Originally Posted by Omaha
Originally Posted by tylerd1994
Originally Posted by Sunil
Rod, I must say that the 'hole-punching device' belongs to Todd3138, and some bluegill may have been killed or injured in usage of said device.

tylerd, I missed that you want some LMB in the mix. Both black crappie and YP need to eat a lot of other forage fish to survive and thrive, so just be aware of if you have enough natural forage for them to eat. If you add in LMB and HSB, they need the same forage base as the BC and YP.


No I do not want LMB... I didn't want them because I thought they'd be too large of a predator for the perch. Thanks for the help... pond is near completion so I need to start considering what structure to layout before it fills up!

Tylerd, what’s the contour of the pond right now?

Agree with you on the LMB. Consider male only BG and female only YP. And no BC. Easily controllable this way, so you can add HSB without issue. Also, consider bluntnose minnows and spotfin shiners as additional forage to the aforementioned fatheads. As soon as you can.

As far as structure, 3-6’ is the sweet spot. Along with what Sunil suggested, rocks and/or concrete is very good. Especially for those forage species.

A feeding program is awesome. The BG will absolutely gorge themselves. Then the HSB will too.


A good question is...can bluegill be a forage base for Crappie and Yellow Perch?? I've got to think a 1 year old BC or YP, or older, will feast on baby bluegill. Now, once a bluegill gets to 4"+, it may be fearless of the BC or YP,.

Structure will help baby bluegill to survive, so that's a variable to the question.

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."