Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations Size Bluegill to Stock

First I just want to say what a lifesaver this forum has been for me over the last year since I bought my pond. So thanks to everyone for that.

I've got a 4 acre farm pond that I've been culling a bunch of LMB out of for the last year. The ultimate goal is to make it a great LMB pond. The pond is about 65 years old from the research I've done and I was catching most fish in the 10-12" range. Had a handful at 2-3lbs and then another around 5.5lbs. I'm working to add structure to the lake now with the anticipation of having a delivery of minnows/gold shiners/bluegill in October.

I was surprised this spring/summer when I didn't notice as many bluegill beds as I had imagined around the pond. So the question is, should I go for 1000 of the 3.5-5" bluegill, or 2000/2500 of the 2-3" bluegill for the same cost? I'm thinking the more the better but wasn't sure if that would cause issues. Thanks for any feedback!

Welcome to Pond Boss!!

I would go with the larger size of bluegill simply because you have a lot of existing LMB that would consume much of the 2-3" bluegill. You'll still have some predation on the larger size class of bluegill, but not as much.

I agree. Take the money you'd be spending for a bunch of small BG and get as many and as large of BG as you can.

Can you fish with some small worm bits, or add some traps, to sample your BG population? That might help with your answer.

Some people on the forum have lots of BG, but also do not see them much on their spawning beds.

Do you have some good places in the pond for BG spawning? Does your water level vary much? Enhancing their spawning areas during a drought might also help your population.

Is there a particular spot on the pond you visit the most often? If so, you could try a few beds at different depths at that location. You should then be able to observe when your BG are actually spawning, and which depth they preferred - if you wanted to expand that habitat to other areas.

Finally, I agree with the good advice given above. There are almost certainly a lot of bass in your pond that would consider 2-3" BG to be tasty snacks. You want your added BG to be parents. Probably better to get larger BG.

P.S. Are you clearing any cedars or other trees this fall? A 65 y.o. pond should have zero of the original wood structures remaining. If you put some branches/small trees in the 3-6' deep water, your small BG will have much higher survival rates.

Thanks for the feedback. Yes, I've got a pile of cedars that I'm getting ready to drop into the lake before the fish delivery along with some other homemade structures as well. I've been reading on the different types of structure to add in the hopes of getting it all in there before next month.

The current water level is down about 2 feet from it's peak in the spring from the lack of rain.

Would the bluegill size still stay the same if I were to add a couple hundred pounds of fatheads and shiners at the same time?

Do you mean the BG size recommendation?


Yes, because each size of bass has a greatly preferred size of forage fish to eat. 10-12" bass would prefer to eat a 3" BG over a fathead minnow. Maybe 4-5x the calories eaten for roughly the same hunting effort.

I am sure starving bass will eat FHMs, but they would probably eat your small BG first.

Your FHMs and shiners will also be consumed as adults in your lake. However, you want to get THEM established and spawning so that their offspring can be forage for your newly spawned bass and BG.

You probably cannot get FHMs to establish a breeding population, they are just too slow. (Unless you have heavy weed areas?) The shiners should establish if you help them out a little with their needs.

I would also advise to add the bigger BG. The smaller BG will not grow much during the winter, and most likely the fish stocked will be on the smaller side of the size range anyway. So, there will be a good chance that a lot of the smaller BG will be consumed before they start growing in earnest next Spring.

Are you feeding the BG in the pond?

Yes, sorry the size recommendation is what I was referring to, so thanks for the clarification.

I am currently not feeding the bluegill but have been looking at adding an automatic feeder to pond.