I actually wet a line for the first time in at least 6 weeks today and am encouraged by my findings but need some culling advice.
The bluegill spawns' growth from last year is acceptable, but not excellent (no bluegill were sampled over 2 inches). The green sunfish spawn from last year have grown at or above par (year class average is 4 inches and chunky). The one adult green sunfish sampled today was 8 inches long and in good body condition.
As far as biomass goes, how far away from carrying capacity should the pond be? It was Esshup I believe that mentioned the largest GSF would function as <9 inch bass, so can the predator carrying capacity be calculated the same as with bass?
Because I'm lacking sufficient numbers of top tier predators, who needs to get pulled? I'm thinking that more GSF need to be culled than bluegill, just because of the difference in forage production capabilities. With the tilapia coming into the mix soon too, I'm sure that'll make figuring out a balance all the more difficult/interesting.
