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Dang chunting!!! If I can get my little hole of mutts to raise something anywhere near those fish I'm gonna be one happy camper!!


.10 surface acre pond, 10.5 foot deep. SW LA. The epitome of a mutt pond. BG, LMB, GSF, RES, BH, Warmouth, Longear Sunfish, Gambusia,Mud Minnows, Crappie, and now shiners!!...I subscribe!!
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I generally remove all bluegill from 6-8 inches and put them in the fryer. smile "Generally." If its a male and has a particularly well defined shape, it might get a pass. Nothing I do is "set in concrete." Most females are removed. If we catch it on a hook and it is under 6 inches, it gets a pass or ends up as bait for our larger bass, those over 16 inches. We remove those and put in fryer. Our goal is have a large population of smaller bass working on the small bluegills. I use two minnow and one baitfish trap to mechanically remove smaller bluegills as well. At this moment our small bass are too fat, indicating they are not keeping up their end of the bargain, so I've been catching small bass from another pond and putting in ours to help out. Our pond is in good shape now for the bass to easily capture the little stuff. You can sit on the porch and watch small bass blowing up small bluegills all day long now.

I'm raising copper nose bluegill and some red ears, not green sunfish or GS/CBG hybrids. All of those we catch either end up in the fryer or tossed on the bank for our resident coons to dispose of.

If you scroll back up to that 1 pound 5.5 oz female I'm holding.....she got a pass. smile

I fillet all the eating fish myself.

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Thanks chunting for this detailed description of your strategy. How many trapped fish must your crop currently? Just an estimate of how many you think you might have to crop until the bass take over.


It isn't what we don't know that gives us trouble, it's what we know that ain't so - Will Rogers


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My strategy is much the same but my population of panfish isn't very high right now. Ive only got 3 LMB stocked right now and so far they seem to be doing good at crowd control. Hopefully I'll see at least marginal recruitment of those next spring and will be able to remove the larger bass once they hit 15". I probably have less than a dozen BG over 6". But there's a good next generation of 2-4" fish on their heels. I'll be adding a few more LMB by fall to give them a better chance come spring and my two cloverleafs stand at the ready if I need to get more aggressive. Time will tell. I'm glad my plan sounds like it might just pay dividends.


.10 surface acre pond, 10.5 foot deep. SW LA. The epitome of a mutt pond. BG, LMB, GSF, RES, BH, Warmouth, Longear Sunfish, Gambusia,Mud Minnows, Crappie, and now shiners!!...I subscribe!!
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We had a four month drought that dropped our pond level 24+ inches. During this period we stopped all sampling because we didn't want to stress our larger bluegills. Now that recent rains have raised the pond some we decided to do a sample. Here are the results. I use the following site to determine RW.

http://www.aces.edu/dept/fisheries/rec_fishing/RWCalc.php

Our first fish over 10 inches.



We caught 18 bluegill and two redears. We sampled 16 bluegill and tossed two 6 in BG back without measuring. The two readears were 8 in and 9 in and weighed 8 oz and 9 oz.



We use a Chatillon 2 pound spring scale graduated in half ounce increments to weigh. The hook on the scale is much too large to secure a bluegill without hooking in the gills. I modified the hook with the addition of a #8 barbless hook I use tying flies. It is easy to hook in the lips and remove leaving only a pin size hole. My wife used the same hook with crickets to catch nine and I used a fly with #10 barbless hook to catch seven.

I was a little disappointed, believing we might catch some pushing 24 oz. We might be a little too optimistic but there are larger BGs swimming around. We feed three times a day with a 50/50 mix of Aquamax 500 and 600. Our basic management plan is to release all BG under 6 in and over 8 in and remove most females. We release all bluegills over 16 oz unless deep hooked or injured. Due to low numbers of 6 to 8 in slot BG we are releasing them until we get a better read on their numbers.

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What a beautiful fish.

Great job!


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the easiest way i found to weigh them without injury is to place them in a plastic Walmart bag. the fish usually don't flop around much in the bag and you don't have to worry about hanging them on the scales with the big hook.


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Originally Posted By: scott69
the easiest way i found to weigh them without injury is to place them in a plastic Walmart bag. the fish usually don't flop around much in the bag and you don't have to worry about hanging them on the scales with the big hook.


Excellent idea!
So simple but so effective.

