TL ; I have a Clay pond in Western Oklahoma , Summer days 110F , No rock , I put down 3 12' X 20' areas of road way gravel separated enough to prevent SMB from seeing each other spawn , and SMB are spawning ( Geo textile under gravel to prevent sinking into silt and clay ) . No creek or stream incoming . Seems majority of creatures with Hormones ,find a way . Especially the Sunfishes. Now, to increase fry survival and maybe number of nests , adding large basket ball size rocks will help. Also read Dr. Cody's five part series on SMB , I have to google search to find them , everyone who loves SMB should read this series. Also pictures of nests for SMB , made by Teejaeh57 , find his posts on SMB , and you'll learn much. Hoping the 3 LMB are all same sex , or dead . Last comment , just my opinion , no expert , but my experience , SMB will have a very difficult time controlling BG . When fish seller sold me RES , he decided I needed BG too. 80% BG and 20% RES , a disaster , been fighting BG ever since . Good Luck , May God Bless You and Yours .
Thanks for the info!Quick question...why does everyone keep calling them bluegill lol, they are sunfish as far as I know and not quite as aggressive and dont lay as many eggs as bluegill, at least I think lol. And I know what you mean about it being a battle...when it boils down to it it is what it is I guess and it'll have to find a balance of some sort. Great ideas on the SMB beds I have the ability to do that.
Im surprised the trout made it at all with the 3 week solid stretch of blistering hot wx, the water temp was like bathwater at 78 to 82 degrees and not much different in the deeper spots, but they must have found an area of refuge that Im unaware of. There are cold springs coming in and would be nice to find them. When I did catch a trout in that wx they would fight for about 3 seconds and then go belly up when I let them go...i didnt let any go after that.
Cheers and thanks for the info!
