Bluegill Spawning Beds - Pond and Lake Management Tutorial

In this pond and lake management tutorial, we look to improve our fishing by installing a bluegill spawning bed in an Indiana farm pond. Stay tuned throughout to hear some of the benefits to not only your bluegill population, but your bass fishery as well. Grow big fish in your pond by starting with an excellent forage base.
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[@tomsampson8084]

I worked in a state fish hatchery and one of my jobs was managing many earthen ponds. All you need to do to raise Bluegills is put a couple of them in your pond. The difficult part is keeping their population in check.

[@raisinggoldfishonabudget7058]

#Tom Samson, "All you need to do to raise Bluegills is put a couple of them in your pond." Your just the person I need to talk to --------------------------------------------------------- I'm working on a pond for a friend & it's not a huge pond it's a 2 hole pond 1 being a filter type pond & the 2nd hole is the main fish area. -------------------------------------------------------- The 2 holes is like 8 ft wide X 4ish ft deep with a small 4ft x 1ft deep hole in the middle for fry or bedding ext. ------------------------------------------------------- We have a waterfall attached to the pond feeding into the filter pond & it feeds into the main fish pond Not sure what the gal rate is for this size pond but it has a 2-5000 gal pump for the waterfall to circulate. I'm trying to find some info on just the right info on raising bluegill in a small pond & how many to start with.

[@anthonymarquez2035]

Wes, This is Anthony from Cynthiana. I just finished watching this video and you’re about to give me a proposal on what we talked about but my pond is perfect for this big Matt to put those P gravel on since my pond is starting to fill up right now. You could add that to my proposal thank you great video!😊

[@ericresh3268]

How did it turn out?

[@seekinfindin5669]

Great video

[@richardbell9310]

Absolutely terrific.

[@danielybarra8680]

i love these little guys.

[@a2sum4fun74]

What size gravel did you use for this im assuming just various sizes ? and how thick a layer do you suuggest to make

[@boat73jr]

I heard pea gravel works best but I would use a mixture

[@bobhowe2597]

How thick of a liner do you recommend?

[@kaneparker6594]

OOH YEAH CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL Y'ALL 👏 KEEP DOING YOUR THANG 👍

[@xSteve1983x]

Your videos have some good content, but if I could make a bit of a constructive criticism, your intro seems to be a quite long. It’s a very well-done, professional intro but it’s like a minute long, in a 6 minute video.

[@aquaticcontrol]

Thank you for the feedback Steve! We have actually noticed that ourselves and are hoping to shorten up the intro in the near future. Thanks for the comment and for watching our videos.

[@Edcognito]

@@aquaticcontrol I agree that the intro is overlong, but we really appreciate your information.

[@aquaticcontrol]

@@Edcognito Thank you for watching. We have shortened the intro in our videos since, and are constantly trying to get pond and lake info to our subscribers in a concise way! Thank you for the comment.

[@user-uq5xn4js2e]

We added carp to our pond a few years ago to get the weed out of our pond and we think they are messing up the bluegills they are not on there beds. Any suggestions?

[@kornelkowalczyk4568]

Catch them, carp feed of the bottom, bluegills make shelter near food, carp eats the food from bluegills's nests. There ain't no way that I know to fix that problem, but you could temporarily feed carp with some boiled grains far away from the bluegills.

[@anthonypearch7839]

I want to add gravel toy uncle's 4 acre pond he has walleye and they have no rocks to spawn

[@nicktoofar3514]

I'm fishing a farm pond with big female gills that still have eggs I can't find the male's where would they be is there a better part of the pond where all the males will be congregated and I'm fishing like a secondary spawning area

[@aquaticcontrol]

The males could be on beds and not eating much unless you put it right in front of their face. If the water is clear enough, then you might be able to see them spawning on a shallow tapering bank. If there are any shallow coves check there. Good luck!

[@nicktoofar3514]

@@aquaticcontrol small oval shaped pond 10 acre or less. Surround in cattails... I would they spawn up in the cattails?

[@MarkMeadows90]

Would be cool to see some longear sunfish, redbreast sunfish, and green sunfish bedding management sometime. Not sure if those species of sunfish are native to that part of Indiana.