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If you take a small bucket with water in it you can tare the scale out and still get an accurate weight when you put the fish in the bucket. If the scale won't take, just note the bucket/water weight and do the math. Very little to no stress on the fish at all.


.10 surface acre pond, 10.5 foot deep. SW LA. The epitome of a mutt pond. BG, LMB, GSF, RES, BH, Warmouth, Longear Sunfish, Gambusia,Mud Minnows, Crappie, and now shiners!!...I subscribe!!
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You have a beautiful spot. Thanks for sharing the pictures. Gives me something to look forward to.


The people who say I can't do it can just sit the @^#% down and watch me. Friends call me Rusto I also subscribe to pond boss mag. http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=504716#Post504716
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Pond has now been stocked three years and 2 months. I've dealt with severe back issues since last October and had back surgery a couple weeks back. The bride is doing all the mowing and grunt work around the pond for now. Fortunately we had it in pretty good shape before hand. Other than having a medium size cottonmouth bolt ahead of the mower into the pond, not much excitement. Redears are moving on beds and bass have been bedding since last month. We sampled five coppernose this week, all over a pound with the three best weighing in at 1# 4.5 oz, 1# 5.5oz. and the bride's 1# 6 oz dandy shown here. I believe we have 1# 8oz plus swimming around. Hope to find a couple as we began sampling more. Our redears should be pushing a pound. We weighed two last fall that came in at 12 oz.



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Originally Posted By: scott69
the easiest way i found to weigh them without injury is to place them in a plastic Walmart bag. the fish usually don't flop around much in the bag and you don't have to worry about hanging them on the scales with the big hook.


Good idea, Scott! A hefty black plastic garbage bag might be even better for large bass. They can slip off too easily & injure themselves falling to the bottom of the boat, plus there is the danger of too much weight on their jaw. Black color good because fish, like most animals, tend to calm down when in darkness. Just make sure to put a little water in bag so they don't lose slime coat.


7ac 2015 CNBG RES FHM 2016 TP FLMB 2017 NLMB GSH L 2018 TP & 70 HSB PK 2019 TP RBT 2020 TFS TP 25 HSB 250 F1,L,RBT -206 2021 TFS TP GSH L,-312 2022 GSH TP CR TFS RBT -234, 2023 BG TP TFS NLMB, -160




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We had an impromptu family gathering at the farm yesterday and the kin wanted to fish. Ok, break out the crickets and scales. I find crickets and artificial lures/flies produce less deep hooking than worms resulting in better survival of our released big fish. So we did some sampling, me handling the net, weighing and culling fish for the "eating' bucket. smile I lost count but around 40 bluegills, one green sunfish and one hybrid. One large bluegill of 1.38 lbs was kept due to deep hooking. No readers caught this trip.

We kept 14 fish; 9 female and 3 male bluegills plus the green sunfish and hybrid. Green sunfish reinterred the pond during a 10 inch rain 6 months after stocking. There are not a great threat and we plan to keep it that way by removing all green sunfish and nature hybrids caught.

The top four bluegill weighed 1.38 lbs, 1.40 lbs, 1.40 lbs and a new pond record of 1.53 lbs. The green sunfish weighed 1.12 lbs and the hybrid 1.06 pounds. The greatest length was 10.5 inches.

As usual, once a pond gains a reputation for big fish friends you never knew begin asking for fishing rights. The kinfolk are even pressing for more fishing time and "un-supervised" fishing time. We have a small 1 acre plus pond that carries a high population of large bluegill which is a result of our management plan. We also are having more folks tell us how to manage the pond. We never realized how poorly we were doing. smile

We have no plans to change even if it miffs some folks. smile

We do allow some of the kinfolks to fish for bass unsupervised and help us remove those bass over 16 inches or so. The bluegills are our priority. All bluegill fishing is supervised by me.

Last edited by chunting; 05/06/19 06:07 AM.
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Great detailed update! Congrats on the dandy BG. It's neat to see someone's hard work pay off!


"Politics": derived from 'poly' meaning many, and 'tics' meaning 'blood sucking parasites'.
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Latest update: Two weeks ago we had a gathering at the pond and I needed to sample the fish. I controlled the netting, weighing, unhooking and decision on fish into the "eating" bucket and those to be released. Happy to report only one BG over a pound kept due to deep hooking. Forty BG caught and we culled 14 which I filleted for a later fish fry. About half scaled over the 16 ounce mark and a number of BG from 1 pound 4 ounces to a new record of 1 pound 8.5 ounces were caught. All who participated caught their personal best BG with the exception of two youngsters who would rather play with the crickets and the fish in the "eating" bucket. smile Consider the gathering a success. Hard to beat a great meal and quality fishing.

