First I would like to say thanks for all the info from the many threads I have read. I'm not sure who told me about Pondboss, but I have spent many hours looking thru the site.
After deciding I wanted to build a pond/lake, I needed a dirt guy. Well one of the guys I kept reading about happened to live just a couple hours away, Mike Otto. After calling and setting up a time to meet he came out to look at the property,and he thought the location, and more important the dirt type, would be great. We discussed the general design, location, and such. This was late April 2014 and Mike was a few months behind, so he thought October....maybe November at the latest. Well the rain hit and it rained till the next summer! But it FINALLY dried up, and Mike finally caught up, and September 2015 was the start date.
First thing was to clear the land, and it was an exciting day when the dozers showed up. It took several days just for the clearing.
After everything was cleared, and we walked out what i wanted, and Mike crunched his numbers, my dream lake and pocketbook were not on the same page. We sat down with Mike and figured out what size pond would fit into our budget. SO my wannabe lake is a pond, but I'm very please with the size it turned out. Then the dozer and scraper went to work.
To test the soil for suitability, get some that is moist, pack it into a ball and throw it against the side of Mikes pickup. If it falls apart, try from a different location and repeat the test. Keep going until it kinda sticks together. Tell him Dave advised it.
I thought I would get further along last night, but by the time I figured out how to attach pictures, it was past my bedtime. I will get back on it tonight, but lets just say it will be a FAST build:). Still trying to figure out how to make pictures post in thread instead of just a link. Can someone point me toward the directions to do that?
About 3 weeks, much work, and many gallons of diesel later, the pond was almost dug and really looking great. Mike had suggested building a point out into the pond. I am really glad he suggested it. Also they way he did the shelf it made for great fish structure.
Once most of the digging was done, I started working on fish structure. We had some old concrete patios around and old home place on the property that Mike broke into smaller pieces so I could handle with my smaller tractor. We got about a 2" rain which put about 1.5 feet in the bottom of the pond, but fortunately we were done with that part. WE still had some touch up work around the edges, with the point, and the upper end, and digging out the shelf a little lower.
Few more and one showing them down the dam. We got a couple of rains, a 2" then a 4" which starting bringing up the water level. It had been so dry, there wasn't much runoff till the end of the 4" rain.
Then the rain hit. 9" in two days. It is full !!!! Mike the terrace worked GREAT!!! Construction started September 11th, and November 27th I had a full pond. Timing of everything was perfect. Many thanks to Mike and his crew. They were great to work with, and really enjoyed the process.
Now I have to figure what fish to stock. I see many more hours in that section of the forum.
The water started out VERY muddy, but after putting in 500#s of alfalfa hay, and some coastal because of cover on the dam, the water really started to clean up. It has gone from 1"-2" of clarity to over a foot and closer to 18", lost the milky brown coloring. Hope by spring and stocking time it will be even clearer.
Grass starting good on dam. Will have to reseed in the spring with warm weather grass.
AS far as stocking fish... Thing about this, any suggestions?
35# FHM 2500 small CNB 150 medium CNB 100 Adult CNB 500 RES 150 LMB 30 HSB
yes, what are the goals? There are lots of threads and good debates about the proper time to add LMB. My bias is that since you worked so hard to create a beautiful pond, add structure, did everything in a premium fashion, that you also want premium stocking advice. That comes with understanding your main goal for the pond very well.
I think you will be happiest if you exercise GREAT CAUTION and GREAT Patience at this step. Most of the time the slow and steady, steady and slow with stocking is the best. That means FORAGE FIRST and predators last.
Many have advocated at least 2 years in a new pond before predators. The first year or two is dedicated to establishing forage base. In this scenario it is possible that small CNBG could be considered forage but it is better yet to think about forage diversity and give them plenty of time to establish.
When you try to add forage diversity later and you have big hungry mouths (adult BG and bass, HSB) the new forage lines can't survive after stocking.
Texas gives you the option of multiple forage species that we don't have access to up in the north.
If you had a year or more for FHM, GSH, shiners of other types (spottail, spotfin, etc) Dacers, etc etc. you really lay the foundation for your target fish to grow rapidly later.
Don't forget crayfish, (smaller stocker crayfish can be expensive snacks for larger stocked fish)
Don't forget scuds, freshwater shrimp, etc.
If you need help searching for certain types of forage for your area someone who is good with the archives 'm sure can help connect you with prior forum threads that discuss forage options.