[@aquaticcontrol]

We do see Longear Sunfish and Green Sunfish on a regular basis. Redbreast Sunfish are not native in this area though. Longear is more of a stream fish. We typically only see them in places that have streams running into them or where a stream floods the pond/lake occasionally. They spawn in similar substrates but more of a course sand just based on what we have seen fishing in the local streams. We have never been asked to manage for them, but we have always thought it would be cool to manage a pond with as many different sunfish species as possible. Thank you for watching and thank you for the comment! We will keep that sort of video in mind in the future.

[@tagg946]

i am pretty positive all of those species are native to indiana, but green sunfish seem to be more common in rivers, atleast with my experience living here. i like catching them over any sunfish, but i think alot of people avoid them in bass ponds because of how ridiculously aggressive they can be during the spawn or while they raid a bass nest. They just dont give up, you can catch the same fish over and over because of how angry and hungry they become in the spring.

[@MarkMeadows90]

@@tagg946 here in northern Alabama, they are more common in creeks and streams. Mostly in the deeper pools up near the bank. I’ve caught so many of them. Only caught a few in a pond near my parent’s house. They can get to be about the size of your hand.

[@dannycoots9503]

I didn't know that👍

[@dennisstolte1103]

Good video. Well done and informative. For future topics, how about one on desirable aquatic plant management?

[@aquaticcontrol]

Thank you for watching! We will add that to our growing list of videos to put together.

[@dDayye]

Will small limestone work just as good?

[@daletroutman9550]

Would a standard tarp work as a sufficient membrane between pond bottom & pea gravel? If not anything specifically recommended?

[@aquaticcontrol]

Thank you for the question, a tarp can work in a pinch. You may run into problems if you have a significant amount of muck underneath it though. We actually have begun selling a liner for the 2022 season. This new product is our preferred method. If you are interested, or would like more details, give us a call at 18007535253.

[@raisinggoldfishonabudget7058]

@@aquaticcontrol Thank You for the video it was great information for someone looking to make their own bluegill-brim bed.

[@unitedwestanddividedwefall2073]

@@aquaticcontrol You said "bluegill spawn in 1-3 ft of water" we have made a small pond 8 ft wide X 4 ft deep, being the deepest is a 4ft wide X 2 ft deep, will that do the trick for them ? They will be the only fish in the pond & plenty of hiding spots I've tried bass & catfish but they don't survive as good as bluegills do that's why I say they'll be the only fish in the pond.

[@ShaneJMcNair]

What is the type material you used for the mat? Grade? Thickness?

[@aquaticcontrol]

We used a landscaping felt-like material. There are a lot of different liners out there, but for something like this in a small area, the thickness and grade won’t make too much of a difference. As long as the mat holds the gravel out of the muck it should work well. Once the Bluegill know where it is and begin to use it they will keep the beds cleaned off every year. Just don’t get something that is so thin it will rip while you are trying to work with it.

[@ShaneJMcNair]

@@aquaticcontrol thank you for the reply. Do you have an Instagram account I will tag you for credit on this? My MSU Pond Management Program account is @bass_n_bream

[@aquaticcontrol]

@@ShaneJMcNair we do not have an Instagram account at this time. Again, thank you for watching and supporting the channel!

[@ricktempleton3107]

What's the best type of gravel to use.

[@ShaneJMcNair]

@@ricktempleton3107 I plan on using pea gravel from a local gravel pit... much cheaper buying by the dump truck load. I found this geomat on Amazon Link: www.amazon.com/dp/B0792C8CZ9/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fabc_1-l.FbPWMGK40?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

[@misterbigstuff8503]

I am trying to do a similar pond, please whats the size of the pond ?

[@aquaticcontrol]

The size of the pond in this video is 1.2 acres. Thank you for watching!

[@bryanglance6330]

Why can't you run an aerator out to the gravel and cut it on so it'll make bubbles and make oxygen in the water and bring the fish up to where you want to be rocks docks a little aerator make bubbles in the water so you make oxygenthat's that what I would do if I had a place to do it I have some money

[@justinxiao9098]

How thick should I pile the layer of gravel?

[@devouring2772]

3 to 4 inches

[@WhoDaBoss-dc4or]

How thick does the pea gravel need to be ?

[@aquaticcontrol]

We shoot for 3-4” thick typically. I would want at least 2” at a very minimum. Thank you for watching and commenting.

[@dannycorsaro546]

Music sucks