guessing that a lot bluegill fry are eaten.

Grass shrimp and FHM would be an option. But they might get decimated with a heavy load of BG. you Might find supplemental feeding is going to help tremendously with your goal.

Absent feeding pellets and or increasing the plankton community BG will likely stunt. You need to remove small BG in order for the larger ones to have enough food. Seining will help. A few (all one sex)LMB will help. IMO with out feeding/fertilization and some help removing small BG you will have a hard time keeping the BG population in check. Fishing usually removes the fish you would rather keep in the pond. In other words harvest by fishing alone is not the best way to have a pond with lots of large BG. Its the 2 , 3 , 4 inch BG that need to be reduced.

It's a small enough pond that I feel I can keep them in check just by harvesting them.
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You will certainly be a very busy guy keeping the BG in this pond and the future yellow bass in your top pond under control.
So busy in fact, that you may have little time to report back to the forum on your catching techniques and your fish filleting skills. LOL

Haha that would be fine with me lol. My family loves eating fish, so having to keep a couple good size messes of fish each week of the summer would be fine by me. I mostly place the bluegill from this pond in other ponds ( I have some headed for the yellow bass) , because they are almost more like pets. They will literally follow you around the bank lol.

I've considered add a a couple LMB, but haven't made the jump yet. Concerning grass shrimp, are they the same as ghost shrimp? I have seen ghost shrimp go sale before at pet stores. I also wonder if grass shrimp would be able to survive this far north. I read that they ussually dig 2 to 3 foot burrows to nest, couldn't this be potentially risky in regards to chasing leaks?

search google for 'pondboss' and PK shrimp. They are the northern strain that overwinter even in bitter cold ice covered northern ponds. They are not the strain sold in pet stores. Although in southern states, those shrimp (glass or ghost are common names, many species are available warm water only) should do great.

Shrimp cannot burrow, certainly not 2-3 feet. Crayfish do.

Shrimp have very few if any downsides. Sourcing the northern cold tolerant shrimp has become the biggest hurdle so far. It is a great opportunity waiting for the correct entrepenuer