Hey everyone! In the midst of a fun day...tonight's the night I have set aside to visit with you guys.
Drop your friends an email and let them know and you all be sure to come on at 7 pm CDT.
I'll stay as long as we need to answer all the questions.
You guys chime in on the threads, too.
I can type fairly fast, so hang in with me and I'll go as fast as I can.
For tonight, let's keep the topics on subject with pond and fish issues, first.
I have no idea where this will lead, but it will be fun.
Let's get as many people online as we can and see what happens.
Fish on!


Oh, and by the way, let's use Questions & Observations tonight. I won't look at the other topics tonight.

Okay, folks. Let's use this thread and go to town at 7. You guys post, I'll respond and let's see what happens. I think if we have too many threads, we'll be overwhelmed.
Also, we have a 100% chance for severe weather tonight. If by chance I disappear from cyberspace, we probably lost our wireless and/or power.
I'm excited.
Supper with the fam right quick and we'll go at it at 7.
Fish on!

Bob in a southern location (I-20 corridor) or other and assuming all 3 LMB types are available as needed - what % of each type (FLa , North, and F-1s) would you use in a first stocking and later stockings for a balanced pond (not seeking trophy LMB)?

Bob:

Two water temperature questions.

At what temp. is it effective to start enzyme / bacteria treatment?

What temp. for spot treating the Duck Weed I am determined to get a handle on this year. I'llwill probably still be using Diquat.

By temperature stands at 59.

Bing

Bulldozer rates: What is a reasonable hourly rate for an experienced operator who has pond building experience in the Cross Plains area of Texas? With the gas prices going up, should we expect to pay more now? If so, what percentage justifies the increase in fuel costs?

Let's roll!
Eric, I recommend people stock 1/2 Florida's and 1/2 natives and let nature do what nature does. I learned that the "hard" way by seeing what happens when extraordinary cold spells hit Florida bass ponds. FLMB die. When you stock each, you inevitably get big fish, aggressive fish and F1 crosses. Then, about the fourth or fifth year, I might add some pure strain Florida fingerlings at the same time the resident fish have spawned. Even if we don't get but 10% survival, we get enough fish to change the "bulls" in the herd. And, you can do the same thing with native bass.
Remember, F1's cannot reproduce as they are. F1's can't make F1's.

Bing,
Enzymes and microbes (generally speaking) become most effective once the water temperature climbs into the high 50's.

For duckweed, follow the label. Duckweed usually doesn't begin to grow until water is the upper 60's to lower 70's. Treat then.

Eastland,
Dozer rates are based on dozer size and the debt service of the operator.
Yes, dozer rates have risen because diesel fuel is exploding in cost.
In terms of actual fees, I am hearing $85 to $125 for dozers in central Texas right now, depending if it's a small dozer or large one.

Okay, I know you guys are out there. Let's go. We have a big storm passing, raining cats and dogs and another cell on the way. Someone throw a pitch out here.

I’m in the process of clearing a site for a new pond and would like some input regarding future expansion. The first phase is about to begin, we start clearing the area in about 2 weeks. The site offers a gentle 5% slope, and will be mostly excavated. Phase I will be to create a pond roughly 1 surface acre in size. I plan to come back with Phase II and double the size in 2 years. I already have a 1/3 acre pond above the site to act as a silt trap. Should Phase II construction occur above or below the initial pond site.

Eastland, to save some future dollars, I would think about building the first dam with the plans to raise it later. Build it wider at the base and you can add to it later without the expense of building a new dam from the ground up. Instead of a 12 foot crown, maybe make it 18 feet. Then, the money you might have spent to build a new dam you can use to excavate and sculpt the perimeter of the new water.

Bob your thoughts on both GShiners and TShad plus the regular FH , BG and RES in a pond for a balanced population including LMB ?

I am getting conflicting info. from my Illinois fisheries people on whether tilapia are legal here. One said yes, the other said no. The one that said they are legal discouraged them anyway because she claims they are very ineffective on filamentous algae. What is your opinion?

Do you think it makes sense to make them illegal when water temperatures get into the mid to upper 30s where I live.

