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Joined: Feb 2022
Posts: 33 Likes: 2
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OP
Joined: Feb 2022
Posts: 33 Likes: 2 |
Dan, Lusk said a longtime ago that only bluegills can spawn enough to feed bass and only bass can control the huge spawns of bluegills. But, these have to be in the correct numbers/proportions. That’s what we call a balanced pond.
I have found that a properly stocked, in balance, pond lasts for about ten minutes without a lot of monitoring, working and feeding. Oh yeah, add cash infusions. Yeah, I gotta be honest, I'm feeling a little daunted at the moment. I'm very much willing to put in the work on my pond... but the most and more I read from the forums here, the less optimistic I feel haha. Seems like finding a LMB/BG balance in my pond might be a pipe dream. Should I switch to perch and HSB or something? I like perch and HSB seem fun. Would that be an easier balance to find? Or YP only? Or RES and YP? I dunno. What do you guys think? It is worth trying to keep going on the BG/LMB path I'm on right now?
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Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 28,565 Likes: 850
Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Lunker
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Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Lunker
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 28,565 Likes: 850 |
Anytime. As a side note, I had one LMB that I caught that was 18 1/2" long and weighed 5#, 15 ounces. A combination of pellets and Bluegills. So effectively a 6 lb. Largemouth at 18.5" length......that is a HOG!!! Absolutely correct. It was about 3" thick.
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Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 3,410 Likes: 616
Lunker
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Lunker
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 3,410 Likes: 616 |
Anytime. As a side note, I had one LMB that I caught that was 18 1/2" long and weighed 5#, 15 ounces. A combination of pellets and Bluegills. So effectively a 6 lb. Largemouth at 18.5" length......that is a HOG!!! Absolutely correct. It was about 3" thick. That doesn't make fish fillets, it makes fish steaks!
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Joined: Feb 2022
Posts: 33 Likes: 2
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OP
Joined: Feb 2022
Posts: 33 Likes: 2 |
Dan, Lusk said a longtime ago that only bluegills can spawn enough to feed bass and only bass can control the huge spawns of bluegills. But, these have to be in the correct numbers/proportions. That’s what we call a balanced pond.
I have found that a properly stocked, in balance, pond lasts for about ten minutes without a lot of monitoring, working and feeding. Oh yeah, add cash infusions. Yeah, I gotta be honest, I'm feeling a little daunted at the moment. I'm very much willing to put in the work on my pond... but the most and more I read from the forums here, the less optimistic I feel haha. Seems like finding a LMB/BG balance in my pond might be a pipe dream. Should I switch to perch and HSB or something? I like perch and HSB seem fun. Would that be an easier balance to find? Or YP only? Or RES and YP? I dunno. What do you guys think? It is worth trying to keep going on the BG/LMB path I'm on right now? Hey guys, I don't know if anyone saw this post, but I'm wondering what my odds are of actually being successful in balancing BG and LMB in a small pond like this. Feeling a bit uncertain of my plan at this point. Now's the time to decide. I'm already planning on trying to pull out the rest of my LMB this spring. Do I replace them with new, healthy LMB? Or do I take this chance to switch to YP/HSB or some other mix? Here are my thoughts: 1. I really like eating perch. They're tasty and fillet easily. They're pretty aggressive feeders too, which is fun for catching. Only downside is that they're not very big/exciting. And I'm not sure how well they would reproduce in my small pond. 2. Been reading about HSB. They sound really fun to fish for, and they certainly would solve the "overpopulation" issue. And if I removed all my LMB, I could stock 8-10" HSB... if I could find some up here. Would they do ok in a small northern pond? Maybe I could mix perch and HSB into the bluegill pond I have now and have a diverse, healthy fishery for a while? If HSB are off the table due to climate or pond size, I do live really close to Lake Ontario and (with some work) I can catch pretty much any species I want to stock with and start over. Thoughts? My priorities are: 1. Healthy fish 2. Some large fish for fun angling 3. Easy maintenance Am I giving up on the idea of a BG/LMB pond too quickly?
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Joined: May 2009
Posts: 5,727 Likes: 285
Lunker
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Lunker
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 5,727 Likes: 285 |
How are you planning to completely remove LMB from the pond? Completely kill off all fish?
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Joined: May 2013
Posts: 2,901 Likes: 146
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Joined: May 2013
Posts: 2,901 Likes: 146 |
I love the HSB idea. The trick is that shipping across state lines can be tricky even if they are legal in your state. They really would be a cool add on predator with advantages (no reproduction, gape size small so you don't eat your desirable fish above a certain size, great fighting, I have no idea how they taste) They cannot be safely caught or handled in very warm water temps but not sure that will ever be an issue in our northern ponds.
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Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 13,761 Likes: 301
Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Hall of Fame 2014 Lunker
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Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Hall of Fame 2014 Lunker
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 13,761 Likes: 301 |
I don't think you have to give up on LMB/BG as the primary mix in your ponds.