I know it is hard to wait, especially with a gorgeous pond like yours, but think how exciting it will be to know that your pond will spend the next 18-24 months creating that ideal 'green water' microscopic life and expanding your micro-organisms and every other step of the forage base!
Canyon You are 100% right about the timeframe for adding preds. I'm not sure one can add LMB at the same time as forage.... Don't think you will ever catch up that way, least I haven't. Add them latter if at all possible
The goals are varying, but I would say this is a enjoy the view,swim, project, and fish pond. I really enjoy projects around the place, and now the pond is a new source for that. Only thing that slows the projects is $:). I'm not a monster LMB guy. I really enjoy #s of good fish over a few monster fish. If a few grow that big, great, but that isn't a goal of mine. Bigger BG are on my mind, so a dock and feeder are on the short list.
Brian That's a good goal to have and half the fun is how to get there. There are many ways to get to where you want, but try to be patient befor adding preds
Brian, I am in deep east Texas and my 2 acre pond is one year old. We only stocked cnbg and res with a few pounds of fhm.I am a big bass fisherman but we chose to wait until this summer to stock lmb and even then they will be just little fingerlings.Don't think you won't have fish to catch and have fun with while you wait. I am already catching cnbg over 8 inches long and weighing 1/2 pound!!! My cnbg have spawned at least 3 times this year and that is what you need to build up a strong supply of forage for your bass later. On ultralite tackle a 1/2 pound bluegill is a blast!! Good luck and be patient.
Brian In my pond the only threat to lmb is larger LMB or me. My little bass hang out near the bank. Even a large BG can't eat a few month old bass if the bass are fed well
There have been great threads here about people who had wall to wall shiners and FHM. Numbers in the 10s of thousands, you would be hard pressed to buy and stock that many. Then one season of active predators (whether that be RES, bass or even perch) and not a FHM to be seen.
With larger bass the go to forage in southern ponds seems to be young CNBG so getting several spawns in is really going to help the pocket book. Tilapia are very popular forage fish for the bass and again getting a head start on natural reproduction is going to save money rather than buying and trucking them in every year.
Some threads discuss gizzard shad, etc you can read those and see if they apply to you or not.
The other Texans will have much more real life southern pond experience. Be sure to read everything in the archives by the late George Glazener as well as he gave great insights into HSB in ponds your size.
Up north I gave the FHM and GSH a year all by themselves. The GSH seem to be well established now after our 3rd summer and we have some nice plumping adults 7" or more and hopefully lots of them will start pumping out the eggs. The 2nd summer I put in a small amount of RES and LES and a few crayfish. The 3rd summer I put in a few perch. They must have put a real hurt on the FHM as I don't see any anymore. I was sure the FHM had 2 summers to spawn but no matter the head start, they seem to be gone.
There is no way to add them back in now unless I had a separate smaller forage pond to raise them in and then stock them as 'snacks' for the fish.
I can't imagine how long it takes to get forage built up in a 2+acre pond but with your warmer water and longer seasons for spawning you should be able to see several spawns for FHM and CNBG. Tilapia as well may have more than one opportunity to add to their numbers.
To me although waiting is hard (I still don't have predators in my pond), it is very satisfying to know that for 2 years the fish were having a free for all in eating and mating without any fear for their lives and the only limit in their numbers was the carrying capacity of the food chain in their surroundings.
I also was amazed at how fast the freshwater shrimp (we used P.K. shrimp the cold water variety) can multiply. In a single season I went from about 100 shrimp to the bottom crawling with them when walking around the pond at night using a flashlight.
+1 to what everyone else has said. If I could have a do over, I would spend a year or two having fun with playing with forage habitat and trying to fill every niche in the food chain. That would include getting vegetation going, crawfish, scuds, robust minnow species, etc. When I could walk across the pond on the backs of forage, time to stock the main event!
I'm experimenting with the food chain, from the bottom up. Not that I really think I can do much about it in my pond, but it's something to do. I've ordered enough of 6 different organisms for 30 students each, whatever that means. Maybe 30 microscopic critters. The top of this chain is Moina, barely large enough to see without a microscope (I think). Another small order shipped today, 2 kinds of Daphnia and the scud, H. azteca. I received an order of another kind of scud today, lots and lots of scud in this order, many more than I had expected in what was described as a cup of scud. The key thing that's missing is the grass shrimp, P. kadiakensis.