Bing, I have been surprised and amazed at how well tilapia control algae. It seems tilapia, stocked at 15-20 pounds per acre, as they begin to reproduce, are quite effective.
Another thing about them...people think there is a wholesale die-off with thousands of dead tilapia. Where bass are involved, I have yet to see massive numbers of dead tilapia. Maybe 5 or 6, but not lots. As they slow down, bass gorge themselves on the tilapia.

As far at the concept of "sense," I have never watched agencies affected by political persuasion defer to "sense." They usually follow the lines of influence...of the human kind.

Hi Bob,
We have 4 lakes totaling 24 acres in our POA that we are starting to manage. Our Balance of fish is pretty fair, although we are going to stock new genetics. My question is about feeding. At what rate per acre per day would you feed an established lake? We seem to be planning to feed Purina Game Fish Chow. Would this feed be your choice or is there something equal and maybe a little less expensive? Thanks for your help!
Dwayne

Feed training redear

I am going to be starting a recirculating system and would like to get some ideas on experiments that I could do.

I will have three 90 gallon tanks for the fish and a 400 gallon tank as a filter. Heaters and chillers will be available.

Here are some experiments that I have thought of so far:

1. Determining if the percentages of feed trained fish goes down once the fish are above a certain size. I would raise fish of a certain size and see if the percentages of feed trained fish change.

2. Determining a diet that maximizes growth.

3. Determining a temperature that maximizes growth.

Eric, I haven't been a big fan of shiners in a new pond, but once a fishery is established I can see using them to fill a vacant niche.

For threadfin shad, if someone lives in an area where these fragile creatures can live 3 or 4 winters out of 5, I think they are a "must." Threadfin fill a forage fish gap between bluegill spawns and force bass to move toward open water in the summer, pushing them (at least temporarily) away from the most active bluegill spawning sites.

Bob:

Hola from the world wide web!

I'm trying to decide when to release 20 feed trained Redears into my new pond. They range in size from about 6" to just over 9". It just filled this last Winter, and though the water has a nice green tinge and there is a small bit of FA on the bottom along the shoreline, there isn't much for RES to eat other than the 10 lbs of FHM I stocked 2 weeks ago. I will be feeding them Aquamax (which is what they are used to) once they go in.

My one reason for hurrying the process is to try and get a spawn out of them this year. Last year, I put their 6 biggest brothers and sisters into my other pond during the first week of May, when water temps were about 70 degrees. I saw 2 of them on spawning nests within a couple of weeks. One was definitely a male and remained on the nest until his fry swam up, while the other I only saw a couple of times and I have no idea what sex it was.

Right now water temps are about 63 degrees F. I could go ahead and put the feedtrained RES in the new pond now if that would increase the odds of their spawning successfully. OTOH if the odds aren't changed or if they are lousy since the fish have been indoors at a constant temperature all Winter, I think might as well wait until the water warms up some more and there are baby FHM to eat in addition to the Aquamax and whatever invertebrates show up.

What do you think of the odds of a successful spawn and the timing of putting the RES in the pond?

The man who told me they were illegal here got quite upset when I suggested the state might be behind in their thinking about Tilapia. He quoted a central Pennsylvania example where he claimed they escaped and found a warm water source, (a electric generating pond I suppose) where to took big $$$ to get rid of them. The chance of that happening where I am is next to zero.

Dwayne,
I would start feeding supplementally at first, to assess what you have that will be attracted to the fish food. That means 3 to 5 pounds per acre per day, max. Game Fish Chow is an excellent choice for this program. Watch the fish eat and adjust. If the fish eat all the feed in less than a minute, feed more. Or, set the feeders to feed twice daily.
Game Fish Chow is what I would use. It may cost a fraction more than other feeds, but if you look closely at the ingredients, cheap feeds have cheap ingredients and not nearly enough DIGESTIBLE protein.

Chris,
Go get 'em! You are paving new ground and possibly setting the groundwork to influence pond management. Look for some foodstuff that smells and tastes like a snail for a redear. Let us know how it goes.

