[Chad]

Words of wisdom from Daryl.

I realize your comment was just a smart alec remark, believe me I can appreciate that. But it brought a smile to my face because bluegill spawning biology is fascinating. There are bluegills that will use alternative spawning strategies. Of course the fish we all want are the big bull males--the fish that grow fast, reach large sizes and when sexually mature they establish and defend a spawn bed (parental males). You are also aware that there are noticeable morphological and physical differences between those parental male bluegills that defend spawn beds and the female bluegills. Now here is where it gets weird . . . some male bluegills will pursue an alternative spawning strategy where they will mature at a younger age and much smaller size. Those male bluegills will mimic female bluegills in appearance. Let's keep things PG-rated, but those sneaky little males will mimic a female and then sneak onto a nest when a female enters the nest to spawn with the big parental male. The "sneaky" males actually spawn with the female at the same time she is spawning with the parental male. So, the "sneaky" males deposit their milt, their DNA, fertilize those eggs and then sneak off to let the parental male guard the eggs.

Now let me ramble a little more--let's say we fish a pond and cherry-pick all those big parental males off of their nests. If we harvest those fish, which fish are left? What genetics are left in that population? Might that not only result in smaller fish, but make it more likely that you will end up with a bunch of small, slow-growing, early maturing bluegills? In other words a population of stunted bluegills? Might it be a good idea to release those big bluegills?

Do you remember the old TV show "Laugh In"?--"Mmmmm, very interesting."

Daryl B.

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