+1 to what everyone else has said. If I could have a do over, I would spend a year or two having fun with playing with forage habitat and trying to fill every niche in the food chain. That would include getting vegetation going, crawfish, scuds, robust minnow species, etc. When I could walk across the pond on the backs of forage, time to stock the main event!
Bill the one downfall I can see with that approach is, what if a pair of undesirable fish accidentally or otherwise get into your BOW. Say for example a pair of GSF or a pair of BH. What if a Kingfisher (or neighbor kid) decides to stock your pond for you. Or a pair of BH babies in that batch of FHM. You know how this drill goes already.
I can just see that a person would need to be EXTREMELY careful of what went in originally, because if something unwanted gets started it might nearly take over the pond in reproduction before a person even knows he has a problem.
If the desired fish are stocked fairly quickly, any accidental unwanted fish would at least be competing with the desired fish to get established. With a pond full of forage and a pair of GSF with no competition.............. oh my!
As long as you do everything "perfectly" two years of forage building might be great. I personally am not good enough at anything to do perfect.
Patience has never been one of my stronger characteristics . But I'll try........... For a little while... Or as long as possible...
Really with the BG I'm not in a huge rush on the LMB or HSB, but wouldn't the bigger BG be a threat to the LMB fingerlings?
BrianL, congrats on your pond, it has a nice look to it, a place to enjoy life and family (pets included) In my case, my patience can run short when I set my goals. It's just the way I was made. Sometimes that's good, sometimes bad. I can tell you this, the guys here have given you some really good advice and one should give great thought to the recommendations that have been made to you here. I can speak to only my experience of being a new pond owner. My 3.5 acre pond was completed in early Nov. 2014. With having only 1/3rd of my pond having water, I started my forage stocking in late November using a good number of FHM's (90 lbs) along with some good numbers of cnbg and res and a few TFS. I wanted fish in the pond (lack of patience). I then waited till Late Feb. and added another 30 lbs of fhm's and some more res. By the first of April, there were fhm's everywhere by the thousands and spawning had been going on. And now my cnbg and res were spawning. I am loving it, Now I stock Tilapia, just a few, 24 (5") (5 lbs total) were added, reasoning was, to take the pressure off the cnbg and res at the time the lmb were to be added in June. And let me tell you this, Tilapia make a lot of babies !! And when added to a pond with no predators, they can really produce a lot of forage to the pond, and FA, that slimy green stuff that grows in the pond, you wont see that anymore. So, what am I saying? I am saying here in Texas it is possible to add forage and your predators can be added 6 to 7 months after your initial stocking. So, there are several ways to start up your fishery here in Texas, it just takes a goal and a game plan to get there.
Patience has never been one of my stronger characteristics . But I'll try........... For a little while... Or as long as possible...
Really with the BG I'm not in a huge rush on the LMB or HSB, but wouldn't the bigger BG be a threat to the LMB fingerlings?
BrianL, congrats on your pond, it has a nice look to it, a place to enjoy life and family (pets included) In my case, my patience can run short when I set my goals. It's just the way I was made. Sometimes that's good, sometimes bad. I can tell you this, the guys here have given you some really good advice and one should give great thought to the recommendations that have been made to you here. I can speak to only my experience of being a new pond owner. My 3.5 acre pond was completed in early Nov. 2014. With having only 1/3rd of my pond having water, I started my forage stocking in late November using a good number of FHM's (90 lbs) along with some good numbers of cnbg and res and a few TFS. I wanted fish in the pond (lack of patience). I then waited till Late Feb. and added another 30 lbs of fhm's and some more res. By the first of April, there were fhm's everywhere by the thousands and spawning had been going on. And now my cnbg and res were spawning. I am loving it, Now I stock Tilapia, just a few, 24 (5") (5 lbs total) were added, reasoning was, to take the pressure off the cnbg and res at the time the lmb were to be added in June. And let me tell you this, Tilapia make a lot of babies !! And when added to a pond with no predators, they can really produce a lot of forage to the pond, and FA, that slimy green stuff that grows in the pond, you wont see that anymore. So, what am I saying? I am saying here in Texas it is possible to add forage and your predators can be added 6 to 7 months after your initial stocking. So, there are several ways to start up your fishery here in Texas, it just takes a goal and a game plan to get there.
Tracy
I like the tilapia idea, plus would give me something to catch late fall. How big do tilapia get over 7-9 , months?