Theo,

A common hatchery technique is to keep broodfish captive in a controlled, confined environment until the hatchery people are ready for them to spawn. I think you can hold them for another two or three weeks and ensure they eat the food and develop their eggs. Once you turn them loose, there is no guarantee they will actively seek you for food. Plus, if you back them up a couple of weeks, you will have more natural food for them, too. I think they will be more likely to spawn at the same time if you keep them up a little longer.

This will be my 2nd summer as a pond owner. Pond is 1/4 ac with 137 CC and 50-60 hybrid bream...also have FHM and one pretty good size gold fish. We've had it all...DW... FA.... primrose... so far we've overcome. Now I've started wondering about fish health. What are some of the problems I should watch for this year? And - how likely is it that you would run into 'health' problems?

If I were in charge of the power plant lake and it had tilapia that I didn't want, I would probably try to work it out to shut down the plant for two or three days for maintenance in the winter. (It's common practice for a power plant to shut down for maintenance.)
Of course, I'm not in charge of a power plant lake...heck I'm not even in charge of my house. (Debbie says to tell you and Connie "Hi!" and look forward to see you this summer.)
The biggest issue with agency people is that tilapia are exotic species. Their job is to protect our environment. They don't normally care what we, as individuals, want. Their mission is to protect public waters. Therein lies the rub. Often times they are uninformed about success stories in the private sector. Nor, do the usually care. So goes the relationship between entreprenuerial landowners and those whose salaries come from our taxes. Different missions, different motives.

Pond Girl, health issues are almost always a consequence of water quality going bad. Of course, there are a few exceptions, such as overcrowded and underfed fish. Too much aquatic plant life can lead to O2 issues, too.
Pay attention to your water, keep it clean and make sure the fish have adequate food and you won't have any health issues.

Bob what were the results of the F-1 (or some Fla/Nort LMB %) that you used up in NY ?

Hey Chris, I didn't read your requests for additional experiments. If you can figure out the best, most palatable diet for redears, you might have a marketable food. Experiment with their diets. Your number two is a good one.
Another "common sense" experiment is to see if redear will still eat the "normal" foods of snails. The main reason people use redear in pond management today is to help reduce the incidence of snails, reducing the incidence of grubs in their game fish. Plus, a big redear is fun on light tackle. If you can figure out the two questions posed in my post, you will help develop another reason to grow redear sunfish...to see how big they get.

Bob,
What size bass would you stock in an established pond to upgrade the genetics?Our bass haven't had any new genetics introduced probably since the lakes were built about 25 years ago. Would you stock Florida bass to accomplish this?
Dwayne

What is your opinion on bass getting lure shy to specific lures? I know it has been discussed a lot here from time to time but I don't remember you posting on it. I fish my three acre pond nearly every day when the weather is good, mostly with just three or four different types of lures. I don't think I have experienced hook shy, or specific lure shy problems.

Eric, so far some of the bass have reached almost 8 pounds. Some of them were stocked into the lakes and left all year, others were brought inside. In my mind, the jury is still out, but I have neither seen nor heard about any bass growing a fungus or having any cold water issues. But, we'll know more about it in a year.

So all will know, we took several thousand pounds of feed trained, mixed gene pool bass to upstate NY in summer 2004. They weighed an average of 3/4 pound and we poured the SilverCup feed to them. They grew exceptionally fast. We electrofished many of them from the main growout pond and brought them into a converted dairy barn and raised them all winter in 2005 and 2006. Some of the fish stayed in the hatchery pond (about 3 acres) and those fish survived. As the fish began to hit 5 pounds at 4 years of age (normal 4 year old fish in NY is about 8-10"), we started stocking some of them in bigger fishing waters. Last January, I spoke with hatchery manager Dave Beasley and he had just stocked about 200 bass ranging from 5 to 7 pounds into the 105 acre main lake.
We need another two or three years to really see the impact.

i have heard here before that an excessive BG population could negatively affect or even prevent the spawning success of lmb in small waters.

now, what if someone (certainly not me) was crazy enough to try and manage for GSF as top predator in the presence of numerous BG. would the same relationship apply as w/ lmb, or in your experience, are GSF aggressive enough to continue to stake out their own territory and successfully recruit?

original stocking numbers as of two years ago was ~30 adult GSF which spawned twice before stocking ~1500 BG one year ago. would you care to speculate on what i might see this year?

if you answer "no" and "no" my feelings wont be hurt

thanks for any input bob, thanks for doing this tonight, this is really cool, and glad i could squeeze in a question.

edited post..hope i'm not too late......its a 1 acre pond....

