I just wanted to start a thread where I can give some updates about my pond as they become available. The thread I have that gives some background info about the pond is HERE .

As a reminder here is some info about the pond:
-spring-fed, ground-water pond in sandy soil with ag land surroundings
-originally over-run with stunted GSF
-no aeration, yet, as of 9/12/08
-1.75 surface acres in spring, 1 acre in late summer
-10 feet deep in spring, 6-7 foot deep in late summer
-surface temps in August of '08 were 76.5*
-temps at 6 feet deep in August of '08 were 73*
-DO levels have been checked about once a month, usually in the evening and have been right around 8.6 mg/L at the surface, and 7.5 mg/L at 6 feet deep
-PH level at 7.5
-high alkalinity (>250)
-sandy-silt bottom with very minimal vegetation, several man-made pvc structures, 5 or 6 small brick piles, and some fathead spawning structure
-currently using 1 remington directional feeder and feeding Purina GFC
-feeding at 8 am, 8:05 am, 8:10 am, 6:25 pm, 6:30 pm, and
6:35 pm (all feedings are set for 10 sec durations)


Here is a pic of the pond:



My original stocking plan was as follows:
1 Triploid White Amur (Grass Carp)
8-10 in.
55 Hybrid Striped Bass
3-4 in.
10 Channel Catfish
3-5 in.
15 lbs. Golden Shiner
100 Mosquito Fish
40 Smallmouth Bass
3-4 in.
100 Yellow Perch
4-6 in.
50 Yellow Perch
6-8 in.
20 Walleye
5-7 in.
And 5-10 lbs of papershell crayfish as soon as I can get some.


I changed the stocking plan to the following with the generous help of the forum:
-stocked 20 lbs of fatheads and 40 4-6" RES last October
-stocked 10 more lbs of fatheads in early May of '08
-stocked the following on May 27, 2008
-1 grass carp
-150 4-6" YP
-50 6-8" YP
-10 5-8" SMB
-5 3-4" SMB
-15 lbs of golden shiners
-1 8-10" Koi
-stocked 100, 1/2 lb nile tilapia the first week of June, 2008

I have the following on order for a fall delivery:
-1 grass carp
-30 5-7" HSB
-10 8-10" CC
-5 5-7" WE

Here are some updates on how the fish are doing (everything has been released except where noted).

Red-ears:
I have not caught any and seen one up on shore shortly after ice out

Tilapia:
I have caught only a few with rod and reel(they are very tough to catch), and I've only had so-so luck with the cast net, but did manage to catch one a couple days ago that had eggs in his mouth which was a good sign. I havn't noticed many fry, but the FA has been absent since two weeks after the stocking. I see the tilapia the most during feeding time, but also notice them hovering on and around their deep spawning beds. Here is a pic of a fry I caught in a minnow net (I think it is a tilapia?):



Fatheads:
Have not really noticed any since stocking, but have found eggs stuck to spawning structure


Golden Shiners:
Did not notice any until the other day when I started catching 4-5 everytime I threw the cast net out. They were anywhere between 2-6"


Yellow Perch:
Have only caught 4 or 5. I did not catch any since the end of July, until the other day when I put one of the shiners I caught on a hook and I caught a nice fat 9 incher (sorry no pic)

Smallmouth Bass:
For only stocking 15 of these, they bite very aggresively. I've caught about 10 of them and have lost another 4 or 5. They seem to be doing really well with most of them over 11" and healthy looking bellies. Here is a pic of a typical smally from the pond:

Green-Sunfish:
I have culled out countless 3-4" of these (probably nearing 4-500). They seem to be doing better and gaining weight and length. I will probably stop throwing them out because the SMB are getting large enough to take care of this slot. I have caught a couple nice ones (one at 9.5" and one at 10")


, and I have caught some near the feeder that have extremely large bellies. I don't think they are eggs, but please correct me if I am wrong. Here are some pics of a side view and a belly view of two different fish:

FISH #1



FISH #2

If those abdomens aren't full of eggs, light squeezing will produce evidence in the form of used fish feed. However, compared to gravid BG, they look preggers to me.

Theo, I tried what you mentioned and only got excrement. I probably should have mentioned that in the post.

outstanding bbjr......i'm so happy and proud to see another PMs trophy GSF it made me weep. GREAT THREAD, look forward to watching it.

It's great to see an esteemed member of the GSA have such a sucessful pond. All of fish look great.

