Originally posted by Theo Gallus:
Okay, this is 0.15 acre. What are the approximate fish populations in Hoover right now? [I'm sure you know exactly how many Male BG, (Male) RES, and (Female) YP you put in, and have a pretty good idea of morts so far.] I (and probably others) am interested what population density results in such a huge invertebrate population.
If it were me, Bruce, I'd add more male BG or RES, utilize more of that invertebrate base, and keep them all a little hungrier (and hopefully biting year round). If they stayed on pellets all Summer, your total biomass will be (potentially a lot) higher, right? That would cut your chances of a 20 pound gill, however. Or would it? You probably have as good an idea as anyone whether a fish on all the natural food it can possibly eat grows bigger than one with a good, albeit smaller, natural food supply plus all the good pellets it can eat.
I assume that the pond will handle more fish in it without water quality problems.
You need to see if you can pick up one of those skycam setups from a sports stadium. Rig it to 4 posts set on the corners of the pond, and you could use it to move the underwater camera around with minimal disturbance to the fish.
I would like to see a picture of that watermelon!
80 BG - - 80 lbs
20 RES - - 20 lbs
150 YP - - 120 lbs
5 SMB - - 10 lbs
3 BG X RES - - 3 lbs
233 lbs of fish = about 1,400 lbs/acre
When fish are actively taking pellets they will consume 5 lbs/day
Currently consuming less than 1 lb/day
Adding an average of 20,000 gallons of fresh water each day to a pond with 250,000 gallons, so it's essentially "replaced" every two weeks or so. That means about eight full summertime replacements.
Secchi readings range from 20-50 inches, with an average of about 30.
I suspect that a cage culture would do great because of the circulation, but I don't want to clutter an already small pond up anymore than it already is.
I love the idea of adding more RES, but I'm really fearful of the wintertime mortality issues that I haven't resolved yet.
So I guess I should probably go with more feed trained male bluegill. I don't know how many more I could add, but when Lusk did a personal inspection of the pond he stated that he thought it could support 300 or even 400 pounds of total fish biomass.
I wish I could think of another non-reproducing, pellet consuming fish for the pond, but if I add the bluegill, then I can cull fish later on that aren't thriving as well.
Shorty! Listen up!
The redears that I located on camera were tucked in right under the island. I would have figured them for being on the bottom, but they looked like
maybe, just maybe they were in a position to be grazing the bottom of the island. I'm planning on bringing my snorkeling gear and checking to see if there are snails under the island. I'll bet there are!