Dwayne, I used to think stocking adults in existing populations was best. While I still think that strategy has merits, try finding adult Florida bass with a provable pedigree. It ain't easy and when you do find them, the price is high.
So, I started stocking the least expensive fingerlings I can find at the same time the existing bass are spawning. Typically, fingerling bass cost from $.85 to $1.25 each while the bigger fish can range to $30 per pound. So, you can buy 1,000 Florida bass fingerlings from $850-$1,250. Let's say 90% get eaten. That leaves 100 Florida bass that make it to adulthood. If only 10 of those ever make it to breed with your existing stocks, you have hit a home run.

Would zebra mussels work if I can't find snails? I will be working on a zebra mussels project over the summer so I should be able to collect them.

Bing, I have no doubt bass become suspicious of negative reinforcment. They do get hook shy. But, I think we sometimes give them too much credit for discerning which lures to ignore and which ones to eat or battle.
My opinion is this...fish, especially bass, operate on instinct and conditioning. If they are instinctively hungry and have seen a particular lure a thousand times, they'll eat it because they are hungry. And, if they are defending a territory, they'll attack an intruder, so long as they interpret the invader as an intruder. Then, there are simply times when the fish are almost in a trancelike, sleep-like state where you can throw any lure at them and they don't even see it, even if you hit them in the snout.
In that case, throw a giant rock in the pond, spook the fish and they might become more active. I have heard the pros talk about quietly fishing a spot, leave and a boat roar in, shut down, cast and get an immediate strike.
If any of us ever figure out this combination, we need to join the tour.

Bob,

Sorry I am late to the party, barge work!

I am going to monitor and record the temperature, dissolved oxygen, and PH level in our pond over a long period of time. I am thinking weekly for several years.

What is the ideal PH level range for your typical freshwater pond fish and how do you manage the PH level?

D.I.E.D., I have examined the guts of more than one GS. They eat fish, if they can. They grow faster than bluegill the same age, they are more aggressive. I have watched them outcompete bluegill for space, nesting areas and food. In my opinion, GS stocked only with BG, advantage GS.
The great equalizer is any fish with a mouth larger than a GS. However, I think by the third or fourth year, the bluegill will gain an edge simply because they spawn so often. There are times of the year when bluegill can have babies and those youngsters grow so fast the GS won't cull enough. At that point, the advantage is almost equal.
Then, I think the bluegill will outlast and outlive the green sunfish and you will begin to see it because all your GS will be large and old-looking.
Now, with all those words of psuedo-wisdom, I have no idea what will actually happen.
You are one of the only fanaticaly GSer's I know of.

By the way, do you know any private fisheries managers in Northern California with an electrofishing boat as part of their service?

Chris, Dude, keep those zebra mussels pinned up. I would hate to learn you needed bail money because zebra mussels made it into the White River.
I don't know enough about zebra mussels to know if a redear can crush them or not. I've stuck my finger down the throat of more than one giant redear to feel those bony, muscular pads grind my finger. They are strong, but I don't know just how strong.

Dwight, remind me, how large is your pond?
"Perfect" pH is from 6.2 to 7.8. But, fish can live farther than "perfect" guidelines. There are several ways to manage pH. If pH drops, aglime buffers the acids to bring the pH up. Rarely do I see pH rise too high (10.0 is getting too high). In that case, depending on what mineral or biological process is causing the upward spike, there are several ways to adjust it. The simple way is to use mild acid (expensive). If pH rises because of metabolism of aquatic plants, reduce the biomass of aquatic plants.

I will help out Chris on his last question. Several species of fish in Lake Erie have been reported to eat Zebra mussels, FW drum, perch, pumpkinseeds come to mind. I think your RES will eat the smaller individuals of Zebra mussels-possibly 1/8"-5/32" in length. I have no ideas how growth rates will be for RES on a diet of Zebra mussels. That would be good data to report -publish.

