Hey guys, sorry I just now checked the thread, thought I had my settings to be notified when people reply but evidently not

We will have very specific limits for each lake, and they'll be different from lake to lake depending on the goals for that lake. In the trophy bluegill lake, all bluegill over 7.5" will have to be released immediately, but 10 per day will be allowed kept from 6-7.5" so as to keep the smaller fish thinned out. Also, bass will be catch-and-release only in that lake so as to keep a high density population of bass, also for the purpose of keeping the bluegill well-thinned so that the ones that survive the bass gauntlet get huge.

Regarding the bass lake, there are no bass in there yet - we'll be stocking tiger largemouth from American Sportfish in Alabama. They're a cross between Florida-strain and the northern strain largemouth that are native to this area; they get much bigger than northern-strain, and hit lures better than Florida-strain do, which have been found in multiple studies (not to mention many frustrated pond owners' experiences) not to hit lures well. We won't be doing female-only simply because then we'd have to restock very regularly in order to keep different year classes in the pond. Seven acres is large enough to have quite a few trophy largemouth if the lake is managed properly, which it will be. In that lake, we'll be harvesting a good number of smaller bass, under 15", each year so as to free up more food resources for the fastest-growing bass so they can really grow at maximum rates.

The lakes are not being managed in any way presently, though the bluegill are already bigger in the big lake than they are in a lot of area lakes that have been managed for years (not by me)...The bluegill already average over 7", with no management whatsoever. I have a one-acre pond and a 60-acre lake I'm managing now, in which the bluegill averaged 4" or less when I began managing them; I've only been managing said BOWs for two years, and yet the bluegill average 8" now in both, and there are several fish over 10" already - I saw one feeding yesterday that would have gone 11" if he went an inch, and he was about an inch thick. With the bigger lake on this property where it is already with bluegill, within two years the bluegill will average close to a pound apiece, and a year or so after that two-pounders will start showing up, possibly sooner.

The bass lake has tremendous potential. Right now it's slap-full, as in morbidly overpopulated, with green sunfish, which just happen to be some of the best bass forage you could ever find. I managed a two-acre pond several years ago that was overrun with green sunfish when I started with it, and four years later bass from four to six pounds were common, and a nine-pounder was caught by my best friend - and my grandfather lost one at the boat that was a good deal bigger than that.

Don't hesitate to ask more questions if you have them.