How big at stocking, what water temp during that time, how much food they had, etc., etc.
Up here, Tilapia stocked at 6"-8" in April will be plenty big enough to eat come October. They will roughly double in size here. I say roughly because they will be 12+" but not 16".
How big do tilapia get over 7 to 9 months..... Rainman your up!!
RC
Average growth in good conditions are from an egg to 1.5 pounds in 6-9 months. With lots of algae, many here have had .75 pound stockers top 3-4 pounds in a season....
Thanks Rex! That puts some fish big enough to be caught by fall. This winter they might still be in there, but I need to get a thermometer to verify water temp. I has been a very mild winter so far!
-------------------------------- I like the tilapia idea, plus would give me something to catch late fall. How big do tilapia get over 7-9 , months? ---------------------------------------------------------
I'm not sure anyone on this forum has figured out how to catch tilapia yet. It does sound good though to have someone share a reliable method to harvest tilapia for the dinner table in the fall!
Brian, the Tilapia stocking was interesting to say the least. here is some of the story. While discussing pond stocking with Todd @ Overtons Fishery, I asked about the Tp and this is where he made the recommendation to stock only 5 lbs and explained it as plenty since there were not predators in the pond. As it turned out, I think he hit the nail on the head. These 5 lbs of 6" Tp produced schools of fish, some of them grew to 12+ inches and like Rainman said, 1.5 lbs. Some colored with bright red tails. As the Tp reproduced and grew, they became feeder hogs and no matter how much food was thrown, they would take it all but I would see some cnbg in the mix when the TH feeders went off. When using minnow traps, there would always be a few Tp fingerlings in the traps, and I would see that in fact, reproduction was going on. As I watched the schools of Tp grow in numbers, and looking closely at the size of these fishes, I noticed that I did not see many in the 2 to 4" size. I would see them in the 4+ size and larger. I am sure that the lmb were growing and eating the 3 to 4" Tp. And I learned to cast a nymph fly into the schools when the feeder went off and was always guaranteed a fish when I did it. The other thing I learned was the Tp may be the best eating fish I have ever eaten and I have eaten a lot of fish in my life. One more thing before I end this, is next year, if the same thing goes on @ the feeders, I am going to throw a cast net and put more of the great eating fish in the freezer for eating.
Tracy mentioned that they did well with no preds, I out 10# of them in and they grew like crazy to 12" but I never saw the first baby TP cause I had preds before I stocjed them. Either the LMB ate the offspring or I had mostly males. When the water finally got to cool for them I netted only one floundering TP out of the 10# stocked....... By the way they will hit earthworms. Next spring I will try to put more # s in and see if that helps. I had 0 FA after puting tilapias in. Mine never came to the feeder and neither do the blue cats or channel
So what do you do with all the 12 inchers that die off? Do you just let them rot or what? Let the turtles have them.... Lets say you got 150 10 inch TP Bass cant eat them so do you go around and net them up as they die off or no?
Great question RC51 WE all assume that the never to be seen again tilapia that die in winter in northern ponds are 'eaten by turtles' If someone had a feeder and could net them with a cast net at will, has anyone tried tagging the largest of the adults and releasing them again?
Or tag some of the larger ones at time of stocking?
Would the tags hold up in the gut of a larger LMB so if a LMB was harvested the gut contents would tell us where that particular tilapia went ?
If land based predators are coming at night, going into the shallow water and dragging them out and eating them, wouldn't there be plastic tags on the shore line?
If they are sinking to the bottom and staying there then the tags would not decompose and in theory you could rake the shallows to rake the tags in or you could snorkel and see the colored tags?
I don't have enough turtles to consume my 100 or more tilapia, or at least it wouldn't seem possible.
It amazes me that the tilapia vanish without a trace. Only the 2 or 3 largest tilapia that were belly up in the shallows were eaten or partially eaten at the shore line as evidence by partial skeletons or bare skeletons.
I hope to snorkel in the spring to see how many fish bone skeletons I can see on the bottom. I was pretty certain I didn't have any predators so there should be at least 100 of them since the crayfish can't eat the bones!
Tracy, while I was reading your post, casting net kept running thru my mine. I saw a few youtube videos with people catching with bread. I would think the bread deal would work good when the feeder went off.