One study stated that RES did eat ZM . EW

Bob,

I mainly manage my half-acre pond for large bluegill. I enjoy winter trout, and I think I managed to get an out-of-control channel catfish situation under control. I feed most everyday that the water is over about 40 degrees at the surface.

Late last summer I found that poachers stole most of my large mouth bass that were over 10-11 inches. I've got lots of 4-7 inch LMB right now, and I put in 22 channel cats last week that are between about 12-18 inches.

Should I just let the smaller bass grow, or should I try and find some larger ones for the pond?

Thanks,
Ken

The project will be done on Lake Dardanelle which is 1/2 mile from campus, so the zebra mussels are already present.

Go Cody!
If anyone else has thoughts, facts and viewpoints, chime in!
This ain't about what I know...it's about what you want to know.
Come on! Who's next?

Robert Are you caught up and waiting for another question?

Yep

Nope

Ken,
Thanks for calling in to the RFD show Monday.
I think your small bass may quickly prove to be overcrowded. While you were poached, you may not be decimated. If you have the poaching under control, I would consider buying 10 or 15 larger bass, especially if you can get feed-trained fish.

Thank you for this site and forum. There is a lot of good information here.

Bob, Tell me everything you know about Guadalupe bass. Have you or anyone else ever spawned them in a pond? You know of anyone that kept them in a pond? I think Record G.bass is 3 lbs 11oz. Supposedly Ralph Manns is an expert on G.bass since he studies them for his master thesis.

Chris,
Then the zebra mussel research definitely has merit. I didn't know Dardanelle has them.

Billard,
The state of Texas spawns them. It's weird in the private sector. Not many people knocking our doors down to grow a bass that hits the 3 pound mark. We have to figure out another reason to grow them.
I have electrofished them from central Texas waters but they always looked long and lanky to me. They are cool looking fish with the mottling and different habitat requirements, but I have never had a single request for them...not in 29 years of doin' this stuff.

An afterthought...my experience is that they are easily outcompeted by largemouth bass. That's a big reason the state tries to avoid mixing them with lmb. Ironically, in the Lone Star State, where Texicans brag about everything large, the Guadalupe bass is our state fish.

i was figuring i would need to cull major numbers of BG at some point (prob. by seine w/in the next couple years) short of introducing a larger mouthed predator (i.e. lmb or spotted bass) but i will be giving the GSF every chance until that point. they freely bred twice in the absence of any other predator except themselves, so there are GOOD numbers of them in the pond at this time, and all are FAT and HAPPY

i do not know any "private" fisheries managers w/ shock boats, but will look a bit for you and send you a pm if i find one. i'm sure the DFG has plenty of them, but dont know if they can be used for private purposes unless those purposes benefit the state in some way, one could call and ask.

thanks again bob.

Bob, I think it is all about a matter of promotion. Supposedly they are very good jumpers like SMB. They could be the SMB of the south since they obviously can tolerate the heat. Why not put them in your test pond instead of the SMB that were unsuccessful?

New pond, 5 surface ac, approx 35-40 ac/ft.
Stocked 60# FH, 800 4" - 6" YP, 1300 fingerling RES, and 150 papershell crays spring 2007. 2008 Spring stocking plan = 20# GS and 50 SMB fingerlings. Planning another 150 SMB this fall. Nothing planned past that.
I want low maint. What do you see?
Will there be any issues with survival of the SMB fingerlings based on predation from the YP?

D.I.E.D...stay the course with your project. Inquiring, fishy minds want to know, even if you get a ration of doo-doo from time to time.

I have a client near Healdsburg, in Sonoma County, who needs a couple of small lakes electrofished.

Coderiffic,
That's a good idea. I'll check on it and see if I can legally do that. We aren't allowed to pick bluebonnets since they are the state flower, but we eat all the pecans, the state nut. (Did I say "nut"?). I'll check on the legality of raising and selling the Texas "smallmouth."
I can make a call tomorrow and find out. By the way, I have never caught one. All the ones we shocked didn't jump at all. They froze.

