Yea I have been removing every bass in the 10-15 inch range which is the size of the majority of the LMB caught.. I have caught a few 3 and 4 pound LMB that were returned to the water. We harvest every CC caught under 15 pounds. We have a few very large channels in the 15-20 pound range that we have returned to the water but everything else gets kept.
I was just looking for anyone that had experience cutting the fins off small bluegill to make them easier to eat for the gamwfish. I�m not wanting to remove small bluegill and I don�t have an over population of bluegill to the point the are stunted I�m simply looking for ways to sustain my excellent growth weights without the expense of regular forage fish stockings. Thanks for getting back with me I really do appreciate any input but wasn�t exactly looking for advice on my pond goals. Looking any kind of rules of thumb on how many I can cut the tails on a regular basis without impacting the pond negatively as bluegill are the main forage species in the pond.
I do like your idea of seining I have a 50 foot seine I have used on one corner of my pond with pretty good success. I fish it so much I enjoy doing that wondering how many I can cut the tails on a regular basis.