Sorry to say I didn't get a good photo of the new record. I was too busy making sure it was released quickly. Here's one I caught yesterday on my birthday on the 2wt. 1 pound 4.5 ounces on the two weight. After releasing I went back to the cabin and poured another cup of coffee. One was enough. I rarely fish the pond and limit myself to one or two large BG to keep the pressure at a minimum ensuring good fishing for our gatherings and occasionally guest.


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Further notes: A number of different age classes are showing up in the samplings indicating recruitment is coming along fine. All fish healthy with high RWs. Have not caught a red ear this year. Haven't fished for them and I provide crickets for our guests because IMO there is less deep hooking with crickets over worms. Have at least one large common snapper that has been in the pond since renovation. I first observed it eating dead fish after I killed the fish. It shows occasionally eating pellets. Pretty cool watching a 20 pound or so turtle daintily eating pellets one at a time. Our three bedroom house[cabin] is know 90 % renovated and we continue to improve the grounds. Our 14 blueberry plants are three years old and growing rapidly with a bumper crop this year. Our ten thornless blackberry plants are loaded. We are little by little adding to our raised bed garden. Added two plum trees to go along with our three pear trees. Plans to add a couple peach trees this winter.

Deer were a problem initially but since purchasing "Wireless Deer Fence" we have solved that issue. We use it both at our home in town and on our 18 acres in the country. It really works. Here's the link. https://wirelessdeerfence.com

Green sunfish/coppernose hybrids still showing up in our samples. One large green sunfish and a hybrid weighed in over a pound and made the "eating" bucket. All are removed when caught.

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good information on management and I enjoyed the read. good luck on getting your goal sized trophy.


Do not judge me by the politicians in my City, State or Federal Government.


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Stepson visting for a couple days. He was here a month ago and we attempted to get him a big bluegill, but all he was able to catch was small, one pound fish. He is one of the few adults, family and friends, who has not caught a bluegill weighing over 1.25 pounds.

I knew he was coming and bringing granddaughter with him so shut off the feeder two days prior to his visit. We met at the pond and sat around on the porch as dusk approached. A cold front had just past and the temperature was in the high '70s with low humidity. Downright pleasant and we were enjoying just rocking on the porch with some refreshment. smile I ask him if he wanted to catch some bluegills, that I had crickets in the house and my two weight flyrod rigged as well. He'd never used a fly rod but said he'd like to try.

I grabbed scales, bump board, net, flyrod and walked the twenty yards down the hill to the pond. Within five minutes he was managing the flyrod and fishing. About the fourth or fifth cast his line twitched and hooked up with a real brawler. He's a skilled saltwater fisherman and fought the fish well and soon had it in the net. We just stood there for a moment in awe of the beast he had just caught. The barbless stone fly imitation he was using looks like a cricket and is a good bluegill fly. I put the scale on it and I couldn't believe what it read so I eased the fish back down into the net and weighed again. No change, same as before, new pond record, but more importantly, this bluegill, obviously one of our original stocking, was 3.5 ounces from the "two pound" mark. I now believe we have a realistic chance of producing a "two pounder" by late fall. I never would have believed we could produce these large bluegills when we started this project. The bride's grandmother is surely smiling over our accomplishments with her pond.

Ignore the rod in teeth pose, stepson was hamming it up for one of his partners in their camp on the coast. I had him push the bluegill out some to better show it. I've found it difficult to capture these massive bluegills with a camera.

He caught one more fish, a bass weighing 2.5 pounds before we retired back to the porch to enjoy rest of the day.




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Beautiful fish!! I'd be happy to see a 1 pounder come out of mine. I cant even imagine a 2 pound gill on fly. Very cool stuff!!!!


