Before I stocked the pond last friday I had GSF supplied by Mother Nature, I would always see them about 2' of the edge of the pond swimming around doing fish things. Friday I added 20 CC (6"-8"), 25 HBG (3"), 5 LMB (3") and 250 minnows, with only two hatcheries with a 2 hour drive these are the biggest fish I could get. After releasing them I threw out fish pellets but nothing came up to eat. That evening I again threw out pellets again no activity. I did however pull out 10 dead minnows. The 2nd morning I thew out pellets at an earlier time, no activity so that evening I went out there an hour later than the first day, threw out pellets, nothing! Each day I tried feeding at differnt times but no activity, strangely though I continued to dip out dead minnows for three days, a total of about 50! I don't even see the GSF any more around the edges of the pond!

On tuesday 4th day I don't see any dead minnows, no GSF and no activity when I throw out pellets. Could it be that the fish are too small to eat pellets, are they feasting on the pellets that have sank to the bottom, maybe there is enough natural food in the pond and they are feeding on that or is there something else that I should be concerned about? Just for my own peace of mind I decided to put in the trap to see if there is anything still alive. After about two hours I pulled in the trap only to find some minnows and a few HBG.

Any suggestions as to what is going on in my pond?

hd82

How are the temps there and what is your water temps like?

How deep is your pond again?

Have you tried some small pieces of worm?

I would think with the GSF you should catch them for sure.

How old is your pond again, the only reason I ask is I have the same problem with GSF and stocked my pond with the largest fish available as well.

My problem is that I was not aware the GSF were in there and I have some fairly nice sized ones that probably ate most of the fingerlings I stocked.

Anyway I am sure the experts will be here shortly to give some advice and thoughts but I am sure the fish are adjusting to their new home and I would just sit back a while and see what happens.

Again if you can try some pieces of earth worm on a mall hook and see what happens?

How are the temps there and what is your water temps like?

Air temp here has been HIGH 90's with index over 110

How deep is your pond again?

Deepest is around 9'

Have you tried some small pieces of worm?

No I have not

I would think with the GSF you should catch them for sure.

How old is your pond again, the only reason I ask is I have the same problem with GSF and stocked my pond with the largest fish available as well.

The pond was renovated in 2008, just now getting around to stocking.

My problem is that I was not aware the GSF were in there and I have some fairly nice sized ones that probably ate most of the fingerlings I stocked.

Anyway I am sure the experts will be here shortly to give some advice and thoughts but I am sure the fish are adjusting to their new home and I would just sit back a while and see what happens.

Again if you can try some pieces of earth worm on a mall hook and see what happens?

Sounds like my situation, the problem is I have caught many GSF that were big enough to eat my fish I stocked, so I am not sure if my money was wasted or not and may not know until next year, or when the GSF decide to let the other fish feed.

I would continue to feed just not too much so you do not add all the nutrients if they are not eating it, or wasting food for that matter.

I know when I first started hand feeding it took about a week it seems like before I noticed them eating, and my pond is full of GSF and take to worm instantly.

So try some night crawler and let us know, I prefer to put a small piece on a #2 or #4 hook and not weight or bobber. My fish hit it within 2 seconds.

Just some ideas.

If the GSF were at least 5-6" long, they would eat some of your stockers. They won't get them all, but you might guess on at least loosing 50% of them.

I understand your eagerness to see some activity...I worry about 20% morts from your FHM. Did you acclimate your fish slowly to your new pond, or just dump them in? The FHM mort rate suggests the latter - I've been there and done that. I am hopeful your other fish don't experience similar mort rates. It's critical to introduce your fish gradually to the new temp and chemistry of your pond - I have learned this lesson the hard way.

It takes some time for fish to get trained on pellets. Your FHM and CC should be the first - but you put in so few FHM they may not make much of an appearance prior to becoming forage. Next time consider stocking 4x more FHM...they will make more of an impression on the pond.

I understand your eagerness to see some activity...I worry about 20% morts from your FHM. Did you acclimate your fish slowly to your new pond, or just dump them in?

