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.
