• Help Support TNDeer:

Bream observation

RUGER

RUGER

Well-Known Member
TNDeer Supporter
2-Step Enabled
Joined
Nov 19, 1999
Messages
4,145,978
Location
TN
Not sure why it just dawned on me yesterday but after thinking about it I am kinda puzzled about it.
The neighborhood pond I fish on occasion I never keep any fish out of it.
The people that actually own it have several people that fish off their bank and trust me, they keep PLENTY of everything to keep it from getting over populated.
EVERY.SINGLE.FISH.

Anyway,
I have caught two bream that were 10" long out of this pond. Both were caught last year, after several years of trying to catch one.
It hit me yesterday that 9" is about the largest male bream I have ever caught out of there.
Big, thick dinner plate looking fish but the normal "good" one is 8 1/2".
I have caught countless 9 1/2 - 9 3/4" females.
I have caught literally thousands of bream out of this pond over the last 15 years and I was just wondering why the males just won't get any longer?
Any clue?
This is the one exception that I have caught there.

bream2.jpg
 
I don't have a real good explanation, but in general most fish species I fish for, the females always top out being bigger than their counterparts. Crappie slightly larger and bass significantly bigger, cant say I have ever thought about Bream.
 
Mmm...fried bream filets dipped in cocktail sauce = can't beat it!

I would assume a lot of biological stuff going on there: the species themselves, environment and population. No clue on anything specifically. Actually, never paid much attention to it.....if they are eating size, they are kept LOL - that's how much thought I've ever put into it.
 
ive posted research on this here before. the old thinking of keeping the larger specimens or all fish has been proven detrimental to the size structure of bluegill.

they arent like other fish, they grow only on average an inch per year unless they are being fed and they are extremely social. meaning the bulls keep the small fish from sexually maturing until about age 7. so what happens when you you keep a lot of the bull sized fish? the smaller fish put more energy into sexual maturation than growth before age seven. what happens then is you will have a pond full of stunted fish that hits a growth wall. this is why your best bluegill fisheries will also be your better largemouth fisheries. LMB will keep overpopulation in check.

to put it in perspective on good healthy reservoirs it takes 7-10 years to grow a 10" bluegill, it takes only 3 years to grow a 10" red ear or crappie, 2 years on barkley lake.

so what to do? keep some of the smaller and mid range fish and even some females for the table and release the larger bulls.
 
In my ponds, I'm thinking it's the bass that keep the bluegills & shell crackers in check (along with the little green bass that apparently the waterfowl bring in). The bass grow large, some bream grow large & we keep some of the mid-sized bass & bream we catch.
 
The post about large males keeping smaller males from sexually maturing is spot on. Never keep the biggest males because they make the younger males grow faster. As far as the female bluegills being larger is a sign that the other people fishing the pond are removing the big bulls to some extent. Male bluegill have a better chance to top out larger than the females in the right condition. I have a 2 acre pond geared toward large coppernose bluegill. Keys to doing so are high quality 45-48% protein feed, over crowded bass, and keep too much structure out of pond. Tons of small bluegill kill the chance of 2.5 pound bulls. My pond is starting the 3 year of growth and already has several 10" gills. I will post a pic of a 16 month old fish that is 9.5" pig caught last year. Stocked coppernose at 1.5-2" 16 months earlier. It's been a ton of work and money but should reach 2 pound mark by end of 4th year easily.
 

Attachments

  • 756C2ABC-D685-484C-932A-9D4A15C1B296.jpeg
    756C2ABC-D685-484C-932A-9D4A15C1B296.jpeg
    123 KB · Views: 78

Latest posts

Back
Top