RC Not sure if you were asking me or Tracy. I've only seen one that was in bad shape and I netted him up and filleted him. Have not seen any dead ones at all floating and I go to the pond daily..... Not sure where they are
strange that so many tilapia can disappear with no trace...
Besides snorkeling one of my wish list items is to get a wifi game camera pointed at the shore line to see if in the fall when the tilapia are going belly up that there truly is a family of hungry coons or some other predator (bobcat?) that is wading in and finishing them off?
I would imagine that most fox, coon, opossum, etc, will take a dead fish and eat it elsewhere, away from the competition.
FWIW, in growout raceways, you'd better have solid soles on your boots, because other tilapia will eat dead fish, and kill weak ones, leaving only the largest of bones behind. Rarely have I seen rib bones or even vertebrae that are under 1/2"-3/4" in diameter.
I would imagine that most fox, coon, opossum, etc, will take a dead fish and eat it elsewhere, away from the competition.
FWIW, in growout raceways, you'd better have solid soles on your boots, because other tilapia will eat dead fish, and kill weak ones, leaving only the largest of bones behind. Rarely have I seen rib bones or even vertebrae that are under 1/2"-3/4" in diameter.
Seriously!! Tilapia are carvnivores? Cannibals? and eat bones up to 1/2" I've never seen a fish bone that was 1/2" in diameter?
Tilapia can get nutrition from almost anything...even dead leaves and sticks. They generally eat the foods available that are least competed for. Tilapia won't expend much energy chasing a fish when they can lazily browse on algae or muck...
Wow, great to know! How do they eat and digest fish bones? And will they serious attack their own young? Is this why in my pond the adults school up together in tight bunches and the 2-3" ones all school together in tight bunches?
We have lots of Bobcats around here and they are cool to see.... Got to see a momma and two of her kittens going they through the woods during bow season
To continue with my first years experience with Tilapia in a new pond, I will tell what I have seen. As I tried to explain in my earlier post is to say the Tp reproduced in what I would call large numbers of fish, especially when I started with 24, 6" stockers. Stocked April 1st 2015, within a short time period of say 30 days or so, I started seeing larger spawning beds. And then checking minnow traps I started seeing 1/2" fry. Before long I was seeing schools of 4" Tp and the stockers were now in the 10" or better in size. Fish numbers continued to grow until I would have estimated see numbers in the 500 count range and by Dec. I was seeing many schools with fish sizes of 12+ " but not seeing many in the 3 to 4" size when we had our surface water temps start dropping to 51 and the Tp were sickly looking, to the point I did not want to eat them, but I think that is when the lmb have a feast. And then the weather got warmer and I started seeing a lot of them in a condition I would eat. And at or around Jan 15th, 2016 the water temps began cooling again and I started seeing extremely stressed Tp along with some dead floaters. I have continued seeing this, and even today I saw a small 2" one, a stressed one, near the shoreline. Surface water temps are hanging around 51. I have seen Bald Eagles eating the slow movers and cormorants have feasted on them. And the dead ones that have floated to the shore, including maybe some 14" ones have been eaten by all types of animals, coons and etc. And Vultures are all along the shore eating their share. In fact, I figure most all of the things that are around a pond might feast on them. Turtles, crawfish, FHM's etc. The dead ones are disappearing one at a time.
So, do you think TP would be a benefit to, or at least not hurt, a new pond, with stocking the forage fish in March then LMB and HSB in early/mid summer? Maybe better to stock TP early summer so their fry will be available and better size for LMB?
So, do you think TP would be a benefit to, or at least not hurt, a new pond, with stocking the forage fish in March then LMB and HSB in early/mid summer? Maybe better to stock TP early summer so their fry will be available and better size for LMB?
BrianL, I'm going to have to agree with Pat W. Your forage base will not have enough time to evolve if you go ahead and put your predators in a few months after the forage fish. My pond was completed in the month of August 2014. I immediately stocked BG, RES, and FHM. I did not add any predators until the following May 30th (~10 months). It paid big dividends, as the forage base was allowed to propagate and thrive. Patience is a virtue when stocking a new BOW.
There was a bobcat picked up on a trail cam in Lake County, Indiana last month.
This guy shows up periodically at my place. Not sure what he's after, but I've noticed that we have a bumper crop of rabbits this year. It is an impressive specimen, though...during the last couple of weeks of deer season, I was set up on a new ladder stand that I'd just built. Right at dusk, a cat (not sure if it was this one), walks not 15' from me...then, just headed off into the woods...
