You guys have been a great help! Today I transfered 4 more male bluegills over 8" to the pond - 5 gallon bucket, 4 gallons of water and salt added per the wonderful recommendations!
I'm patiently waiting for the ice to come off the pond before I stock some bass to clean house on the smaller, overpopulated bluegills and black crappie.
Here is the largest male that went into the pond today - 9 1/4"
The shorelines are starting to thaw, my secondary feeder creek has thawed, and it appeared as if the upper pond was dumping a bit more water than last week with the 60 degree temps today. Water quality was still excellent!
I'm going to draft up a stocking plan and a log tonight to help keep detailed records.
Bob thanks for the suggesting to trap the runt fish. My 3 sons and I can make a fun project of building a trap and maintaining it in the pond. I'm sure they'll love helping out!
I need to get ahold of the HOA president soon to see if they can fund a dock build this year. If I get a dock on the pond it will be much easier to hand feed the fish.
I need to add some signage to the pond so other folks don't start removing the larger stocked bluegills.
Does anyone know of a good source for RES in Eastern or Southeastern Iowa???