Brettski,
I see a fun, interesting project where the YP might become the dominant predator. Be sure your SMB are large enough to escape your YP. By stocking large numbers of FHM, you bought yourself some "insurance" to increase the odds of fast SMB growth and an adequate (although probably temporary) food supply for your YP and GS. (I am assuming you mean GS is golden shiners?)
As far as low maintenance, if your SMB spawn successfully in a few years, you may not need to stock more later. If not, you may need to add some SMB from time to time. Watch you YP. In my humble opinion, they are the biggest card in the deck.

Bob: I'd like to thank you for taking time to do this. Another great service of Pond Boss and the forum. I greatly appreciate the many experts and moderators who answer most questions, but it is excellent to occasionally pose a question to the Real "Pond Boss".

Hi Bob, I have a new 1A pond that was full on 1/1/08. About 1.5 months ago I added 100 4.5" HBG and about 6 lbs of rosey reds. Sadly, I've been dragging my feet lately, and haven't added anymore fish, and as much as I might be tempted to try to "turbo-charge" this puppy into the 21st century, I really just want a nice little pond with emphasis on big BG - maybe a few same-sex LMB, but no cats or crappie. I don't fertilize or aerate, and have a creek that flows into one end of the pond with an equal amount of water leaving the other end of the pond. There are no fish in this creek since the spring originates about 300 yards away.
With the limited info that I have supplied, what would you suggest?
Thanks,
Randy

Bob,

Our pond is five acres. I have checked it a few times with those test strips and it is always 7. I imagine those strips are accurate to +-1 so somewhere between 6 and 8. My monitoring and recording is more about understanding the water rather than modifying it. Of course, if a problem develops I will be on it BIG!

Bob,

One more question before bedtime.

I've got a good friend who must have been too shy to check in tonight. He has about a 1/3 acre pond that gets overtaken each summer by water lilies. He has a good population of LMB and BG.

Last year and this year, he has tried pulling some by hand, but they cover much of the pond by summer. He is planning on trying a pond dye, and he is planning on using some aquatic herbicides.

Are there any other effective methods of ridding a pond of lilies. Some are growing in 6-8 feet of water.

Grass carp are a real hassle to purchase in this area, but "ebony koi" are readily available, and they are advertised as weed eaters. Could either be useful in my friend's pond.

Thanks again,
Ken

Aw, shucks...thanks Bing.
I was feeling a little guilty for not taking time to come on as much as I used to. It's amazing the demands on my time nowadays. While all this stuff is fun, and my job is my hobby, it does take up considerable amounts of time. It's not stressful at all, just time consuming.

Bob, I lurking and enjoying the topics. I have some family pets about 5 koi I want to move to Lazy W pond, which is about 1 acre. Will the bass control offspring of the koi

Randy,
Add 400-500 more HSF. They'll grow fast, your catch rates will be much better, and you will have enough fish to help control the minor amount of Fx spawns you get from the hybrid sunfish. If you want to speed things up a little bit, spring for a feeder and feed 2 or 3 pounds of Aquamax daily. You'll be amazed how fast those fish will grow. You'll be catching 8-10" fish next fall.

Dwight,
Once or twice a year, send a sample to Dr. Willis and let him do a laboratory check for you, just to confirm your test strips. Those strips can go bad.

While Donna-ski and I watched the Pond Boyz on RFD TV, I blurted out twice, saying your monologue just before you would deliver it. First was "the changes you are making with the environment will impact at least the next 4 generations" (something you told me on my very first thread some nearly 3 years ago) and secondly "90% of the fish are in 10% of the water".
-
Donna-ski looked at me with that "oh no, are you becoming a fish nerd?" look.
-
Thanks, Boss!

He can pull those lilies all day and they will come back. They had tubers under the mud, sometimes 18 inches deep. One lily plant may have several hundred pads.
My favorite method to manage them has been glyphosate, with a strong aquatic surfactant. Treat them in summer, as they bloom, on the hottest day of the month. Do it early to mid-summer, not in late August or later for the best effect.
Check in with Kelly Duffie for the latest and greatest methods. There may be something better nowadays. Treating aquatic plants is one of my least favorite things to do.

heybud,
If your bass are the least bit overcrowded, they will definitely control baby koi. Debbie and I have about 15 giant, gorgeous koi in my feed trained bass pond and we ain't seen a baby koi, yet. The bass and big bluegill see to it.


p.s....night, night Catmandoo

Go Lusk!