BrianL, There is a saying here on the Forum, "It Depends". I think it is possible to get your brim forage in a pond in as late as early February here in Texas (Paris) and put lmb in the pond in the June. But like most things, All it Takes is Money. Dave said "Couch Potato Bass" are you familiar with this term? For discussion, if you can add large numbers of 4 to 6" CNBG and RES and 100rds of pounds of FHM's in Feb. And then add your Tp in early April, I think you might get where you want to be in a short time. But it will take some big dollars to get there. If you wait till mid summer for lmb stocking, then I would think the lmb might be in the 6 to 8" size and so if you are going to add the lmb, add them as fingerlings in June, so they will feed on the FHM's. giving time for the cnbg and res to have a spawn or two. Add the Tp in April, Oh !! I forgot to mention TFS, those need to be added also in Feb. (remember Couch Potato bass?) See, I think it can be done but not going to be cheap HSB would be added in the fall, they become stressed when moved in the summer. So, going back to what was said, "It DEPENDS"
I wouldn't get in a hurry. I am assuming from the pics that the suspended soils have gone to the bottom.
You need a good planktonic base(zoo and phyto) before stocking. And a lot of East Texas Ponds(pine tree country) lack the fertility you need to get that base. Step one, for me, would be to do a sechi disk test. If you can see over about 24 inches, the phyto isn't there yet. You may need to fertilize and maybe lime prior to fertilization.
Give it about a month and then send a water sample to TAMU for testing. That will tell you the natural fertility of the soils/water. Another indicator are local cattle and hay raisers. Do they have to lime and fertilize their grasses?
OTOH, fathead minnows can live in a nuclear waste dump. But their eggs and fry can't make it in sterile water. You want fatheads to do their job and reproduce.
Like Tracy said, stocking is expensive. However, it will turn out to be the cheapest part of the process.
Water is really clearing up, and turning a nice green tint. I need to get/make one of those disc to see how far I can see, but in guessing close to 18". I'm thinking the alfalfa I put in, and the fertilizer from the spreader when planting grass around the dam and terrace got the plankton a jump start. I also need to put a water test on the to do list asap.
I'm not in the pine country, more bottom land black/gray/red clay post oak Savannah area. Not sure what that means chemically, but I do know it is much different than the piney woods area about 60 miles south of us.
BrianL I admire your restraint by doing this stocking thing on the slow train program! Way to go!
You are going to love this phase now. You know that you have a huge playground for the fish and all they need to do is swim without fear, eat, make eggs, spawn, repeat. You know that you put in a great starting forage base and you are going to train the fish while there is no predators lurking to ambush them at the feeder.
Your pond water looks good, 20" on sechhi is good.
For many of us, these are the 'good old days' of our pond journey, kind of like when your kids were young and innocent and didn't know what the big bad world was about yet.
I may be having an issue with my stocked CNBG. I am starting to loose some to a fungus(I think). I have noticed the larger ones have the fungus mainly along back and dorsal fins, and the < 2" their tail will get covered. I have found probably 30-40 since the orginal stocking a couple weeks ago. Any ideas?
its my understanding handling stress on newly stocked fish can cause some morts due to fungus and other issues as a result of the stress and fin/scale damage incurred during the process.
typically its not a large percent of the fish stocked unless they are really over stressed.
Right now I'm thinking about 10% of the large CNBG have died from this. After a search of PB this morning, I found this Saprolegnia fungus is a fairly common thing. Although I hate seeing dead fish, I'm glad it's not likely something in my pond doing it, which was my first fear. I just hope water warms up, and this stops soon.
#s of fish dying seem to be getting less. Only found 3 Tuesday and 2 yesterday. None this morning. Hope with the warmer air temps in the 70s, maybe it will stop.
Ok, with the amount Of rain that we are getting I need to be able to divert the water coming off the terrace, and not let it get to the pond. I have thought about a gate and culvert, flashboard and culvert, and just a large gate without culvert. Anyone done something like this, any pictures? Thanks
All the FA is gone for some reason. Not sure if it is the crayfish, minnows, temp, or winds but it is gone.
I built a couple of minnow PVC spawning things last night. not sure how many of these that I need, but I have used up all the used 3" PVC that I had laying around. There is 20 foot of pipe per. I built them so they would be easy to remove or relocate when water level changes. Hope they work.