With the options of HSB and SMB, you have some fish that do OK in cooler waters and coexist with LMB.
There are no absolutes when dealing with ponds. You may have a balance one year, or season, and that could change next year or next season.
Excerpt from Robert Crais' "The Monkey's Raincoat:" "She took another microscopic bite of her sandwich, then pushed it away. Maybe she absorbed nutrients from her surroundings."
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2 members like this:
jludwig, ewest |
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Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 21,505 Likes: 269
Moderator Hall of Fame 2014 Lunker
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Moderator Hall of Fame 2014 Lunker
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 21,505 Likes: 269 |
Don't be discouraged. The journey is worth all the effort.
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Joined: Feb 2022
Posts: 33 Likes: 2
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OP
Joined: Feb 2022
Posts: 33 Likes: 2 |
Ok I’ll stick with the plan. Give it a couple years and see how we’re doing.
With that said, would adding some perch into the mix as an additional forage fish for the bass be helpful? Or would they just compete with the bass for food?
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Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 13,761 Likes: 301
Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Hall of Fame 2014 Lunker
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Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Hall of Fame 2014 Lunker
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 13,761 Likes: 301 |
The Yellow Perch would serve as both prey and predator.
If it was me, I'd add them too, but you may need some adult sizes to keep them alive.
Excerpt from Robert Crais' "The Monkey's Raincoat:" "She took another microscopic bite of her sandwich, then pushed it away. Maybe she absorbed nutrients from her surroundings."
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Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 28,565 Likes: 850
Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Lunker
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Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Lunker
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 28,565 Likes: 850 |
^^^ What Sunil said. You can grow some pretty large Perch if you feed. What size perch are you accustomed to catching and eating?
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Joined: Feb 2022
Posts: 33 Likes: 2
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OP
Joined: Feb 2022
Posts: 33 Likes: 2 |
Esshup, I’m used to eating perch over 10” or so. We catch smaller ones all the time, but i prefer to throw the smaller ones into my pond as snacks for my bass. Maybe I should try to catch some bigger ones and put them into the pond as breeding stock.
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Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 16,058 Likes: 278
Moderator Lunker
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Moderator Lunker
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 16,058 Likes: 278 |
Dan, my first pond(I still have it) was barren when I bought the land. I stocked it with fatheads, bluegills, channel cats and bass. Nobody told me that it wouldn’t work. Well, it did, for about 5 or 6 years. I had good bass and pretty dang good cats. But, the predator/prey relationship got out of balance. The minnows spawned and over spawned. I was ignorant about balance and wound up with an oxygen crash that wiped out dang near everything.
Then, the Texas summer sunshine dried it out. When rains came, I restocked with channel cats and small bluegills. That’s worked ok. Somehow, my bluegills became green sunfish which have very limited spawns. That’s. Or a bad thing.
The cats did pretty well but with limited or no effective spawns. Remember that, in a properly stocked pond, 99% of the eggs ever laid, hatched, etc get eaten before their first birthday. Mama Nature at work and she’s a mean bitch. However, this year I see no cats feeding after everything froze over. I’ll have to restock.
BTW, this pond is a mile from the house so it doesn’t get a lot ofTLC.
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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Joined: Feb 2022
Posts: 33 Likes: 2
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OP
Joined: Feb 2022
Posts: 33 Likes: 2 |
One further question:
Been reading the forums here like a madman while on vacation. I keep hearing people talk about harvesting their bluegills… which seems counter productive for someone in my situation.
At my stage of the game, when I’m trying to grow a healthy forage base in my pond, should I be removing bluegills of a certain size? Seems like I should be adding as many bluegills, shiners, perch, etc as possible to my pond… not removing any.
Am I missing something? Should I be harvesting bluegills at this stage of the game?
Thanks all.
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Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 28,565 Likes: 850
Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Lunker
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Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Lunker
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 28,565 Likes: 850 |
Bluegills can overpopulate in a pond, so taking some out to eat once the population is established isn't a bad thing.
Down here, growing Yellow Perch to 14"+ isn't that hard if you feed them. 15"+ takes a bit more time. 16'+ is rare, but doable with good genetics.
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Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 16,058 Likes: 278
Moderator Lunker
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Moderator Lunker
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 16,058 Likes: 278 |
Dan, a bluegill is sexually mature at 3 to 4 inches. And they spawn multiple times per year. I don’t believe in removing any the first year but after that you won’t hurt anything by eating some.
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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Joined: Dec 2018
Posts: 898 Likes: 201
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Joined: Dec 2018
Posts: 898 Likes: 201 |
I figure if I don't enjoy eating a few BG, something else will. afterall I claim to be the main predator of my pond. and to me, BG eat a little better then LMB that have been eating BG. jmo
All the really good ideas I've ever had came to me while I was milking a cow.
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