Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Feeding Growing bigger bluegills

We have a ~7 acre pond. It's somewhat bass heavy, but lots of chara and really clear water, secchi disc readings to 14' at times. We seem to have too many small bluegill in spite of lots of small bass. I'm thinking of adding a good feeder to increase the size / growth rate of the bluegills that reach a decent size. But, can I make a dent in the size structure in this size BOW? Would feeding 500 lbs/year do anything? Is there a feed size / type that only the larger bluegills (5" and up) can eat? Sorry for all the questions but I don't want to make an expensive mistake, and I know folks on here have experience and insight.

Thanks for any thoughts. Dale

Hey Hobbyman,

FWIW I would consider an electro-fishing survey to get a better understanding of species numbers, size classes, etc before trying to make corrections.

Hopefully, one of the pros will be along to offer up some thoughts.

Good Luck,

Bill D.

Thanks Bill. A survey is likely a good idea, esp. if a pro does the survey and can assist down the road. I've done lots of reading but every situation seems different in some way.

There is a very interesting article in the Jan-Feb 2016 Pond Boss magazine that may deal with your specific problem. "New Perspectives On Slow-Growing Bluegill" by Wes Neal (Mississipi Prof State Ext Fisheries Specialist. Pg 44-45. He says sometimes other factors of food, predators, & genetics appear good, and BG will still not grow well,,, it could be to a social, chemical issue as much as food issue. He says the BG population is too abundant and too many of the biggest BG have been removed or died. Now smaller males have no reason to delay spawning and the population trends toward smaller and smaller more abundant BG who over eat the resource. Large BG males have been shown in research to emit a hormone that also suppresses spawning of small male BG. Without large BG, small BG freely spawn to create over abundant numbers of ever small individuals.

I renewed my subscription but likely too late to get the Jan/Feb edition - I'll go back and get it if needed. We've only owned the pond for a couple of years, and have tried to release the big male BG. There are some decent ones in there, but they seem to top out around 7" with an occasional 7.5". That's after wading through lots of little ones to get a decent fish.

Call the PBoss office and ask them to start your renewal subscription with Jan-Feb 2016 or earlier. Feeding can help increase BG size although in 7 acres it may take more feed annually than 500lbs. You might be able to feed in one area of the pond to produce larger localized BG. Also feeding a larger pellet will tend to exclude the BG less than 4"-3" from getting as many pellets thus the larger BG should receive the most benefit from the pellets. Your goal for the next few years should be to manually remove 200-400 BG per acre. I suggest you consider building larger traps or buying a trap net and use it regularly to reach the removal goal of small, mid size BG.

You are experiencing the disadvantage of a larger pond. It takes proportionally longer for it to 'decline' but the efforts to bring it back to balance or improve it are much more intensive (effort) than for a small pond.

Although I don't have a issue with to small of BG I do every summer have a issue with too many small BG when my chara gets going! There is just way to many spots for them little buggers to hide out! Every year about end of July I have them swimming right next to the boat while I'm fishing.... And I think man I have way to many BG but once that Chara dies off my HSB and LMB go ham on them end of October course I only have a 1 acre pond too. Like Bill said 7 acres is a LOT to manage...

Here is 2 things I would do if it were me.

1. I would place my feeder or feeders where you want them.
2. I would kill off the Chara in that area of each feeder. Say 25x100 foot area.

Once you start to feed there the BG will find it then the LMB will also!! My bass know exactly where to go for an easy meal when the feeder goes off!!

This may help some... but may not be a long term fix....

Good Luck
RC

RC, so what you're getting at is making a kill zone for the small BG attracted to the feeder? Maybe add some large hunting-type cover (like Georgia Cubes) for the bass to ambush from. We have crappies as well, maybe get them some more food at the same time (they are underweight). Sounds like a good approach to from my novice perspective. I see Cultrine Plus recommended for chara control - is this a good choice?
Thanks for the advice. Dale

Yes I the cutrine plus granules work the best for me if you can use them in your area that is... Make sure it's ok to use them first. When I apply it I do it in the spring end of April first part of May seems to work for me. You want to catch it before the chara gets full blown if you can the CP will work better that way. And yes your basically making a couple of hot spots for fish to come and eat. The fish eat your food and some get ate!! The crappie and lmb will start to figure out hey this is the place to hang out and ambush!! It's helped me for sure around my one feeder.

RC