Another question...most of you know I have a northern pond. If you put the "when the fish are available thought to the side," what makes more sense, add biomass to the pond and stock new fish in the fall when you know they aren't going to grow much over the winter under the ice or wait till spring to stock?
on the species of fish, and the size that you are stocking.
i.e. if you are stocking 1"-3" YP in the fall, those are the left over runts or perch that didn't grow very fast at all.
Also, if you don't have a lot of cover in the pond, and rely on underwater weeds to provide cover for the YOY fish, then when the weeds die back in the winter, a lot of them will be eaten.
It also depends on whether you are stocking a newly dug pond that does not have a fish population in it or one that does.
Good point. I was thinking more about extra biomass in the pond over the winter and not getting anything out of it. My thought was, let the fish farm worry about keeping them alive over the winter and you would be stocking the stronger survivors in the spring.
So, using your YP as an example, if your fish farm has 2 to 3 inch YP available for spring stocking, these are 1 year old fish (spawned previous spring). How big should a YP be in a year if it is not pellet trained? Is a 3 inch fish a runt? Would 3 to 5 inch YP be better to spring stock as these are probably the faster growing fish that are also 1 year old? Then there is the concern the fish farm sorted the YP and the smaller are mostly male and the larger are mostly female so do you stock two sizes?
Seems there is a lot more to stocking the game fish in your pond than just calling up the fish farm and stocking sizes that won't be snacks for the other fish.
Last edited by Bill D.; 06/10/1510:48 PM. Reason: Clarification
For YP...should you stock 5+ inch fish in the spring, before spawn, so you can observe if you have a good mix of male and female by checking for gravid females?
Well, I have been praying for some rain to fill the pond after the expansion. Might have screwed up. Flood warnings here now. Raining cats and frogs. My cup may runneth over!...Sure hope they are bullfrogs!
According to climate.com I've received another half inch at our place in NE Missouri. I'm glad your pond is getting full! Mine is up about a foot this month. Couple more to go. Looks like rain is in the forecast.. How about a pic of a full pond? I like to imagine what mine will look like. Ha
9 yr old pond, 1 ac, 15' deep. RES, YP, GS, FHM (no longer), HBG (going away), SMB, and HSB (only one seen in 5 yrs) Restocked HSB (2020) Have seen one of these. I think that's about all I should put in my little pond. Otter attack in 2023
Well, it filled to what I condsider just about the perfect level. 2.5 inches of rain brought it up about 2.5 feet. I will try to get down when it is not raining to take a pic or two. Still hard to see with all that dirt still piled around. Guys came Thursday to move it but got rained out after only moving a couple hundred yards.
I'm looking forward to seeing a pic of yours full as well!
Looks great! We have been getting lots of .5" to 1" rains. (Another one yesterday.) I'm filling one inch at a time though, because there is never any runoff with these rains. I've got close to 10 acres filling my one ac pond, but I need a gully washer to fill it. I was up there this morning. It looks like I still need close to three feet to actually fill it. I've been following your info on plantings too. I hope they do alright. My pond level is just too low to start planting. I'm jealous. Ha.. Your pond looks great. Jeff
9 yr old pond, 1 ac, 15' deep. RES, YP, GS, FHM (no longer), HBG (going away), SMB, and HSB (only one seen in 5 yrs) Restocked HSB (2020) Have seen one of these. I think that's about all I should put in my little pond. Otter attack in 2023
Thanks. A long way from looking great but I am just happy it is dug and it is full! A lot of dirt to move still and tons of landscape type stuff will probably be ongoing all summer.
Sorry Bill, it ain't gonna be goin on all summer. You'll be plantin, pruning. rakin, mowin, sprayin and cussin for as long as your ol bones allow it. Thing is that's the kind of labor that is fun and very rewarding.
Do nature a favor, spay/neuter your pets and any weird friends or relatives.
Had my son walk the pond with his phone app to measure acerage again. So the numbers are in. After the recent expansion, the pond is .32 acres at low pool and .43 acres at the current pretty much full pool. I am thinking knowing this basic info will come in handy to help with pond mangement many times in the future.
So my wife and I are knealing by the pond looking at the different kinds of tadpoles and guess who shows up. The same dang frog came swimming over and sat there about two feet from us just watching. I had read they could become pets. I am starting to be a believer!
The guy doing the pond expansion commented about a frog that kept coming around to watch the dig.
We have some big bullfrogs I can drive right up next to with 4 wheeler. I kind of watch I don't run over them feeding. Now if I walk towards them, they will jump in when I get a few feet away. But for some reason they will let the 4 wheeler drive right past them within a foot.
Another weird thing happened at the pond today. When I walked down I saw a Kingfisher sitting on the pole I use to monitor water depth. I am messing around in the pump house and the dang bird flew over to the peak of the house not 2 feet from my head. I looked up and said hey! get out of here. He squawked and flew off! I guess I don't look very threatening to wildlife!
My kingfisher squeaks at me all the time.. As soon as I show up he will fly around squawking until he eventually flies off. The other day two green herons were working the shore lines. I got out the binoculars. They eat a lot more than the kingfisher does. All FHM, but they get quite a few.. As soon as I saw their success rate, they decided to move on..
9 yr old pond, 1 ac, 15' deep. RES, YP, GS, FHM (no longer), HBG (going away), SMB, and HSB (only one seen in 5 yrs) Restocked HSB (2020) Have seen one of these. I think that's about all I should put in my little pond. Otter attack in 2023
Yea! I have a GH that thinks he owns the place. If I walk down he just flies to a tree and waits for me to leave. Have to admit, it's the GBH that drive me crazy. They can take a serious size fish. There are many that fly over everyday and a few that stop. Running out of ideas on how to run them off. I considered the fishing line fence idea but realized I would be spending all my time untangling deer from the line when they come to drink!
I was down feeding the fish tonight and saw something about 1.5 to 2 inches wide slowly rising to the surface. A slightly pointy nose and two beady eyes broke the surface and looked at me. It was a turtle. Neck and head is what was 1.5 to 2 wide. Underside of head, neck, legs and body are all yellow. Body looked to be 8 or so inches across. That's all I could see before he dropped out of sight. Anybody got any thoughts on what kind he might be?
Last edited by Bill D.; 06/23/1507:08 PM. Reason: Clarification