Last night while feeding I saw what I thought was a small school of recently hatched tilapia. I threw out the cast net and after a closer look they were gizzard shad about 1.5" long! I don't know exactly how they got there but I have some ideas. The sizes coincide nicely to when I was on vacation. Dumped minnow bucket? Catfishing with shad? I'm investigating any guests that may have visited while I was gone.

This will really change the management plan. This is a 1/2 acre pond pond with a good base of BG and FHs and some tilapia. There are 40 bass and 15 large CC. There are few weeds. I have read the posts from ML and Bill Cody and I would not have stocked these fish in my situation but it doesn't sound like I can get them out so the best I can do is try to control them. I have been debating on stocking HSB for a while now and it sounds like their open water feeding characteristics may help in contolling the shad. Will 10 be enough? or should I wait until next year and see what happens? I suspect this also means I can't/shouldn't stock tilapia next year? Do I need more LMB? How bad is this situation?



"The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge." Stephen W. Hawking