DIED, that GSF looks like the two gravid ones we caught at your pond.

Thanks for the compliments, guys. I probably wouldn't have decided to include the GSF if it wasn't for your experiences.

AFA, the eggs question, here is a larger pic of the urogenital region for those with more experience than me. Are we pretty confident that this fish is atleast female?

That seems like great growth on the smallies. Nice work.

Your B.I.S.A. membership fees are now due.

bbjr....
What bait did you use to catch the SMB?

Thanks, Sunil. I'm attributing the growth to the great amount of forage that the pond has in it currently, and to the fact that there are only 15 predators at the moment.

Does B.I.S.A have a charge for returned checks? If so, do you take credit card ?

The one pictured was caught on a 3" GSF (who was later awarded a medal of honor), but they have been biting on many things including:
-white 1/4 oz. jig head, tipped with a nightcrawler
-white 1/16 oz. spinner-bait
-4" crankbait w/ BG pattern (Believe it or not, I also landed a 7" YP on this lure. I could not believe a perch would try to eat that sized fish.)

Great bellies on those fish. Are you seining out the talipia prior to winter ?

Great job bbjr. Glad to see all the non-GSF also doing so well (YP , SMB and GShiners). You have a lot of predators as all the fish you mentioned other than the FH are predaceous.

Sorry for the delay in getting back to you guys, I was out of town with the family for the week.




That is a good idea, RBB. I was going to try to cast net them during feeding times, but they can see the net in the air and they scatter. I will see if I can get a seine net before temps start to drop to much.




Thanks, ewest. Do you foresee there being a shortage of food in the future due to all the predators? It appears that the only fish that are taking to the pellets are the GSF, GSH, FHM, and the tilapia. The HSB and the CC will probably take to the pellets, also, once introduced into the pond. There is an extremely large amount of fish in the 1/2" - 3" range swimming the shores right now, and that is without a YP spawn this year, so I am hoping the YOY can keep up with the appetites of the adults.

BBJR

Sounds like a great project and you are collecting important data. Can you provide an update? If you don't mind I have a few questions:

When/why did you stock the LMB or are they in a different pond than your SMB? Are you OK with the knowledge they may outcompete the SMB? Thoughts?

Did your SMB pull off a spawn? Did you create beds for them? If not, did you witness where they ended up making beds? Please share.

You mentioned your YP were a tad skinny - I can relate. I think my skinnier fish are males, however - hoping the same for you. Are you pellet feeding? That enabled my YP to grow from 4" - 12" in about 18 mos. My YP only fed during low light conditions once water temps entered the 70's. Might be an idea to have a feeding time right at dusk to help?

You have two GC managing a 1.75 acre pond for vegetation. How are they doing? This is a lower density than recommended, but I'm also trying the lower density in my ponds but would like to know what to expect. Your experience can shed a light on that for me.

Sorry for all the questions - really interested in what you have going on out there. Thanks for sharing this information with us all!

TJ

At TJ's request, here are some updates (I'm cheating a little bit by copying and pasting the info from another thread, but I will put some more updates in it). Also TJ, I will answer your questions in the next post.

Since my last update on this thread, I have added some additional species to the pond. These include:
-the fish I mentioned in the first post that were delivered in the fall of '08
-one large (8-9lb) Flathead catfish June/'09
-571 grass shrimp June/'09
-10-15, 6-7" Pumpkinseed sunfish June/'09
-20 locally caught crayfish June/'09
-6-8, 8-12" LMB June/'09 (these were put in without my knowledge/permission, at the time)
-one or two Rock bass sometime last year
-30 or so Long-Eared sunfish July/'10

