Caught a few CNBG yesterday they are 2 years old, measured 9 1/2", and weighed 0.92 lb. i drained and restocked the 3/16 acre pond when we bought the land two and a half years ago and I am so pleased with the growth I have seen so far.
Thanks to everyone here for the wealth of knowledge you share. Since I found this forum my ponds have never been better.
Description: My son with first BG he helped reel
Description: Wife with nice BG
Description: Close up of BG
Well done Cray - outstanding growth in a short period of time. Beautiful fish and appears well fed and healthy!
Fish are looking great, maybe even tasty.
Pooch and strapping kiddo are looking good.. and the rest of the characters in the photos we shouldn't comment on.
Looks like you'll enjoy the pond greatly.
Damn that last fish is so wide he looks like a flouder! The eye even reminds me of one!
Love the smiles on ever-ones face Cray!!! You have some great fishing partners now
Fish are looking great, maybe even tasty.
Pooch and strapping kiddo are looking good.. and the rest of the characters in the photos we shouldn't comment on.
Looks like you'll enjoy the pond greatly.
They probably are tasty but it is so hard to eat them when you put so much effort into them. Maybe at two pounds.
Kinda like eating the family dog.
Dave nailed it. This is my PREDICAMENT. Nice fish Cray!
Cray, you're boy seems to be petting the fish!!
Good times!!
They're all edible if you don't name them.
Even at that, you could name them "dinner" "supper" "lunch", etc.
Cray, you're boy seems to be petting the fish!!
Good times!!
Yeah he likes to pet them befor we put them back. I think he likes the way the feel.
Cray, what kinda dog do you have? Very pretty coloration to its coat.
Cray, what kinda dog do you have? Very pretty coloration to its coat.
REDBONE ?
Josey Wales' dog was 'redboned' but I thought that was just Josey talking (and spitting).
that is a very pretty fish
Great pics , nicely conditioned CNBG and Redbone. Well done.
Just a good old shelter dog I don't know wat she is. We got her a year ago when I lost my 13 year old lab to cancer sh was the best dog I ever owned.
Man I'm starving I could filet a couple of those cnbg and have them ingested in a mmatter of minutes with hot grease. Looking good/mouth watering
Man I'm starving I could filet a couple of those cnbg and have them ingested in a mmatter of minutes with hot grease. Looking good/mouth watering
I'm real proud of these I hope to see a 10 incher this year!!!
Should be possible keep throwing food at them..
Ok so an update on the bluegill in my tiny pond. I was hoping to se 10" fish but have caught 10-3/4" BG. That is way past my expectations. The average BG caught is now 10". Thanks for all the advice everyone.
Ok so the family and I went down to sample the CNBG. These fish are coming up on 3 years old in the spring. And have surpassed all my expectations. They are closing In on 11" and are in very good condition.
Description: Big male
Description: Gravid female I think?
Ok so the family and I went down to sample the CNBG. These fish are coming up on 3 years old in the spring. And have surpassed all my expectations. They are closing In on 11" and are in very good condition.
WOW......Nice Fish!!!
Looks like that lttle boy has picked up an inch or two as well since you started this post!
Great looking Male CNBG Cray, love the height on that one
Yes he has I saw him eating some am600 the other day and we all know that will grow anything fast!
Do you know where your original brood stock of CNBG were purchased?
Nice Blue gills, I hope I can get that kinda growth in 3 yr's.
Nice CNBG - well conditioned.
Do you know where your original brood stock of CNBG were purchased?
It is a local strain I got the original fish 6 years ago from a bow called ray's millpond it is a 1500 acre cypress lake about 10 minutes away. I got them for a 5 acre bass pond I was restocking. I then netted these as fry and moved them to this pond.
If you netted only one bunch of BG fry then you should get some additional genetics. On large bunch is likely from one or two source fish.
Awesome looking fish! Still love that dog of yours too...