Also I have added a couple of brush piles with larger cedar trees. I pushed these down on my place, and they are around 30' long. Since pond filled before I could place them out with tractor I had to figure out another way. There was a learning curve, but finally got it to work. I tied the wife's cheap kayak to it just in case it didn't float:)! But it did, and the kayak kept it up till I could float it to where I wanted to put it. This job needs to be done with little to no wind! I used my kayak to float it to where i wanted to sink it, then just cut it loose..... Well I spent one day fighting the wind never getting it done, but with no wind it was pretty easy.
Wow, great work! I'd be curious to know if the FHM like the PVC pipe for spawning. It seems like they would love it and it would work great, although many of the posts on the forum suggest they need flat surfaces.
You have the ability to pull them out anytime and look for eggs on the inside of the pipes. That is going to help us all learn if flat or curved really matters as long as there are cavities they can go inside.
This is what gave me the idea. They will use it in an aquarium, but will have to see if they will in a pond. It will be easy enough to check. I sure hope they do!
I was wanting something that would be easy to move as water level falls. Right now, water is backed up in the terrace area, and seems to be were the FHM want to hang out. They have been spawning in the shallow water, guessing they are just using clay bottom. Not sure if there will be much survival like that.
I tried to take some pics but they didn't really turn out. The PVC seems to be working great. FHM are all over it, under it, between it, and inside it. Only thing I see that I should have done different is allow a little more space between the pipes. They really seem to prefer those gaps. There are at least 7 or 8 guarding that I can see.
I pulled out one of the pipes out yesterday and they are loaded with eggs inside and underneath! They work. Found some more old pipe in the barn this weekend so I'm going to make one or two more.
Got started on the dock this weekend. It will be two 12'x12' sections connected together, with a 4'X12' gangway on each end. I got one of the 12'x12' sections finished this weekend.
I missed a few pics on this first build. I'll do better on the second build
Looking good Brian. How many floats are you going with?
6 floats per 12x12, and one on each gangway.
Five-3'x4'x16" and one-4'x4'x16" where gangway attaches Each gangway float is 2'x4'X20", having different height on gangway float worries me some, but that is what they suggested. I'll know this weekend.
Thanks. It has really turned out to be pretty functional for us. With kids and several people on the deck it is nice to have two gangways. Plus even though I only have it loosely tied to the bank, it hasn't moved a bit just setting on the ground.
CNBG feeding time. 3/4# of food(9 seconds) gone almost before feeder stops spinning. I feed 5 time in morning and 4 in afternoon, and pretty much the same every spin.
Oh my gosh Brian, you won't believe what I just did. I opened the thread and saw the pictures of your BG and read the caption ...all cnbg stocked feb of this year. I did a double take and said WTH!!! Of course then I saw the post was from last year. Anyways, I was fixing to get on your feeding program if they gained that much in a month. Hahahaaa
I have made a few trips to Overton's and they have made a few trips to my place, so I am guessing with all those lmb and hsb you had a pickup full of boxes I bet you will be happy with those fishes. And with all your BG they should have plenty to eat.
Newest Christmas tree stand fish structure design. These are 3.5-4' from stand to stand. pretty easy to build. Probably 30-45 minutes per, not counting waiting on concrete to harden. Now to figure out where to put them. Built 3 this weekend
Looks like artificial Christmas tree bases? Awesome idea! I check second hand and goodwill all the time for artificial trees, but never thought to use the bases that way...
Yes, many stores have them on clearance and I usually get them for $0.99/each after Christmas. I tell them I REALLY like Christmas trees when I checkout . This time I didn't use them on top, and it worked out pretty well, but should have drilled the holes at the top a little larger. 3/4 wood bit fits the 1/2 irrigation pipe perfect, but a little tight when having the weave them together at the top. Next year I will get a little larger bit for the top holes.
I did a little fishing this weekend and fish are in great shape. Caught this bass that was 17.5 and 3.64#, biggest yet by over 2#s. Picture isn't the best to show fish, but I was having wife text me pic weight and length to record and wasn't really paying enough attention to the pics. I was getting measured, weighed, pic, and realeased as fast as possible.
All RW were 107-133% on LMB and 107% on the only HSB I caught. Caught 7 fish in about 30 minutes!
BrianL, speaking of 'christmas trees', a handy thing to have for drilling holes in plastic very quickly and of different sizes without changing bits is what I call a Christmas Tree Bit. You can get a 3 pack at harbor freight. The biggest size is very useful for this type of thing. If it isn't quite big enough you can rapidly go to the next 'tier' on the Christmas tree.