Here are some updates on the different species (I recently purchased a digital scale to help keep better records of my management, so I will include RW of the fish I have measured):
GSF-looking much healthier, now; averaging 6-7 inches in length; I have only weighed one so far, but it was pretty average of those I catch, and it was around 6-3/4" and weighed 4oz for a RW of around 135% (depending on which sunfish chart I use); This is the main species at the feeder during feed times
YP-underweight, and smaller in population than the GSF; average length caught is 8-10 inches; I aught a 4" fish this spring and have seen some fry swimming around, so I now they are spawning successfully; Although I have seen them around the feeder, I have never seen them actually eat, I will have to try TJ's tip on feeding at dusk
FHM-haven't seen any since the first summer they were in there, three years ago
GSH-definitely have a breeding population; I see several different schools; they enjoy partaking during feeding time
SMB-low recruitment, although I still see smaller schools of 6-8 inch fish; first year stockers are around 14-16 inches; I caught one over the weekend that was a little under 13" and weighed 1lb 5oz for a RW of around 120%
RES-I have only caught one and it was last fall, but it was very fat and around 8"; I do not see them, either
HSB-I have not seen or caught a single one (update: I believe I seen some feeding for the first time over the weekend; I can't be sure, b/c they were around 50' out in the pond, in the open water, but I am guessing they were HSB)
WE-only stocked 5 to see how they would do, but I have not caught any, yet
CC-haven't seen them this year, but they have been growing very quickly (update: seen one of these near the feeder over the weekend, also)
Blue Tilapia-no budget for them this year
Grass Shrimp-I haven't done any sampling specifically for them, but I haven't seen any this year
Rock Bass-caught him twice in a row last fall (It felt like finding a needle in a haystack)
crayfish-haven't seen them, I imagine the SMB had a good dinner the night we put them in
Flathead Catfish-I let my BIL throw him in there last fall (probably a big mistake, but I like the thought of possibly catching him); I imagine he is doing great and probably has a belly full of HSB
PS-I caught one 3 weeks ago, and he put on about 2 inches from last summer; 8-10 inches on average
LMB-I hate the fact that these are in there, but I got to deal with it now; I seen two seperate schools of fry this spring; I am going to try to remove every one of them and had one for dinner tonight; she was very healthy (although I did not get a weight), but I was surprised to see she still had her eggs; this gives me some hope that the schools of fry I seen may be half SMB/ half LMB; I have since caught 2 more adults, and 3 juveniles and have removed all of them
LES-We caught these locally, and put them in a week, or so, ago; absolutely beautiful fish; They seem to be taking to the pellets, too

They are in the same pond. My best friend put them in there without asking me. He thought he was doing me a favor, and his intention was to help control the GSF population. Honestly, I am not happy about it, and am aware that they may out-compete the SMB, but I am going to do what I can to keep them in control.



Yes, they pulled off a spawn last year and this year for sure. My son was 2 last year and caught a 4" SMB, it was the first YOY SMB I had seen in my pond. It was a proud moment in a couple of ways.

I have also seen multiple schools of YOY smallies this summer, and have caught a number of them.

I put in a few brick piles, and a large rock pile near the feeder, but the only bed I have witnessed was made in the sand.



Yes, I am pellet feeding. I have seen YP in the area of the feeder during feed times, but they are always near the bottom, and I can't tell if they ever actually eat any of the pellets. I am definitely going to try your tip of feeding near dusk, to see if it helps. I might go out tonight and add a feeding time to the timer.



I went with a lower density, because I had a bare bottomed pond to start out with, and just wanted them in there to keep things under control. To me, they have done a perfect job. I have some submerged vegetation, but only maybe 15% of the bottom in water that is 4' deep and shallower. Anything deeper than that is still bare. I have noticed that the GC clean up all the leftover pellets that the rest of the fish do not eat, so I am guessing they have their fill of vegetation.



No problem, TJ!

I guess the only other update I have on the pond for now, is that I have let nature take it's course on all the shoreline (except the beach area), creating a riparian environment. During the high water times of the spring and early summer, all the weeds, cottonwoods, cat-tails, and willows provide coverage and shelter for all the YOY fish, and when the water level recedes during the late-summer, these YOY fish have been able to grow for 3 months, and the predator fish are able to gorge on larger meals. So far, it really seems to help, and I like the natural look of the pond this way.

Pics or we don't believe you.

Great report, Chris. Man, what a pot-pourri of pondal inhabitants. You're missing tiger muskie and gar.

All of ours are like that. Only a small amount of the shore is managed.

Here you can see around the pier is clean but across the lake is not.




Beach is keep the rest not.

Eric...I sure do hope something gets me down to MS for business someday - your spread is beautiful. Maybe I'll manage to get lost and have to pull into some guy's driveway and ask directions...

with a bag of morels and rod in my hand

BBJR

Thank you for the reply. I think you can manage those LMB if you work at it - and that's a fun job!

SMB spawning on the sand is great information for the forum as most of us feel rock beds are necessary. I wish you had managed some photos for us - this is a great insight.

