I guided a guy from Lebanon, Tennessee and his mom today. This was the best fish:
Attachment 162510
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I guided a guy from Lebanon, Tennessee and his mom today. This was the best fish:
Attachment 162510
CONGRATS ON A GREAT ONE !:HandsClapping
nice fish
nice gill
Nice gill
Thanks for the comments, guys! He was a little over 10" but wider than both of my hands put together - incredible girth.
WooHoo:ThumbsUp:ThumbsUp
Nice gill
I guided a couple guys from Pennsylvania on Sunday - here's one of the best they caught:
Attachment 162941
Nice !!!
Reelfoot?
No, it's from a private pond that tnpondmanager owns and operates for trophy bluegill.Quote:
Originally Posted by tcounty
Those are some nice gills
Thanks, all! These two fish actually came from two different ponds on the same property. There's a total of nine ponds on the property though four of them are small, roughly 1/4 acre each, and are anoxic such that I don't presently do anything with them. There are three ponds that are about an acre, one that's probably close to two acres, and a half-acre one that I manage. Two have unbelievable 'gill fishing, two more should next year. I also guide on a three-acre pond on a separate property just over the hill from this one, and a two-acre pond about ten miles from these.
Nice gills that first one is Awesome
Nice fish
Those are some good size breams.
Thanks for the comments, guys!
Deathb4disco, I just now noticed a mistake I made - I don't own the ponds, just have an agreement with the landowner that allows me to guide on them in return for the dough I have put into turning them around. I somehow didn't notice until now that part of your sentence. I wish I owned them, for sure.
When I started working with these ponds in 2009, the bluegill averaged 3" in one of the ponds the above fish came from, and 2" in the other. Both ponds were morbidly overpopulated with bluegill and had no predators, bass or otherwise, left.
My bad. I thought you owned them.Quote:
Originally Posted by tnpondmanager
What did you do to turn the ponds around? Did you add predator fish, seign out the over populated bluegill, etc.?
Those are some large bluegill you are raising for your guide business.
Warmouth, I added waves upon waves of predators, multiple species in one pond; I also stocked a few bluegill with better genetics in both ponds, to counteract many years of in-breeding (these ponds were originally created when TVA mined the area for phosphate in the 1930's and '40's, and TVA stocked them, so they have had fish for close to a hundred years). One of these ponds might be an acre and a half, and the other can't be more than an acre, and they each have two tiger muskie in them. And, one of these two ponds also had over 200 largemouth stocked in four different stockings over the first two years I managed it; and the other pond, in addition to 60 largemouth stocked in two different stockings, and the two tiger muskie, also was stocked with ten hybrid stripers, and five blue catfish that were between five and ten pounds each when they were stocked three years ago and are likely big enough now to be causing the disappearance of sundry coyotes, raccoons, housepets, etc.
I also feed the fish what is widely considered the very best fish food in the industry, and which many of the top hatcheries in the country feed their fish. It's 45% protein and has fishmeal as its primary ingredient. I get it from Utah.
Thanks for the kind words, all!
That is great info. Thanks for sharing.