Harvest planner

Spread the harvest across the season and keep a log of what comes out. These are yearly totals for a pond that has reached its carrying capacity. A new pond takes 18 to 24 months to get there.

A balanced pond gives up a fixed share of its standing crop each year without tipping. The bass figures are the extension rule of thumb for each fertility class. Bluegill follow at four to five pounds per pound of bass because they hold most of the pond's weight. Fish counts assume a harvested bass of about one pound (12 to 13 inches) and a bluegill of about a third of a pound (7 inches).

The trophy bass regime thins the 10 to 14 inch bass hard and protects everything larger, so the survivors have food, and leaves the bluegill in the pond as bass food. The trophy bluegill regime releases every bass so a dense bass population keeps bluegill numbers low and the survivors grow. Under that regime you take bluegill under 7 inches freely and release any 8 inches or longer.

The ranges come from Mississippi State Extension publication p1428 and the Kansas and Missouri pond management guides. The bluegill harvest figures come from Bill Cody's Pond Boss forum thread An Essay On Bluegill Harvest and the Pond Boss bluegill harvest guidelines.