Want to first start by thanking everyone on this forum, it has been a wealth of information. Recently joined and just started posting, but have read hours of very useful information.

Little info on my pond. I have a 5 acre property with a 3/4 acre pond next to our house. Bought the property 5 years ago built a home on it 3 years ago. When I first bought the property I was told the pond was stocked and had a very good trophy bass population (for northern Indiana standards). I didnt fish the pond at all until a year after buying the property, but for several trips didn't catch a single fish. The old owner lived nearby and asked if he could still fish the pond after the sale and I agreed, not sure if he took any fish but seems like he might have. My current neighbor (who has a once acre pond) said that they experienced a winter fish kill once but would still think there were some fish in the pond.

Fast forward 5 years and two kids later decided to fix the pong, goal is to have a trophy bluegill pond. Before finding the forum I did some lazy no info stocking. I took a few nice bass from the neighbors pond (7-10 three pound bass) and a couple buckets full of bluegill. about 20 of the bluegill were about 6-7" bluegill from a great local fishery and the rest were small (3-5") from the neighbors pond (maybe 50 more?). After that stocking I never caught a fish from my pond, I thought they did not make it.

I ended up getting 200 3-5" bluegill delivered from a hatchery that was a couple hours south (a local association was getting an order and I jumped in on that)

Since that order I discovered this site and got a ton of info so I decided to contact Scott from Hoosier pond pros (eeshup) and stock it properly. I had a long conversation with him and now have a fish order coming, just waiting on the weather (also ordered tilapia). Took his advise on what to stock and I gave him all the info from above.

Well since then I have done some more recon and now have some questions. This past week had some nice weather and have been trying to catch the big bass out of my pond to put back into the neighbors pond. Had no luck with the bass but did catch a few really nice healthy bluegill on a beetle spin, I didnt have a tape with him but would put the gills at 10 plus inches. You think it is just luck and caught a few of the big gills that were put in last year? I fished next few days with no luck (weather took a turn and I was still trying to get those bass) or did I miss an established population of fish?

Ill be calling Scott this week before he comes out, Im sure he will provide his opinion but I figured Ill post to get some opinions and use it as in introduction. Im not sure this will even change the plan

One thing I am getting frustrated with is trying to catch the few bass I put in, Ive tried a number of artificials and even putting on a small gill from the neighbors pond on a bobber and not even a bite.

Anyway Hello and thanks for the replies,

Dave

Dave, if you've got essup on it, he'll take care of ya.
Several things could take place in an established pond but big BG is generally not something you find in a pond with little to no management. I'd have to think there are some medium to large bass in there foraging on the tweener BG or they likely wouldn't be able to achieve that 10" mark because there would be too many with nothing to eat and generally, BG will top out in that 5-6" range after cleaning out every forage item available to that size of fish if left unchecked.
If I could add 1 important piece of advice it would be to BE patient. We all want results overnight but it's been my experience that the best things happen with time when it comes to a fishery among other things. Give Scott a chance to make an assessment and I'm sure he will have a good plan for you, now, and going forward.

Welcome pondboss dave,

I may be little confused with the time line but it seems that you stocked the LMB and first BG in the spring/early summer of the 2019? And that you recently caught a 10" BG this year?

That's great growth in a year. BG can grow very fast on natural foods when there is plenty of space. I would just add that how you stocked the pond with 7 3# LMB and a few BG is conducive to LMB growth though not to BG growth. Of course, the initial BG transfers grew well because they had no competition. But they would have produced a bumper crop of YOY. The LMB are two large to be interested in any BG under 3" and so they are piling up at around that length.

As Snipe recommended, follow esshup's advice to get the great trophy bluegill pond you want. I would just add one thing. If your pond experienced a fish kill, that tells me that it is fertile enough to reach its winter carrying capacity. I would not feed this pond formulated feed unless you are interested in harvesting BG. Fall is a good time to harvest and if you feed you should harvest one half the weight you feed + 50 lbs/acre every year. This will ensure that the largest fish that remain have a fighting chance to be there the following spring. To foster trophy BG, harvest less than 9" if possible but don't be afraid to take a few larger to fill the quota. Its better to harvest 5" to 7" fish than >9" fish to fill the quota. By this I mean don't harvest the trophies when there is an abundance of BG that are harvestable size but smaller than some think are harvestable. Nothing gets bigger by throwing fish back. A planned harvest will grow bigger fish and help the biggest of your BG live longer lives.

Looking back at it I think I am off by a year for at least the big gills (thinking summer 18) the rest should be accurate. I was looking at feeding at least for the new fish benefit, plus aeration this summer.

I would like to know what you will be stocking and in what quantities. Just to be sure, you are doing a corrective stocking? Or starting over?

Scott knows his stuff. You’re getting a good guy.

Update after a couple days of fishing. (this time with a tape measure)

I ended up catching a few more big bluegill but they were not 10" like I first thought they were right at 9. Caught over 50 small gills (guessing the ones I stocked). And I caught 5 3-4" bass, so Im thinking the big bass I put in last year are spawning.

In a different area of the pond I usually dont fish but was able to easily bc its really flooded right not I caught over 20 3-4" green sunfish.

So looks like its quite a bit differnt than I thought. Ill be calling Scott tomorrow with news.

Should I be removing the sunfish? or just clip a fin for bass food? I dont want them taking up room for the bluegills.

one other note the looks like the bluegills are taking to the feed, last night had a ton of fish feeding as soon as I got the feed out. Dont know if its just the stocked gills or not, either way they are liking the Optimal Jr.

I have a lot of other work to do on the pond Ill get pics and other threads going

Clipping the fins on the GSF is a good way to get rid of them and at the same time feed the LMB. I have done that a lot in the past. When you feed, the GSF are likely numerous eating the feed along with the BG. They are definitely feed hogs and will readily take to being fed.

I get quite a few natural GSF/BG hybrids in my pond and I really like fishing for them because they grow fast on feed and are aggressive to take a hook when almost nothing else wants to bite. We have filleted a bunch this spring that have fattened up on fish food from our feeder. But they are not everyone's cup of tea, As your LMB get more established and your BG spawn multiple times a year, most of the GSF will go by the wayside naturally. They just get out competed. But in the mean time their mouth gape is the same size as a LMB inch for inch in length of fish so they definitely take up a lot of food sources that could be going to your smaller LMB and BG. So clipping their tails so the LMB can easily eat them is a good use for them.

A couple years ago I actually had some LMB and CC trained to come to the dock when they heard my footsteps. I would take a bunch of 2-3" HBG I had trapped in a minnow trap out of my forage pond with a minnow trap, clip their tails, then toss them in the water and watch the LMB and CC compete for them. They would come right up in front of me to take them as soon as they hit the water.

A baited minnow trap will catch a bunch of them. The GSF seem to be especially attracted to a baited minnow trap. You can expand the opening slightly to get slightly larger fish in the trap. Most minnow traps have a 1" opening (many states have laws forbidding anything bigger in public waters) but if you open it up to about 1 1/4 it is surprising how much larger fish you can catch.

Old thread on minnow traps

My GSF journey in my old pond back in 2014

GSF management thread