Dan, Lusk said a longtime ago that only bluegills can spawn enough to feed bass and only bass can control the huge spawns of bluegills. But, these have to be in the correct numbers/proportions. That’s what we call a balanced pond.
I have found that a properly stocked, in balance, pond lasts for about ten minutes without a lot of monitoring, working and feeding. Oh yeah, add cash infusions.
Yeah, I gotta be honest, I'm feeling a little daunted at the moment. I'm very much willing to put in the work on my pond... but the most and more I read from the forums here, the less optimistic I feel haha. Seems like finding a LMB/BG balance in my pond might be a pipe dream.
Should I switch to perch and HSB or something? I like perch and HSB seem fun. Would that be an easier balance to find?
Or YP only? Or RES and YP?
I dunno. What do you guys think? It is worth trying to keep going on the BG/LMB path I'm on right now?
Hey guys, I don't know if anyone saw this post, but I'm wondering what my odds are of actually being successful in balancing BG and LMB in a small pond like this. Feeling a bit uncertain of my plan at this point.
Now's the time to decide. I'm already planning on trying to pull out the rest of my LMB this spring. Do I replace them with new, healthy LMB? Or do I take this chance to switch to YP/HSB or some other mix? Here are my thoughts:
1. I really like eating perch. They're tasty and fillet easily. They're pretty aggressive feeders too, which is fun for catching. Only downside is that they're not very big/exciting. And I'm not sure how well they would reproduce in my small pond.
2. Been reading about HSB. They sound really fun to fish for, and they certainly would solve the "overpopulation" issue. And if I removed all my LMB, I could stock 8-10" HSB... if I could find some up here. Would they do ok in a small northern pond?
Maybe I could mix perch and HSB into the bluegill pond I have now and have a diverse, healthy fishery for a while?
If HSB are off the table due to climate or pond size, I do live really close to Lake Ontario and (with some work) I can catch pretty much any species I want to stock with and start over.
Thoughts? My priorities are:
1. Healthy fish
2. Some large fish for fun angling
3. Easy maintenance
Am I giving up on the idea of a BG/LMB pond too quickly?
