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Joined: Jun 2011
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Joined: Jun 2011
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I have a new 3/4-acre pond that I stocked in March and April with 15 pounds of fatheads and 5 pounds of golden shiners. I also put in 100 2- to 4-inch redear and 50 4- to 6-inch redear. The redear started nesting in early May on a long, shallow gravel bar that I built last winter. They are still nesting. The cove with the gravel bar is just bursting with minnows, which I assume are a combination of redear, fatheads and golden shiners.
The main part of the lake also has clouds of minnows, everywhere I look. Tiny fatheads school up right next to the bank, and bigger minnows gang up on chow farther out. If the sunlight is just right, I can see thousands and thousands of tiny fish that look as if they are suspended right in the water's surface film.
I thought the number of fish in the part of the lake I can reach from the bank was just amazing. Then, this past weekend, I dragged a canoe down to the water and paddled for the first time into the other, bigger cove, which I can't easily reach from the bank and so had ignored all spring.
Wow! Imagine a quarter-acre of flooded cedar trees standing in from 1 to 6 feet of water, with a channel down the middle of them. The entire cove was just alive with minnows, flashing in the sunlight. Iridescent streams of minnows, pouring through the flooded cedar branches. Unbelievable. It hasn't even been three months since I put in the first fatheads, and the pond is already swarming with them.
It is so cool watching all this happen. I can hardly wait for fall, when I can add a few SMB and YP to the mix.
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Joined: Apr 2012
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Joined: Apr 2012
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Hey Bill, Sounds like things are coming along nicely out in the "Show Me" state. Flooded cedars sounds like a good place to swim a spinner for some SMB's when you stock them. Dan
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Joined: Jan 2009
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Ambassador Field Correspondent Hall of Fame Lunker
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Ambassador Field Correspondent Hall of Fame Lunker
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It'll be amazing how fast all those FHM disappear! They certainly be great starter feed for your SMB and YP though.
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Joined: Apr 2006
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Ambassador Field Correspondent Hall of Fame Lunker
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I'm always amazed too at how fast so many hundreds of thousands of pinheads and fatheads and such get wiped out with just a few predators. I believe the whole 10 to 1 growth ratio of fatheads to flesh gained is only achieved in the most ideal optimum utopia and feel the actual conversion ratio of lbs of fish eaten to flesh growth is much much less out in the real world.
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Joined: Jan 2006
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Moderator Lunker
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Nate, I have wondered about that conversion rate but haven't lost a lot of sleep about it. I'm sure there are a lot of variables involved.
About 20 years ago, I stocked a small forage pond with 200 small bg and 3 pounds of fatheads. Although there was no spawning structure in it, the fatheads overspawned and fouled the water. I did not notice any corresponding growth on the BG.
It's not about the fish. It's about the pond. Take care of the pond and the fish will be fine. PB subscriber since before it was in color.
Without a sense of urgency, Nothing ever gets done.
Boy, if I say "sic em", you'd better look for something to bite. Sam Shelley Rancher and Farmer Muleshoe Texas 1892-1985 RIP
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Joined: Mar 2005
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Sounds like a good mix for your goals. How about a few pics of the fish?
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Joined: Sep 2002
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Lunker
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Lunker
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So, in 1930 (just guessing) an introductory biology textbook used a general example where roughly 90% of energy is lost as you move up each trophic level (e.g., phytoplankton to zooplankton to fathead minnow to largemouth bass) in a "pyramid of energy" and a "pyramid of biomass." how many of you remember that? That general example has probably been repeated in almost every introductory biology class since then. :-) Good teaching example for a general principle, but not so good at explaining individual situations. Couldn't resist! :-)
Subscribe to Pond Boss MagazineFrom Bob Lusk: Dr. Dave Willis passed away January 13, 2014. He continues to be a key part of our Pond Boss family...and always will be.
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Joined: Apr 2002
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I think there has been trophic level energy conversion research more recent than 1940, but I can't remember where I've seen it. Maybe ewest can help with this?
Last edited by Bill Cody; 06/13/12 07:29 PM.
aka Pond Doctor & Dr. Perca Read Pond Boss Magazine - America's Journal of Pond Management
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Joined: Mar 2005
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I know the more recent approach is that there is a web (3-D grid) not a straight line relationship. Most newer studies focus on single energetics models (ex. how much energy does it take to meet a YP's needs). I will do a little checking.At least with Dave's comment everyone here knows where the 10 lbs of forage to get 1 lb of predator growth comes from.
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Joined: Sep 2002
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Lunker
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Lunker
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Maybe Homer Swingle's great work at Auburn University where the ratio of "forage" biomass (lb/acre) to "carnivore" biomass ranged from 1.4 to 10.0 in balanced fish ponds? The upper end of the range being 1 pound of carnivore (such as LMB) being supported by 10 pounds of forage (such as BLG).
Subscribe to Pond Boss MagazineFrom Bob Lusk: Dr. Dave Willis passed away January 13, 2014. He continues to be a key part of our Pond Boss family...and always will be.
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