Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations How many large bluegill to take out?

I have a 2 acre pond that has had 4 fish kills in the last 10 years. Currently it is loaded with large BG and has a few small bass around 1 lb and a few crappie. In 3 hours of fishing you mite catch 3 or 4 bass and a couple of crappie and lots of BG the size of your hand. My question is I think there are two many large BG and i was wondering how many I should take out.

Me and my Dad caught 200 large BG in 2 hours

What do you consider large?

They were all around 6 to 8 inches

KS BASS, if you want to eat bluegills, and if the pond has killed once every 2-3 years, I would be tempted to say this is a temporary situation and you probably should catch and clean bluegills if you wish. Omaha, you are closer in location. Do you agree?

Here is what i was thinking. I was going to take out around 300 to 400 hundred of the large BG and stock these in other ponds that I had dug out last summer. Since there are no large fish the BG shouldn't be hurt at all since there spawn should cover it. I just feel that i need to take out as many of the large BG as possible to keep everything in check otherwise the BG will take over and i will end up with lots of large bg and stunted small bass would you agree?

What size/weight are the crappie, and if the LMB weigh one pound each (was that weighed or guesstimated?) how long are the LMB?

How old is the pond, and when was the last fish kill?

I would. If I were in this situation I would be very liberal with the removal of the bluegill. I would constantly remove them until you start to see a change in their body condition and catch rates. Meaning, healthier fish and less frequently caught. Then I would get more selective on which fish you keep, like low RW fish and/or females. I don't think you really need to worry about removing too many just yet.

50 Crappie were threw in last year out of a pond that dried up they were all around 11 inches. The last kill was 2 years ago and the bass were anywhere from 9 to 12 inches. The pond is 11 years old

What are your goals for the pond fish wise?

Just nice bass 2 to 4lbs and nice crappie just want a nice fishing pond for the family don't have to be trophy fish just nice healthy fish.

Read up on crappie on here in small ponds (under 25 acres). They require a lot of management to keep them under control.

Just remember that your BG are your LMB food. A single LMB needs to eat 10# of fish to gain one pound of weight. Are you seeing any BG smaller than 4" in the shallows? How many weeds do you have in your pond?

Are you seeing any LMB in the 3"-6" size range?

Do you have aeration in your pond, and are you feeding at all with pelleted fish food?

I agree with them being the main food source but when they are all 6 inches they are competing with the bass for food. I am going to start feeding pellets to help the food chain. I have no aeration and there is some grass and weed growth id say just perfect not too much and enough for some cover. The water is perfect clarity wise too.

I am not seeing any small BG. We only caught 4 that were around 4 inches out of 200.

Thanks Omaha! I think will keep taking them out if i keep catching them at a fast rate. By fall there spawn will be a great forage base. the pond has awesome potenial with the bluegill numbers just want to keep it in check.

What's your plan to prevent another kill?

Well the pond catches alot of runoff and some chemicals. The algae blooms were very large and with lots of rain not a good mixture. We added some lime and got the ph down and seems to be working very well. got my fingers crossed.

YMMV, but I'm not having any crappie overpopulation in my 1.5a pond, so they can be balanced. I keep the weeds in check, maybe that helps. I bet BC population would explode if I had lots of cover. My BG and LMB are very healthy, my BC are a little on the thin side. I only catch 30-40 a year and take them all out. I have tons of crawfish, and find them in the gullets of most of my LMB. I find mostly shrimp in the gullets of the BC and BG, with some crawfish. I find only an occasional BG in the gullets of my LMB and BC.

I'll cross my fingers for you, too. It would be a shame to put time and effort into a BOW that was doomed to recurring fishkills, without first taking steps to remedy the situation, IF possible.

Otherwise, I agree with what's already been said....harvest what you can, while you can. In my opinion, the clock may well be ticking.

Yes it is very frustrating. The pond is 11 years old and has never really had a chance to prove itself! I think im on the right track now.