Brettski-pesci, Hope I didn't sound as canned as convicted. I bet you didn't raise your right hand and wiggle your four fingers when you said, "four generations." My wife and daughter gave me a hard time about that.

Bob, I have been told that the koi will keep the bottom stirred up. Do you see this in you pond? Thanks for you time. We all appreciate it.

Hey Sunil! Wish you were here.

Ski:

Bet I can guess what Lusk will say next better than you can:

What are your goals?
What are your goals?
What are your goals?
etc.

we have a pacific pond turtle (named conrad) who loves aquamax.

is aquamax harmful to turtles?......or just fattening?

p.s. mrs died wants to know.

Good one Bing...truth hurts.
Sunil ain't got RFD TV. Bing is his transcriber.

heybud, the pond we have the koi in is 25 feet deep.

Newsflash, tornado on the ground about 25 miles southwest of us, headed our general direction.

You DID put a basement under LL2...right?

D.I.E.D,
Conrad is fine.

Bing...truth feels good. I will continue to plaster the goal thing until Brettski gets it....

DIED our turtles love GFC. They eat right along with the BG and LMB.

No basement, but LL,2 walls are six inch steel reinforced concrete with welded steel rafters of 2 x 6" channel.

Watching the news right now. I might disappear for a few minutes shortly to watch this storm. It's getting close. You guys keep posting.

The center of the storm will be here in 15 minutes. I'm listening to you, watching the weather.

mrs died thanks you bob (and eric )

good luck bob, batten down the hatches...

Back in a few. Going out to watch weather.

Go ahead, Sunil...this is your chance

Bob your current thoughts on structure placement after your discussions with Bill Dance -- All depths or not and % of what where ?

hi this is sunil, why are shorty's smallies smarter than mine?

Bob,

I have two more questions that you don't have to answer. I am sitting here in the after glow all fuzzy-happy with a real shoe on my right foot. (65 Days without)

Who on the forum has posted the most gross after surgery foot photo? Who has posted the coolest foot x-ray with multiple titanium screws?

Eric,
One ear to the radar and one eye here.
Bill Dance convinced me that some structure in the shallow areas of deep water is a good idea. Fish move to suspend over deep water in summer and live in deeper water in winter.
I now design habitat to accomodate shifting populations of fish during those harshest months.

Don't forget to watch "Worlds Greatest Fishing Show" on VS this Saturday. This will be the second of two shows featuring Ray Scott's fabulous lake with Roland Martin, KVD, Shaw Grisby and Mark Zona. Of course Mr. Scott will be there too. You just know Roland Martin is going to catch a 10 pound plus LMB.

Dwight, I was showing off your foot photos to my business manager today. You win.

tuned to the weather channel, i just saw doppler for texas, holy crap...

Can I play?

sorry, we're closed

...alright, c'mon in.
Sunil...pat him down for Redears.

Hey, Bruce! I've taken a severe weather break. Back in a minute.

My day went something like this.

3 hour emergency dental appointment
1/2 hour drive to farm
2 hour install vertex aerator
2 hour build small pond
2 hour install feeder

2 hr drive to jobsite
8 hours hook up giant expensive vacuum machine to water well, depress groundwater table 10 feet, suck out over 250 pounds of fuel contamination from water and soil vapor, thermally destroy contamination, turn off machine
2 hr drive home.

i like yer day better.

Viscious storm. Look at the radar. The darkest color along the Red River sits about two miles south of LL,2. Tornado by spotters on the ground, 3 miles north of Whitesboro, about 8 miles south of us.

I'm completely mystified by that last post.

how many were online here? was a record broken? bob, you should concentrate on the storm and your family's safety, i vote a reschedule to do this again.

Bruce,

3 hour emergency dental appointment: + $825.00
1/2 hour drive to farm: - $146.50
2 hour install vertex aerator: + $550.00
2 hour build small pond: + $550.00
2 hour install feeder: + $550.00
1/2 hour drive back: - $146.50

Today's profit: + $2182.00

Not a bad days work!

Try this.