I collected several size classes when I got those so I believe I am covered.
Thanks I believe that these are a pure peninsula CNBG strain and I am excited to see what they will do over the next few years!
We drained and then pulled a sein through this pond, so I could rework it for a bass grow out pond. We got about 100 big CNBG. They average 10-1/2 " but we got a few this size.
Here are two nice ones
"Nice" is an understatement! Did you get any weights?
Holy helmet head - well done Cray! Keep 'em coming, Condello would love to take a gander at them there bulls!
No weights but I put them all in my ras. I sold 60 of them and I will weigh them when I get them out.
Spectacular fish. How long do you plan on keeping them in the RAS? Are they eating in there?
Look at those helmets! Beautiful fish.
Incredible dynamics! The coloration, or lack thereof on their lower halves is unreal!
Cray, those are as nice of CNBG as I have ever seen. Congrats.
Thank you all. Just 3 years ago I had average bg in all my ponds. If I caught a 9 inch fish I was thrilled. But when I started my bass experiment I started feeding Aqua max to my bg. Then after implementing a lot of information that I got here I started seeing the kind of growth I could only dream of.
Thank you all for the mountain of knowledge that you freely and openly share with us. With your help I expect to see even better growth on my next batch.
Gives me hope I can do the same!
I plan on keeping them in the ras for 3 weeks. And yes after two days they started eating.
Very nice CNBG ! What/where is the source for the brood stock ?
I already quoted the guy a price per fish but I was curious what yall thought these fish are worth per fish. Most of them are 10-1/2 to 10-3/4.
Very nice CNBG ! What/where is the source for the brood stock ?
I got the original stock from a cypress lake called Rays mill pond. It's a 3 square mile lake in Berrien county Georgia.
Yall take a look and let me know what you think these are worth.
Cray, may I please use a couple of those images on the BigBluegill Facebook page?
Bruce
"Worth" Can depend on a lot of things. No one here I am sure wants to give you a price for said fish as to not say the wrong thing.i
But lets say I did not or could not get any CNBG of that nature and you were the only guy around that had them big boys and you were selling them.
In that case they would be worth more to me of course if I really wanted them.
I also know how much AQ food costs and it's hard to put a price on a fish that you been taking care of and feeding for 2 years... or more.
Plus at that size you wouldn't need a bunch of them as they would quickly start to breed I bet in no time if they all made it ok.
So let say I needed 25 to put in my 1 acre pond to get things going.
I would be willing to give...... hmmm I would be willing to give up to 20 bucks a piece for them if they all looked like these 2... but that's just me that's where I would have to draw the line.
Hope that doesn't offend you, but everyone's pocket book is different....
RC
Maybe Cecil could shed a little light on the subject of value? What purpose do you envision these fish being used for?
Yeah I am sure there is a going rate for said fish? Maybe... I know here in Arkansas I can get 4 inch CNBG for 75 cents to a buck each.
But that's 4 inch and you don't know if they will be Trophy fish or not......
If it's accurate to relate catching a 2lb BG as the equivalent of catching a 12lb LMB, it could get expensive.
Time is money and a lot of 4-6 yr old BG are not that big. You are buying time and genetics. I put their value at $25-$50ea; some may be willing to pay more. They may be near the end of their life spans. It would be educational to see how much longer they will live.
Thanks you all so much for your input. I sold them way to cheap. But I have replicated this in another pond and I hope to have more like this in the future.
Other than driving down to Georgia with a stocking tank and O2 pump on a trailer.....how would one go about getting them to KY?
Other than driving down to Georgia with a stocking tank and O2 pump on a trailer.....how would one go about getting them to KY?
Do some research on how far North they will survive the winter..... IIRC they won't survive much further north than the North edge of Alabama.
Essup Is right. I think that you would be a little to far north for survival. But I can deliver if needed.
Cray, I sent you a PM. Did you get it?
Really superb work you have done Cray. I appreciate your effort.