We have a 7-acre pond, 25 ft at the deepest. We fertilize when water is above 60 deg. Pond has LMB, Bluegill, Channel Cats, Crappie, and threadfin shad. The shad were put into the pond several years ago. It appears to me that the bass are eating shad instead of bluegill. Our bluegill population seems to have a high proportion of runts and very few big ones anymore. The LMB tend to be big ones. 2 - 4 pounders typical with some 10+. I would like to have more decent-sized bluegill in the pond.

Would it make any sense to put a small school of hybrid stripers (maybe 25 - 50?) in the pond to eat the shad? Then perhaps the LMB would eat more bluegill? Tell me if this is a dumb idea or an ok idea.... thanks.

Sounds like an awesome lake. If your primary concern is the bluegill, your plan might be a good one. If you care more about the bass than the bluegill, I wouldn't stock HSB, as they will directly compete with the LMB.

Why not just electrofish, and remove some of the smaller bluegill yourself? How much would the equipment cost?

Bluegill and shad are direct competitors. Anything at all you do to reduce shad numbers would help.

It depends. In a small pond (shad should not be in a small pond)BG and shad will compete like Bruce points out. In larger lakes not so much as the TShad are filling a niche ("pelagic" open waters) not used much by BG. We have both situations described (with HSB and without). There is an extensive thread here on the subject including a study that examines the data and conclusions from some 50 other studies.

In your situation to have both good BG and good LMB try feeding the BG in 2 locations (2 feeders). That will pack on the size for the big BG and reduce any competition with TShad. We do that in one pond and have big BG/CNBG , RES ( to 14 inches and 2 lbs +-) and LMB (to 13 lbs) and HSB (to 9 lbs).

Thanks everyone for the replies. This is first and foremost a LMB pond and if the HSB compete directly with the LMB then it's probably not the right answer. Feeding the BG does make sense, if I can just figure out how to keep the racoons from gorging at the feeders... but that's another question for another day in another category. Thanks again.

I disagree that they compete directly with LMB, some overlap. If you have shad or feeding program little if any impact on LMB growth with a low stocking density.

It sounds like you have a lot of predators in the same pond. The shad are definitely helping feed all of those mouths, as bluegill would struggle as the only forage option. An abundance of small bluegill without larger ones is an indication of high bluegill spawning success or a low supply of larger food items to grow bluegill to advanced sizes. Either way, I would not blame the shad for that. It is hard to pinpoint what exactly is going on with the interaction of so many specie, but I would look to the crappie as the culprit more than any thing else. To that end, a good quality directional fish feeder would be the simplest way to grow bigger bluegill without effect to any of the other dynamics of your pond. The hybrids might help with any excesses created in your "open water"
fish from the boom and bust cycle of crappie spawns, but again, it is hard to say for sure with so many different fish interacting. I have not seen negative impacts from hybrids on largemouth bass in the ponds that I manage with shad and feeding programs.

Thanks again, for the additional replies. All good info! FWIW, a 2 lb LMB taken from the pond today had a 3.5" BG in it's stomach so that is confirmation that the LMB-BG interaction is working, at least to some degree. Sounds like what I need to do is to make my feeder racoon-proof and put it back in service. I took it down because I could not keep the racoons from gorging on the AquaMax. I think I can safely install some electric fence wire at their access point.

Set out a couple of dog proof traps baited with Aquamax and you'll clean the coons out pretty quick. More will filter in, but you can keep them thinned out pretty good that way.

I did just that around the feeder and caught a feral cat. The cat went the way of the 'coons.

Cats -- fish - works every time.