Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations Overpopulated Bass, Few Bluegill and Giant Catfish

That's a very good GSF. IMHO, I lean toward calling that fish a pure GSF. It is in the neighborhood of 9", perhaps a bit longer and over 1/2 lb in weight. In northern OK where I grew up, a typical stock pond had LMB and GSF. The GSF would typically grow to a max length of 10". If bluegill happened to be in the pond, they might grow over 11" and weigh considerably more(including natural hybrids of the two). Many ponds I fished had no BG and in these ... the LMB would most typically range between 6" and 11" and a typical GSF would weigh as much as a typical LMB. At least what I was catching on inline spinners. Those ponds I had an invite to fish ... I would fish for food. I mean I would go fishing to catch a mess to eat and I would keep any GSF or bluegill over 6 to 7 inches and any bass over 8". I fished a lot and ate fish most every week from Spring to Fall. Fishing from probably 5 to 6 acres of total water over several years, I never made much of dent in them and the LMB continued to remain mostly less than 11". I did notice however an improvement in the LMB in that they did not appear as stunted (eg the giant head small body syndrome).

If your BOW sounds anything like these, then a good harvest will improve the LMB condition. Even so, to really get a handle on restricting LMB reproduction you need BG in good numbers. What I am trying say is that it may not be enough to harvest only LMB if the LMB are getting off good spawns. They may replace a fair portion of what you harvest with new recruits keeping the competition at a high level. This why the first advice you received was to start over.

I enjoyed those old ponds and eating the fish anyway. I suggest that you do both as well and see where it takes you. To achieve your goal, I think I would harvest to favor the BG. Removing as many CC,LMB, Crappie, and GSF as I could and releasing only BG.