3 hour emergency dental appointment

Profit $2,500

1/2 hour drive to farm

Loss $10

2 hour install aerator on MY farm

Loss $1,250

2 hour build small pond

Loss $600

2 hour install feeder

Loss $175

Todays profit $465

Alrighty, then. Storm gone, high winds, heavy rains. Tornado to the south, is tracking into Oklahoma right now.

Back to business. Anyone want to talk about goals, fish, ponds, vegetation, water?

If so, I'm back in. If not, I'm headed to bed. If there's enough interest, we'll do it again. Let me hear from you.

I'm out...thanks BL

I don't have anything intelligent to say, but I've enjoyed and learned a lot from the sidelines. Thanx to ALL. Especially Brettski, he makes me laugh the hardest!!!

Later, PB court jester....thanks for hanging out with us.

Bob,
Just logged on and thought I would say hello before reading what went down!

Hello, N8ly...I'm gonna hang out for another few minutes and then call it a day.

Do you think that 220 acres of watershed is enough for 15+ acre lake(100acre feet) in east Texas. The average rainfall is 45 inches.

The watershed is wooded with heavy clay soils and minimal infiltration rate.

They is no doubt in my mind that it would stay full with the rain we are having this year but I am wondering about a less than normal year.

I wont keep you up any longer, I will try to log on next time!
I got to get some sleep tonight too! Would like to pick your brain sometime!

You could pick my brain, but the echo would be deafening.

My day:
uh, uh, uh,
went fishing and caught one 5" BG

Bob,

Thank you. I am going to walk around the section and then hit the sack. Big day in Keloland tomorrow.

Thanks, Bob!

Chris, let's do some math.
If there's a 220 acre watershed in N.E. Texas and you get 45 inches a year and at least 65% is runoff (which is probably pretty close), then you will receive about 30 inches of runoff yearly. 30 inches x 220 acres = 6,600 acre inches/12 inches/acre foot = 550 acre feet per year. For a 15 acre lake, you better have a tall dam and wide spillway. That watershed suits a 30 acre lake much better...and it will still flush more than once a year. A bottom water release pipe is a must as is a lot of freeboard and major spillway planning.

By the way...are studying or playing on the dadgum computer? Hit the books, boy.

Night, all. Thanks for hanging out.

Thank you, Bob.

Thanks Bob.

I think 15 acres is the minimum size that it will be. I haven't seen the ditch after a heavy rain but I would guess that it will be roaring.

Bob:

Thanks for giving us three hours of your time. I didn't get to follow the thread last night after I posted my question, but it looks like it was a pretty good ride.

My PBR Redears will remain pampered in my basement another 2-3 weeks.

Bob, sorry I missed this last night. A tornado touch down in my home town yesterday afternoon and I got caught up in watching the weather and totally forgot about this. See you're not the only one that forgets, I guess were even now. Glad to here the storm passed by you without damage. The lord knows you've seen your share in recent years. Thanksfully no one was killed in Breckenridge mostly just propety damage and a few minor injuries have been reported.

Jeez I can't believe that I missed this. I've been working so many long days trying to get all the tax returns done that I have in house. Since I lost a week making funeral arrangements etc I've had to burn the candle at all three ends and I didn't even know a candle had three ends. I ended up falling asleep on the coutch last night. Jeez how incredibly lame.

Oh well. I've read the posts. Looks like a great time was had by all. You folks really represented the forum - well done pond meisters.

DIED - great job on the GSF publicity. Once we have Bob Lusk in our pockets the world is ours. Muhaaa, Muhaaaaa, Muhaaaaaaaaaaa

I too am sorry to miss this.Im just down the road from Rocky and was triing to get through the storm.House & pond made it OK but my shop lost about 5 grand worth of sheetmetal

Jeez, sorry to hear that Tom.

How did Rocky fare?

Jeff we were lucky, only a nice rain hit our place.

Looked down by the pond yesterday morning noticed my storage building, with all my fishing equipment, had done a half gainer and was laying on it's side. Wind blew my boat about 40 feet. I got 15 inches of wind and lightning and a 1/2 inch of rain.

wow heybud, hope you can recover everything o.k.

Bob, check yer "pondboss at texoma" e-mail inbox, and/or yer PMs here.