I have to say I really enjoy catching the hsb on the fly rods. Nice looking hsb Brian. I am guessing the stands are heavy enough to stay upright if pulling a heavy fish out of or around the fish attractors? They are good looking attractors for sure but wonder if they will stay upright when a fish get in them? I need some something standing in my deeper waters and have been considering the ones from the booths at the PBC.
I put concrete in the stand, as well as the bottom 1/3 of the PVC pipe. I also put a small noodle float in the top to help it stay upright....
BUt you bring up a good point. If I put 3 together using "T" fittings they would have a better footing and then use a cinder block in the middle to hold them in place...... That will be my Gen 2 design!
Wow! That is a lot of work. I would do the same just to be sure that I can have a pond that is carried by suitable environment. Keep us posted with your adventure.
I had Bob Lusk Outdoors come do our first electrofishing survey end of March. It was a blast even with 20 mph winds and 45 degrees. The three of were all hands working so no action pictures. I actually didn't take a single one, but my son took a couple. Thanks Justin Stain for all the info and boat skills. Not easy in those winds!
Everything looked good, we boated a lot of fish, and finally saw a RES for the first time since I stocked the pond. Looking forward to read the full report! Thanks again Justin and Bob!
This has been a not so exiting year, but one thing that did happen was brushy pond weed. The side effect of that was over 12 foot water clarity at lunch today. I can see most all my structure that I have put out since the construction. Some is covered in the pondweed.
I have been doing a lot of land clearing and brush pile burning and putting the burnt tree stumps in for structure around the edges. I'll try and post a few pictures of the stump structure.
Also added 4 grass carp last month to start to help with the brushy pond weed...
BrianL the place looks nice and the pic is cool. How about your report after the e survey? did you need to do any adjustments to the fish population? Didn't you originally stock the Tiger lmb , how are they doing? Catching any? And I also wound up with a bunch of bushy pondweed. I added 3 per Gcarp acre recently (5 per acre were recommended) and I hope the will hit the BPW and not so much of the APW.
Well the survey was fun, but it was during a cold front blowing through and made it pretty tough. Survey was scheduled for March 30th, so right after spawn. It was about 45 degrees with a 20-25 MPH wind. The day before was 75 sunny and no wind....... Justin did a great job with the boat, but it was still tough conditions. That being said I don't think we shocked up that many of the first stocked Tiger or the feed trained native, but did get a lot of the HSB, 6-13" LMB, CNBG, and RES. The RES was the biggest surprise since I haven't seen one since we released them.
RW on the smaller bass (16) 12-15" were lighter in RW, but again we didn't shock up that many. My catch records, and the e survey showed different RWs. Most my catch records are most in upper 90s to over 100 and survey fish were under 90 with a few 17"+ in the 120s. We only brought up (3) over 17" or over Not sure what that means, but I'm pretty sure that are a good many more in there. I think the fish just went deeper when the front came through.
Plan was to remove as many small bass as possible, and a total of 75 pounds of LMB for my BOW. We caught a lot of small LMB. A lot! We caught over 79 6-10" LMB and all were removed. There were 25#s removed during the e survey.
Just wondering how common CNBG have the large dark spots on their back. Anyone else have CNBG with the same coloring? It seems to just be the males, and the bigger the fish the bigger the spot. Not all of them have it. I guess it is a trait that is being passed along???
Just wondering how common CNBG have the large dark spots on their back. Anyone else have CNBG with the same coloring? It seems to just be the males, and the bigger the fish the bigger the spot. Not all of them have it. I guess it is a trait that is being passed along???
Likely that those fish had a bacterial infection at one time. I've seen it like that on fish that have made it through saddleback aeromonas infections.
I guess that might be possible, but I see these fish several times a week if not daily, and I think I would have noticed any fungal infection. Especially on this many. I caught one this week to do a closer inspection, and just dark scale color. No signs of fungus. I should have taken a close-up picture.
!!!! Mike the terrace worked GREAT!!! 
Construction started September 11th, and November 27th I had a full pond. Timing of everything was perfect. Many thanks to Mike and his crew. They were great to work with, and really enjoyed the process. 
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HSB would be added in the fall, they become stressed when moved in the summer. So, going back to what was said, "It DEPENDS"
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