[color:#000099][color:#000099] I floated the bags in the pond for about 1/2 before openning the bag and letting in some of the pond waterfor about 15 minutes, I did this with each bag of fish.[/color][/color]

The FHM mort rate suggests the latter - I've been there and done that. I am hopeful your other fish don't experience similar mort rates. It's critical to introduce your fish gradually to the new temp and chemistry of your pond - I have learned this lesson the hard way.

It takes some time for fish to get trained on pellets. Your FHM and CC should be the first - but you put in so few FHM they may not make much of an appearance prior to becoming forage. Next time consider stocking 4x more FHM...they will make more of an impression on the pond.

[color:#000099] Since I only have a 1/8 acre pond these are the numbers suggested by some of the Pond Boss gurus.[/color]

When I first stocked this pond in 2007 I put in 50 CC, 8"-10" and the first day, first time feeding they were aggressively feeding to the point they were jumping out of the water. My brother would feed only spoonfuls at a time just to watch them fight over the feed.

What bothers me the most is I don't see the GSF anymore. They were always there, even after I added the areator a few weeks ago. I used to put the trap in just to try to get an idea of the numbers and size. Each time I pulled up the trap there were at least 15 GSF from 1" to 3" in length. What would cause them to just not be present any longer? Perhaps MRHELLO is right and the heat has driven them to the bottom where this is now oxygen and cooler water?

1000 FHM for a .125 acre pond isn't overkill IMO. I stocked 4K in my .25 HC pond and four weeks later there's MAYBE 10% remaining.

I'd keep feeding, very small amounts, in the same place each evening to see if you can stimulate some activity.

I can't remember. How many FHM per pound on an average?

250-350 depending on more male or female

So, that means that I've been putting somewhere between 4,000 and 9,000 FHM in my pond each year, with emphasis on stocking in the fall to carry them thru the winter. I think this winter I'll switch to all GSH since I didn't transfer any from the local BOW this summer.

Even stocking at those rates, I don't have any FHM survive past May/early June.

esshup, If your tilapia reproduced like they are supposed to, you might not need as many GSH as you think.

I think I might throw 5lbs of fatheads in this fall because I can't really tell how many tilapia offspring I have.

I haven't seen any small tilapia this year, and the GSH would be for extra food under the ice - the Tilapia would be long gone by then.

Since being in south Louisiana and no threat of ice overs the 250 minnows should be a good starting point? I'll try to get to the pond today to get water samples. I have a swimming pool water test kit and will get the numbers for ph, alkalinity and what ever else the kit provides. I'll also see if I can get a temp reading.

Since I have always put the trap in from shore, about 3'of water today I'll get on the raft and drop the trap in the deepest part to see what is down there. Hopefully this will tell me the fish are in the cooler water and ease my stress.

I told my brother to continue feeding twice a day from the same spot, I wish I had a auuuugaaaaa horn like the kid on Flipper to call the fish when it is feeding time, lol!

Could the aerator have caused any issues? It seems like I have read more posts of people having issues after they have added them.

Just curious.

Thanks

The water has become much muddier and to tell you the truth I think it may have something to do with not seeing GSF any longer.

Yesterday I took temps, we have had two consecutive nights of cool weather, in the 70's, the water temps top and bottom using a swimming pool thermo were 84 degrees. The ph has dropped to 6.9, I think this may be due to heavy rain Tuesday night raising water level in pond by a foot. Alkalinity to the best of my color blind eyes seems to be between 80 - 100ppm.

When I put the trap in the deepest section yesterday it had about 15 of the HBG I stocked but nothing else. Still no sightings of the GSF.

When I go back this weekend I try to locate worms and that a try.

GSF I believe are some of the last fish to die so I am sure they are there. Then again unless you want them in there you may for some reason got lucky that they have disappeared.

I think you are like me and overly concerned. I think you should just keep feeding a little each day and see if they finally take to it.

I am trying to convince myself that I need not worry to much until next spring and see how my fish population is, if then I have nothing but GSF showing up in the amounts they did this year, then I probably do not have and LMB, and my CC are not eaten many either.

Just keep us posted.

HD82,

Do you have any update for us yet?