caught two days ago

[tnpondmanager]

This fish came from the same one-acre pond that produced the big one a week ago:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7281/8743331986_7df01d6815.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/87205953@N05/8743331986/) bluegill may 13 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/87205953@N05/8743331986/) by tnpondmanager (http://www.flickr.com/people/87205953@N05/), on Flickr

[agelesssone]

this is to tnpondmanager:

All of us here on FishingTN.com are glad that you have access to private ponds managed for big bluegills and shellcrackers but since WE, THE GENERAL PUBLIC have to fish public waters where EVERYONE has access to the fish, we (more specifically, I) have no interest in seeing your pictures of fish taken from privately owned and managed fisheries. It's kinda like fishing in BassPro's tank and bragging about it.

So, go catch some fish in Old Hickory or Percy Priest and post pictures of them. We'll be more impressed.

[j19bill]

this is to tnpondmanager:

All of us here on FishingTN.com are glad that you have access to private ponds managed for big bluegills and shellcrackers but since WE, THE GENERAL PUBLIC have to fish public waters where EVERYONE has access to the fish, we (more specifically, I) have no interest in seeing your pictures of fish taken from privately owned and managed fisheries. It's kinda like fishing in BassPro's tank and bragging about it.

So, go catch some fish in Old Hickory or Percy Priest and post pictures of them. We'll be more impressed.

Please don't speak for me. Thank you. :o

TNpondmanager I have a question. I have been given access to a pond that was stocked with hybrid brim several years ago. Do these things breed? I catch some huge ones but every once in a while I catch a really small one.

Sent from my Droid Bionic complete with typos and sarcasm.

[geckel]

Holy crap that gill is huge!

[agelesssone]

LOL, sorry TK. Feel free to take that posting down. I just have a problem with "private lake" postings that the general population doesn't have access to.

Do like alphahawk and MNfisher do....go fishing and post the PUBLIC lake where you caught them, whether it's 100....or ten

Kinda like fishing shows where Bill Dance is catching 10-12 lb bass in a privately owned lake and the general public isn't allowed.

Akin to raising a 250 scored Pope and Young deer in a private enclosure, then filming the shooting of it and posting it as "open range".

I just call BS....BS.

[j19bill]

LOL, sorry TK. Feel free to take that posting down. I just have a problem with "private lake" postings that the general population doesn't have access to.

Do like alphahawk and MNfisher do....go fishing and post the PUBLIC lake where you caught them, whether it's 100....or ten

Kinda like fishing shows where Bill Dance is catching 10-12 lb bass in a privately owned lake and the general public isn't allowed.

Akin to raising a 250 scored Pope and Young deer in a private enclosure, then filming the shooting of it and posting it as "open range".

I just call BS....BS.

I understand where you are coming from I really do. But it does show what a properly managed pond can produce.

I've asked permission to fish over 50+ farm ponds and have been turned down 7 times. I might have had to work to get access (hauling hay or helping with farm work). But if the pond has fish in it it is usually worth it. I'm sure there are more than a hand full of people that get to fish private ponds on here. I love seeing all the pictures of fish on here.

Sent from my Droid Bionic complete with typos and sarcasm.

[tkwalker]

LOL, sorry TK. Feel free to take that posting down. I just have a problem with "private lake" postings that the general population doesn't have access to.

Do like alphahawk and MNfisher do....go fishing and post the PUBLIC lake where you caught them, whether it's 100....or ten

Kinda like fishing shows where Bill Dance is catching 10-12 lb bass in a privately owned lake and the general public isn't allowed.

Akin to raising a 250 scored Pope and Young deer in a private enclosure, then filming the shooting of it and posting it as "open range".

I just call BS....BS.

I understand your pain ... So I just spent $200 paid to TNPONDMANAGER for A Gill stocking in my pond ... Let's see what happens .... <'TK>< :)

[JandSCattleCo]

LOL, sorry TK. Feel free to take that posting down. I just have a problem with "private lake" postings that the general population doesn't have access to.

Do like alphahawk and MNfisher do....go fishing and post the PUBLIC lake where you caught them, whether it's 100....or ten

Kinda like fishing shows where Bill Dance is catching 10-12 lb bass in a privately owned lake and the general public isn't allowed.