.10 surface acre pond, 10.5 foot deep. SW LA. The epitome of a mutt pond. BG, LMB, GSF, RES, BH, Warmouth, Longear Sunfish, Gambusia,Mud Minnows, Crappie, and now shiners!!...I subscribe!!
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Originally Posted By: chunting
Further notes: A number of different age classes are showing up in the samplings indicating recruitment is coming along fine. All fish healthy with high RWs. Have not caught a red ear this year. Haven't fished for them and I provide crickets for our guests because IMO there is less deep hooking with crickets over worms. Have at least one large common snapper that has been in the pond since renovation. I first observed it eating dead fish after I killed the fish. It shows occasionally eating pellets. Pretty cool watching a 20 pound or so turtle daintily eating pellets one at a time. Our three bedroom house[cabin] is know 90 % renovated and we continue to improve the grounds. Our 14 blueberry plants are three years old and growing rapidly with a bumper crop this year. Our ten thornless blackberry plants are loaded. We are little by little adding to our raised bed garden. Added two plum trees to go along with our three pear trees. Plans to add a couple peach trees this winter.

Deer were a problem initially but since purchasing "Wireless Deer Fence" we have solved that issue. We use it both at our home in town and on our 18 acres in the country. It really works. Here's the link. https://wirelessdeerfence.com

Green sunfish/coppernose hybrids still showing up in our samples. One large green sunfish and a hybrid weighed in over a pound and made the "eating" bucket. All are removed when caught.


Chunting, Deer are plentiful around our BOW, and we are beginning process of landscaping with them in mind. Really limits what you can plant, some of best stuff will just get eaten quickly.

If you've had good luck with the wirelessdeerfence, I'm buying NOW! Thanks!!!

PS How many of these are needed to effectively cover one acre of gardens?

PPS Congrats on the great BG! I've never caught one bigger than 1 lb, hopefully that will change this year. Flyrod gives them a chance to show just how awesome they are!

Last edited by anthropic; 06/08/19 06:53 PM.

7ac 2015 CNBG RES FHM 2016 TP FLMB 2017 NLMB GSH L 2018 TP & 70 HSB PK 2019 TP RBT 2020 TFS TP 25 HSB 250 F1,L,RBT -206 2021 TFS TP GSH L,-312 2022 GSH TP CR TFS RBT -234, 2023 BG TP TFS NLMB, -160




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I'd use an electric fence to secure an acre. Using a ten foot interval, it get pretty expensive surrounding an acre. These Wirelessdeerfence stakes run $60 or so for three. I'm into the fourth year using most of the original stakes purchased. They are designed to protect small patches or a few plants. We use them at our home in town around a flower bed [7 stakes] and a few next to individual plants, etc..

We have the 14 blueberry bushes, three pear trees and two plum trees secured with the stakes. This patch is next to the pond and deer walk between it and the pond nighty and I've yet to find any damage this year. I use nine sticks here.

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Interesting product. I wonder how it would work on hogs.


It's not about the fish. It's about the pond. Take care of the pond and the fish will be fine. PB subscriber since before it was in color.

Without a sense of urgency, Nothing ever gets done.

Boy, if I say "sic em", you'd better look for something to bite. Sam Shelley Rancher and Farmer Muleshoe Texas 1892-1985 RIP
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Doubt it would have much affect on hogs. They get food on their minds and nothing else matters!! Lol

You never know till you try, tho


.10 surface acre pond, 10.5 foot deep. SW LA. The epitome of a mutt pond. BG, LMB, GSF, RES, BH, Warmouth, Longear Sunfish, Gambusia,Mud Minnows, Crappie, and now shiners!!...I subscribe!!
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Closing on the 2 pound mark. From watching feeding sessions I believe we have some, just haven't fished enough this year to catch one. These two caught and released back to grow. The one on the bump board is 1 lb. 14 oz. Pond stocked four years last month. I was running a RW sample when I caught the 1-14. Numbers are actually higher than the previously posted sample. All age classes were high.

The one with my fly rod is 1 lb 13.5 oz.

Have one common snapper joining the feeding sessions. In the 20 lb range. Believe it to be the same one that has been eating pellet since feeding began. We have only seen one snapper at any time so am making an assumption. Cool critter. Was manually removing some algae along the bank with a fine mesh net and caught two American eels. I encounter eels a couple times a year doing work around the pond.

[Linked Image from i544.photobucket.com]

[Linked Image from i544.photobucket.com]

Last edited by chunting; 04/18/20 05:23 AM.
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Pond was stocked four years ago this past March. Earlier this week our niece caught and released our first two pound plus. It bottomed out my 2 pound Chatillon spring scale and some. Estimated an ounce plus.

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