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SOLVING THE
PROBLEM OF STUNTED BLUEGILL
Most ponds, quarries
and big lakes have a common problem - a large
population of small, underfed bluegill. Once these
stunted bluegill were considered to be nothing more
than a big nuisance by most fishermen. But they
were, and are, in fact an undeveloped resource. The
FARM POND HARVEST FISH FEEDING PROGRAM gives pond
owners a solution to the stunted bluegill problem,
and also provides a ration of nutritious food for
the other fish in the pond.
The
feeding program recommends placing the proper sized
floating and sinking pellets in the FARM POND
HARVEST FEEDER. This feeder has a floating ring and
wind baffle that restricts the floating pellets to
the area of the ring. Below the ring is a slanting
tray of the fine mesh netting that holds the sinking
pellets. The top baffle size is 24 inches in
diameter
There are several
reasons for using the feeder just described. First
of all, it prevents pellets from drifting into shore
or down to the bottom where they remain uneaten. As
these wasted pellets decompose they contribute to
oxygen depletion in the pond's water. By observing
the amount of food the fish eat, the pond owner can
better determine how much food he needs to place in
the feeder. Much food can be conserved in this
way. When the fish go "off feed" for a period of
time, as they normally do, the owner can observe
this and stop putting feed into the feeder until the
fish show they have regained their appetite. The
fish soon become accustomed to a feeding schedule
and they will congregate at the feeder. A handful
of feed quickly brings in the more cautious fish.
At feeding time, the pond owner has a chance to
observe the number and condition of the fish. Feed
is available at your local feed store.
Numerous experiments
have proven that bluegill, bass hybrids, bullheads,
carp, various other sunfishes . . adapt to the free
hand-out as readily as commercially raised trout and
catfish have. The smaller fish usually feed from
the slanting tray while the larger fish go after the
floating pellets. The bass seem to learn to feed by
watching the larger bluegills feed at the surface on
the floating pellets.
FARM POND HARVEST's
program is not designed to be the only source of
food; it is a supplemental feeding intended to make
up for the missing portion of natural food needed in
most ponds, quarries and lakes to support a large
population of well-fed fish.
The natural fertility
of a pond or lake is primarily determined by the
type of soil it is in, the region's climate and the
surrounding watershed. Naturally occurring minerals
in the soil and those washed into the water from
surrounding land are assimilated into the tissues of
microorganisims in the pond. These tiny creatures
form the broad base of the food-chain pyramid. They
are eaten by larger life forms and the nutrients are
passed up the chain. The large predacious fish are
of the apex of this pyramid with insects,
crustaceans and smaller fish below. the number of
large fish a pond can support is proportional to the
amount of nutrients kept circulating through the
food chain, and the input of nutrients from the
outside.
The maximum number of
black bass, for example, that a surface acre of pond
water can support, expressed in pounds, can be
estimated by knowing the type of soil the pond is
located in. In Illinois, a pond situated in light
colored soils can "carry" 25 to 50 lbs. of bass per
acre; in more fertile black soils, 50 to 125 lbs.
per acre is the carrying capacity. If you want more
bass than that per acre, you must add more
nutrients.
To feed fish as you
would chickens or hogs seems like a "far out" idea
to many people. But fish can be "cultivated" just
like any other crop of plants or animals. The
Chinese have been doing it for thousands of years.
In only a few months,
bluegill will respond to the supplemental feeding
program by growing to one-half again of their
original size. The proper amount of protein,
however, must be present in the food pellets to
accomplish this growth rate. As a rule-of-thumb,
1.5 lbs. of food eaten by a fish will produce 1 lb.
of added weight. That is a very efficient
conversion ratio; with cattle the rate is about 8 to
1.
Fish usually stay
within two to three hundred feet of a feeder. In
ponds larger than one-half acre, more than one
feeder is needed. To insure a successful feeding
program, two feeders per acre are recommended, one
in each half-acre area.
INSTANT FISHING
Because the bluegill
is a "home-body", fishing near the feeder can be
excellent. Many people place the feeders within
casting range of their boat docks, particularly on
large lakes, so that they have "instant fishing"
nearby rather than going several miles by boat to
find good fishing.
Feeding fish does
not make them less likely to go after live bait or a
lure. Where fishing programs have been used, the
fishing has improved.
The Kansas Fish and
Game Commission did a study on supplemental feeding
during 1975, "76 and "77. The reported: "A creel
census was conducted from March through October to
evaluate the use of the lake by fishermen and
harvest of fish from the lake . . . Bluegill
numbers per acre harvested increased 211 percent
from 1975 through 1977, and weight harvested per
acre increased 310 percent. the size of the
bluegill harvested increased 143 percent in that
time . . . total pounds of all
species of fish harvested per
fisherman increased from .216 pounds to .403 pounds,
a 187 percent increase." Not only does a
supplemental feeding program give you bigger
fish, it also produces better
fishing.
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