In an attempt to balance an out of balance situation at the private lake we have been invited to help clean up we have formulated a range of sizes on the fish to be removed .
I of course have a slight idea on what where and how and have managed a pond or 2 or 3 over the years .
The best way to judge what needs to be done or not done in any private water is to "fish" it .
The fish sizes , numbers and general health conditions should for the most part should be obvious .
This applies to most species of fish in general in smaller impoundments . Any time you ketch large numbers of one particular size fish in this type of situation , it is likely in need of some adjustment .
The waters I am currently hitting have a super large number of fairly healthy looking 1.5 year old white crappie . The age classes above that seems to be at a decent number and the one below it seems to be about right for the general capacity of the size of the lake .
Crappie in the 9 to 11 inch range make up near 90% of what comes to the top when you set the hook .
Now mind you this , IT IS WORK to remove and relocate large numbers of fish , but in the end someone's gotta do it right ? :Rofl
So we toiled away at it for 2 hours in the blazing heat yesterday after work and iced down around 175 or so to be donated this morning to the masses back in the metroplex .
Was it fun you might ask , well sort of would be my answer , but HIGHLY repetitive and at some point in time no matter how ridiculous good the bite is , it becomes tiresome .
Pitch jig in any direction and generally just go ahead and set the hook just because there is going to be a fish on it way before it hits bottom .
Even if you miss a bite just let it settle some again and repeat that motion . We hooked a few large bluegill in the mix and a few larger crappie and one large bass and of course some smaller crappie too , the bass escaped me before we could get the net to it and the bluegill were strong as any I have ever managed to ketch . One in particular put on a super air show that is really strange to see from a bluegill , it jumped high several times !
I will likely rest my rod today as it and me are tired from all that action . No tipping of the jig is required there and Bright chart is for sure the best color in that lake .
One thing for certain ,we have already removed around 300 plus in this age class and so far it seems the numbers are never ending .
I think it might not be possible to balance the fish population at this lake until we hit a really high number of this particular age class . My casting and hook setting arm is sore this morning and my back is sore from carrying that heavy ice chest to the truck and at my age ,even though some would say that it isn't exercise to ketch fish , it's only because they ain't doing just right :Rofl
KABOOM is the word and this ain't no foolin round :highfive
