Here I would imagine that hybridization is an issue with native sunfish. In new jersey i think native black banded sunfish and mud sunfish have been displaced.
Dude, bluegill are stocked in PA often and have been for a long, long time. They are non-native to large areas where they are currently found. Bluegill absolutely would have an impact on native sunfish in places where they overlap with them.
I did not stock mine they came with the house because neighbor stocks it and their in the creek it empties into. I wanted to get rid of the pond as part of a spring fed wetlands restoration but neighbor on other side of the pond wouldn’t sign on.
Heck yeah, we're a breed apart!
Sure. Understandable. My pond if I build one would be purely fed by rainwater drainage that would be funneled in by the surrounding landscape. There would be no spring source dammed and no water inlet, only a water outlet for when it would overflow from too much rain. I have a perfect location for such a pond and I would like to make it at least an acre big but preferably like 2 acres.
If someone put you in a bucket and dumped you some place you ate all the flora and fauna then yes you would be. But if you drove here and dod that its just called migration.
My situation is different unfortunately it’s actually pretty harmful thermally because the pond goes RIGHT into a cold water ecosystem and has a spring source that would otherwise flow in cold. It technically is on the wild reproduction list for brown trout(doubtbthere are any on my property) but there are also native slimy sculpins that that pond is an issue for like many pa farm ponds. The owner is up there in years, maybe next owner will be onboard for a removal/ legacy sediment project. I just put down a 1000 trees though for now because I am not holding my breath. Its hard being a landowner navigating conservation sometimes when ya need neighborly cooperation.
Wondering if this was a legacy pond that was dug and filled so a farmer could reduce his fire insurance. I recall as a kid, being told this was where a lot of farm ponds came from. Could you not fill it in a little at a time (secretly)? Even beaver ponds will fill in eventually if left alone - as would a lot of top-discharge dam impoundments.
Here I thought the eggs were all flown in after getting stuck on waterfowl legs.
I heard this as well when I was a kid. Makes sense if there's no other water source.
Only problem is neighbor loves it and his property borders other shore. I’d actually want to dig down until I hit the gravels that sit ontop of the rock formation in the valley floor and and scrape the rest of the valley clean of dirt so only the historic wetland soils and cobbles present. Could be 5 feet-10 feet deep in my valley.
if you want really big bluegills, build it on a Dairy farm so when all that corn from the cow pies runs into the drainage the 'gills get a buffet. you'll get a worse algae bloom but hey 'gills like dinner plates.
I married a Jersey girl and our kid turned out okay, not golden or anything, and hopefully he can reproduce one day. I am not totally sure that would have happened had I fallen in love with a girl from Delco, however....
Bluegill in Pa have always been in much greater need of special regs in select waters than wild trout. In fact, the statewide BG regs that have historically existed in Pa (it turns out from research over the past 20 yrs) do not and did not recognize the important behavioral aspects of bluegill biology that naturally prevent stunting. The commonly stunted BG populations in Pa have resulted from overharvest of the larger males, high densties of aquatic plants, limited numbers of aquatic plants in some cases (thus, little insect forage), and in some cases competition for zooplankton by gizzard shad and alewife. Overharvest has been a big problem though and in fact was encouraged out of ignorance even when I was a fledgling biologist in order to ostensibly prevent the stunting panfish, the exact opposite of the message that should have been sent if the knowledge of BG biology today had been available 100 yrs ago. Even in lakes where there are nice size BG, 8” and longer today, they could in some cases be larger with more protection for the larger males. Even the Panfish Enhancement reg applied to some lakes in Pa is inadequate with respect to BG. It only worked well for crappie and had no impact on yellow perch.
Great info. I love trophy gills...... unfortunately public PA lakes nearly always disappoint. I've had some private ponds and lakes in other states provide monster gills, though.
Now you know why. Ask yourself, why is it that water supply reservoirs with no legal fishing, lakes with limited public access, and new or reclaimed lakes where angling is prevented for four to six years so frequently have very large BG.
Dear Mike,
