# Bluegill Overpopulation



## Day81

Couls some tell me how to fix a bluegill overpoulation problem in a small community pond?


----------



## deeznumbnutz

c-4
next question


----------



## neocats1

Add some of these...


----------



## Fishman

I'll give ya an honest reply when I get home from work... gotta get going


----------



## M.Magis

Introducing flatheads will cause more problems than it will solve. You need predators that will target the smaller bluegills, not every single fish in the pond. What few predators that are in there now, will likely be eaten by the flatheads over time. Without knowing whats in there now, it would be tough for anyone to make a recommendation. However, a good mess of channel cats likely couldnt hurt. Some time with a cast net would show faster results.


----------



## Day81

Theres only a few gass carp and maybe a few bullheads. The bullheads are actually very big for normal bullheads. There used to be a buntch of nice bass but im not sure what happened to them. Our problem all started when a local paylake started to come over with cast nets to get bluegills for flatheads.


----------



## M.Magis

> There used to be a buntch of nice bass but im not sure what happened to them.





> Our problem all started when a local paylake started to come over with cast nets to get bluegills for flatheads.


I'm guessing that's no coincidence. Removing bluegills wouldn't cause an overpopulation. Removing bass while no one is looking would. Re-stocking some bass and channel cats would be a big help, as would telling the pay lake to find another source for bait.


----------



## Day81

Do you know how many and what size to stock them with. the pond is about a acre or smaller.


----------



## Joey209

Day81 said:


> Do you know how many and what size to stock them with. the pond is about a acre or smaller.


Whatever size Channel Cat you can get.I've had 2 lbers eat Hand sized Gills.And I wouldn't put a bunch in there.I'd put 5-8 nice sized cats in there.You don't want them to decimate the gills


----------



## Day81

Like i said it is a community pond. do you think i could my community association to restock it?


----------



## M.Magis

I'm afraid 5-8 channel cats likely won't even put a dent in the bluegill population. I've put about double that in mine and it's made a minimal change. Someone at a hatchery would be able to instruct what would work best for you.


----------



## BennyLovesSaugeyes

i'd consider stocking some saugeyes in that pond, and restocking some largemouths. Saugeyes would handle the extra blue gill, and the also don't spawn, so you wouldn't have to worry about saugeye taking over the pond. Largemouths would also help take some of those blue gills as well.


----------



## Salmonid

I think the best way to get the numbers down is to promote fishing to the locals who live on the lake, trust me, once word gets out, the locals will harvest every 3" gill they can get there hands on. I ve seen it a thousand times. This is the quickest, cheapest and most efficient way to do it.... 

I have seen this cycle at dozens of apartment complexes that ll at one tme had either very nice or stunted fish in it. They keep stocking and the fish keep disapeering faster then they can keep up with it.

You can exponentially increase the speed of fish depletion by renting to large clans of illegal immigrants. 

Salmonid


----------



## BennyLovesSaugeyes

Salmonid said:


> You can exponentially increase the speed of fish depletion by renting to large clans of illegal immigrants.
> 
> Salmonid



HAHAHAHA. that's the funniest thing I've read on here all day. Saw a few immigrants fishing below griggs dam. They had two carps in a cooler on ice, one catfish, and a mess of 4 inch gills in a buckets. lol.
which is basically like myself on any given day of benny fishing. lol jk


----------



## Day81

Ive checked the prices for the channels and bass and I realized i dont have enough money for them. What should I do?If anyone has some channel cats or bass in the cincinnati area that they want to get rid of send me a pm.


----------



## Fishman

Day81 said:


> Like i said it is a community pond. do you think i could my community association to restock it?


Very likley if you explain to them you enjoy fishing the lake... or other reasons you might find "good fishing" to be a positive for your community there's a good likley hood they'll allocate some funds for it.

First of all, I'de start removing the small gills when you catch them. Secondly I'de attempt to establish a largemouth population. If that doesn't work, stock some hybrid stripers. Ya really need some largemouths in there.


----------



## M.Magis

Hatchery fish are fairly cheap, especially considering all the more you&#8217;ll need. $50 worth would be a good start. You&#8217;ll spend more than that on gas trucking &#8220;free&#8221; fish around.


----------



## peple of the perch

catch and stock your own cats and bass. Also keep those gills and make some fish patties. 50gills=1 patty


----------



## Fishman

Don't take wild caught fish to solve this problem. Never really bought into the transportation of wild fish until I very first saw it. A customer's husband brought several catfish from the river and stocked them in their pond. Months later every fish they caught was covered with these creatures.









Most catfisherman have seen them, I know I have, sliding effortlessly along the skin of the cats.

First she wanted to know: 1. What is was. 2. How to get rid of it.

1. It's argulus AKA "fish lice." 2. You cannot kill it without killing your fish. The most cost effective way to kill it is salt, but you have to raise the levels rediculously high and lower it quickly. It's completely unreal. You're stuck with the nasty little buggers. In ponds, a nice confined area, they thrive apparently. I'de never recomment the movement of wild fish, or private fish beause you never know what you're going to bring home or what your friends pond has had introduced.

Salmonid mentioned a really good point; have a feild day on the gills. Or a dirby and just set out some trash cans. Bottom line is bluegills gotta be thinned out and you could turn it in the right direction quicker that way.

Here's what they look like on a fish:


----------



## Day81

How big are those little bug and what do they do to the fish


----------



## alighthouse

catch a bunch of gills and have a fish fry


----------



## Fishman

Day81 said:


> How big are those little bug and what do they do to the fish


They're about the size of an eraser head and they are an external fish parasite. We took the jar, and gave them 2 shiners to munch on. Day later the shiners died. Few days later the argulus died. I'm possitive this was an oxygen issue.. the death of both species that is.

Regardless. They are creepy as hell and completely capable of infesting ponds. Check out some river catfish, and I say catfish specifically because this is where I've personally saw it mulitple times. Other fish can get them too, so just keep an eye out for it, you'll see it sooner than later I bet on wild fish.


----------



## fishdealer04

Fishman said:


> They're about the size of an eraser head and they are an external fish parasite. We took the jar, and gave them 2 shiners to munch on. Day later the shiners died. Few days later the argulus died. I'm possitive this was an oxygen issue.. the death of both species that is.
> 
> Regardless. They are creepy as hell and completely capable of infesting ponds. Check out some river catfish, and I say catfish specifically because this is where I've personally saw it mulitple times. Other fish can get them too, so just keep an eye out for it, you'll see it sooner than later I bet on wild fish.


I have never seen those things before, then again maybe I never noticed because how small they are. Creepy looking little things. 

Day- My friend has a pond and had a similar issue. They deal with Jones Fish Hatchery http://www.jonesfish.com/ and they sent a guy out, looked at the pond figured out what needed to be done, added some more largemouth and the problem got fixed. My friend also decided he did not want catfish anymore, so he took them all out, and well now he has a bluegill problem again.

I would give jones hatchery a call and see if they can't help you out a bit.


----------



## Fishman

Fishdealer... do you work for Jones??? Just curious got a "fish dealing" name and are from Cinci 

Good advise though, the guy's at Jones rock


----------



## fishdealer04

nope...lol I can see how you would get that. Just a name a picked back from ebay when I used to buy a lot of antique lures and what not.


----------



## Fishman

I'de start with about 75 5-7" HSB (hybrid striped bass) in a pond that large for a stunted bluegill issue. 75 adults would simply be to many for the pond to sustain, but you have to figure being it a community pond they will get thinned out due to fishing pressure or just natural death.


----------