Akin to raising a 250 scored Pope and Young deer in a private enclosure, then filming the shooting of it and posting it as "open range".

I just call BS....BS.

Let the man fish where he wants to.

If you don't like it, don't open the post, but no need to bash him for what he has access to and you don't.

As far as your deer example, he said its in a pond that is managed. I mean look at his name.

Lay off of him.

[tnpondmanager]

Agelessone: I'm glad I have never met you. I don't think you would have wanted to say to me in person what you wrote in this thread.

I post photos on here because I'm trying to earn a living, jerk. If you think it's easy to grow bluegill this big, go try to do it yourself. I had a guy just this morning send me a PM on another site, stating that he has a degree in fisheries science and has advised people on their ponds; he was asking me how I get bluegill as big as I do, because he said he seldom sees them that big, private water or otherwise.

I started my small business four years ago because I was not having any luck finding a full-time job and I was doing everything I could to try to find a way to support myself. I recognized that there are thousands of private lakes all across the country that are intensively managed for trophy largemouth, where anglers can pay a guide fee for a day and have a much better chance at catching the bass of a lifetime than they ever would on over-pressured public waters, but that there was only one private water anywhere in the country where anglers could fish for one day and have a legitimate chance at landing a two-pound bluegill, and that place was charging (and still is) exorbitant rates that most people could not afford; I knew that I could grow bluegill as big as theirs, and reasoned that if I got my bluegill as big and charged half or a third of what they charge, I should be able to do some business and make some money.

I don't own any of the ponds I work with. I realize no sane person would put his own money into water he didn't own; I knew it was a gamble, but I thought if I worked hard enough, I could make it work.

I have busted my ass on these ponds for four years now, thousands of hours of work; I have spent money I didn't have to spend, every single dime I make, tens of thousands of dollars over four years, to try to get the fishing to a level that might generate enough business to eek out a living.

As good as the fishing is in my best ponds, without major setbacks, it would be significantly better. My very best pond a year ago produced half a dozen coppernose bluegill over a pound each in three hours of fishing in April - and those fish were only two years old. They had been stocked a year earlier at 6", and had grown four inches and roughly thirteen ounces in one year. They would have been close to two pounds each this year - but the pond had a fish kill in August, and the fish that died were all the big coppernose. Those fish came all the way from Texas, by the way; I convinced the owner of a hatchery there, one of the very few hatcheries in the country selectively breeding coppernose for the best genetics, to meet me in Arkansas so I could get some of his fish. And they were doing fantastically until a combination of the drought and watermeal brought on the kill.

My second-best pond a year ago: an alcoholic who is not thought well of by anyone in town, and who two years ago was kicked out of a twice-monthly gathering of guys I'm a part of, somehow wormed his way into friendship with the owner of this pond last summer, and though initially the owner promised me the man would only be fishing for turtles, a month later he's fishing for my big bluegill. He tells the owner he's releasing them but I can see from the change in the population in the lake that he's been keeping them.

People sneak into the ponds and take out big bluegill that cost major bucks to grow. I find floats, or perhaps a feeder unlatched. If I had money, I would put up a surveillance system.

My business is failing, miserably. I lost thousands last year simply by way of how much I spend on fish food; and as of right now, if business doesn't pick up soon, I'm going to have to give up on the dream, because I'm putting out a lot more than I'm taking in, and I don't have the resources to keep ignoring reality any longer.

I used to fish public water, when I was in high school. Then I realized one day that instead of just settling for what I could get, and fighting over fish that had already been harrassed by fifty other anglers that week before me, I could find a pond or two to work with, and have control over the quality of my fishing. Starting my junior year of college, I managed ponds for ten years and ended up with better fishing than one could ever dream of on public water; then I pursued a career as a writer for twenty-one years, had my life stolen from me via several plagiarisms, and when I couldn't find a salaried job and had the opportunity to work with a few ponds again, decided to start a pond management and guide business.

But by all means, belittle and dismiss what I've accomplished as nothing more than impertinent vanity. And be glad you didn't say it to me in person.