My YP also hug the bottom during daytime conditions. Moistening pellets may be something you can try as they slowly sink and might be more readily targeted by the YP? Otherwise, let us know about switching to dusk feedings. I know my YP are feeding when I see a figure 8 pattern of ripples when they take [ala Condello].

I too have riprarian conditions all around my ponds, I simply didn't know to employ that term to describe it. Thank you! Sure is easy to manage [ie: no mowing], but I am keeping all my cottonwoods pulled [when I can] or I spray them when their tap root is too established. Talk about a PITA...not an easy chore - but water is a commodity in my area and cottonwoods are notoriously thirsty - so I have no choice. I may allow a couple to take off and provide some much needed shade, however.

Above-water pond structure is one thing that I don't see discussed on the forum much. It'd be interesting to read more on good/bad trees and plants to have around the pond, using trees to moderate pond conditions, plants to provide overhanging fish cover, and plants to conceal/protect a pond from unwanted visitors.

haha!That seems like great growth on the smallies. Good job!

I will try to bring my phone with me the next few times I go fishing. I can't guarantee anything, though, it has been enough of a chore to try to remember my needlenose, tape measure, and scale

If/when I get the flathead out of there, I am going to replace it with one or two tiger muskie. NP fishing is my favorite, so I am looking forward to this moment. I have never fished for gar, or even seen one in real life, for that matter, but they sure are interesting looking.

Those are some beautiful pics. Are your ponds located in Mississippi, Eric? If so, I would have never guessed it by looking at the terrain around the ponds (it looks like anywhere from Pennsylvania to Wisconsin to me, but definitely north of Mississippi).

I hate to admit it, but the LMB I have caught in the pond have fought harder than the comparable size SMB I have caught, this year.



I have never had any luck trying to take pics of things under the water. The glare always creates conditions where you can't see anything. Any tips for photos like this?




I added a feeding time at 8:15 pm, last night, and eliminated my noon feeding. So we will see how it goes. I will try moistening the pellets and hand feeding if that don't work.




I read a PB mag article a couple of years ago, that dealt with this. I was already sick of trying to keep up with all the vegetation that grew on the shoreline, so I was ready for any excuse to leave it there. It does seem to have a very positive affect, and it turns out I like the look of it to boot.

I agree.



Thanks!

Chris

If you don't have any luck with 8:15 try at dusk, like, 9:00 or 9:10. I know it seems late, but my YP will continue feeding on pellets after dark. Maybe that's unique to my pond - never fed YP at any other BOW, so I can't necessarily speak from vast experience.

If you water clarity warrants, have you considered an underwater camera? They are pretty cheap now and it would allow you to eliminate the glare issue....obviously.

Here are a few pics I took over the last few days.

Here is an average SMB (I took the weight, but can't remember what it was now):



Here is a YP (it was 4oz, which is spot on for a 100% RW, even though I thought they looked skinny):



Here is one of the average GSF (4oz):



Here is a bird that was on my deck. I've never seen one like this. Can anyone ID it?

We'll I'm no expert but the SMB and GSF look healthy. The YP looks a little weird to me but I know absolutely nothing about YP. I'm interested in hearing some expert feedback on the YP photo.

My WAG is that it's an Indigo Bunting.

That YP looks skinny to me.

Thanks for the ID, Scott, I would say that's it. It sure was a good looking bird.

Thanks for the compliments, JHAP. I almost felt like giving up on managing the GSF, because they just weren't growing, but they seem to be doing a lot better now.

I agree about the YP looking skinny. Next time I catch one, I will weigh it to and see what it says. I checked my fish scale for accuracy against my digital kitchen scale, and it was within a 1/2 oz, but I have to be holding the fish scale plumb before I zero it out, or else it is inaccurate. Maybe I was a little off when I zeroed it out, when weighing that perch.

I want to give a little update to this thread. I am in possession of the traveling lures this weekend, and I was using George's lure and caught a 19.5" 2lb 3oz walleye out of the pond.


It appears that atleast one of the original 5 stockers is still alive and is doing rather well. It was stocked 2 years ago at 5-7". Is this normal growth for pond stocked walleye? It seems very good to me and is the largest fish I have caught out of the pond with the exception of a CC, which I think was 3lbs 4oz.

Nice! A new fish species for the lures. I think that'w good growth, but I have no experience with walleye in ponds, and very little with walleye in lakes.

Excellent Bbjr!