LOL, sorry TK. Feel free to take that posting down. I just have a problem with "private lake" postings that the general population doesn't have access to.

Do like alphahawk and MNfisher do....go fishing and post the PUBLIC lake where you caught them, whether it's 100....or ten

Kinda like fishing shows where Bill Dance is catching 10-12 lb bass in a privately owned lake and the general public isn't allowed.

Akin to raising a 250 scored Pope and Young deer in a private enclosure, then filming the shooting of it and posting it as "open range".

I just call BS....BS.

[tnpondmanager]

Hybrid bluegill definitely do breed, and their offspring have significantly less growth potential than the parents do - it's called outbreeding depression, and is why I never stock them. There's one pond I work with that has them via someone else, and they do sometimes get big, but pure-strain bluegill get bigger when properly managed.

By the way, thanks for your consideration of me, and also thanks to J&SCattleCo.

Please don't speak for me. Thank you. :o

TNpondmanager I have a question. I have been given access to a pond that was stocked with hybrid brim several years ago. Do these things breed? I catch some huge ones but every once in a while I catch a really small one.

Sent from my Droid Bionic complete with typos and sarcasm.

[agelesssone]

( And be glad you didn't say it to me in person.)

I'll introduce myself to you at the summer gathering.

Merv Johnson....601 Katy Hill Dr. Goodlettsville,Tennessee 37072

615-635-3783



I look forward to meeting you.

[j19bill]

Hybrid bluegill definitely do breed, and their offspring have significantly less growth potential than the parents do - it's called outbreeding depression, and is why I never stock them. There's one pond I work with that has them via someone else, and they do sometimes get big, but pure-strain bluegill get bigger when properly managed.

By the way, thanks for your consideration of me, and also thanks to J&SCattleCo.

No problem the internet is a wild place.

OK that makes sense then. From what I was told those were the only gills ever put in the pond. I kept wondering why I kept catching the small ones if the hybrids were stocked 4-5 years ago.

He has expressed interest in getting the pond stocked with more fish if your interested please PM me your info and I'll pass it along.

I don't know the exact history of the pond and when I was given permission he said he really didn't know if there were fish still in it. I can tell you it is spring fed and according to him has never gone dry or gone down more than 2 feet. There are a ton of small <1lb LM bass, the hybrid brim and the smaller ones (though there doesn't seem to be a lot of the small ones) and channel cats. Last weekend I caught 5 cats that scaled between 5-8lbs and one that threw the hook at the bank that would have been over 10 easily.

I don't know if it would be worth him stocking it. And it would be hard to start over. I think it would be hard to drain because of the spring feed and I would hate for him to lose those gorgeous cats.

Sent from my Droid Bionic complete with typos and sarcasm.

[tnpondmanager]

Trust me: it will be much better for you not to meet me.

( And be glad you didn't say it to me in person.)

I'll introduce myself to you at the summer gathering.

Merv Johnson....601 Katy Hill Dr. Goodlettsville,Tennessee 37072

615-635-3783



I look forward to meeting you.

[tnpondmanager]

Sure, I'll send you a PM. I can fix the pond for him.

No problem the internet is a wild place.

OK that makes sense then. From what I was told those were the only gills ever put in the pond. I kept wondering why I kept catching the small ones if the hybrids were stocked 4-5 years ago.

He has expressed interest in getting the pond stocked with more fish if your interested please PM me your info and I'll pass it along.

I don't know the exact history of the pond and when I was given permission he said he really didn't know if there were fish still in it. I can tell you it is spring fed and according to him has never gone dry or gone down more than 2 feet. There are a ton of small <1lb LM bass, the hybrid brim and the smaller ones (though there doesn't seem to be a lot of the small ones) and channel cats. Last weekend I caught 5 cats that scaled between 5-8lbs and one that threw the hook at the bank that would have been over 10 easily.

I don't know if it would be worth him stocking it. And it would be hard to start over. I think it would be hard to drain because of the spring feed and I would hate for him to lose those gorgeous cats.

Sent from my Droid Bionic complete with typos and sarcasm.

[tkwalker]

I am locking this one ... <'TK><