Just noticed fry around the whole pond in the shallows but not sure if they are crappie or bass. 1/-8 -3/8" long and real thin , they are hanging in groups of 10-50 all up and down the bank. They are up close to the surface. Any body got a guess as to what they are?

Pat

Sounds like FHM. Do you have any of those in your pond?

Pat, could they be early cnbg? Could they be fhm? Congrats. on whatever they are!! Your a Papa!!

Put 50 lbs of FHMs and 50# GSH November but haven't seen nary a sign of them since
Have the bass spawned yet? I'm hoping it's BCP

At that size the could be anything.

Golden Shiner fry




Side view of golden shiner fry.

Pat,

Do you know about what yer water temp is?

70 this morning

Shorty the eyes don't look as big but neither is the fish they smaller than the pix you sent. Anybody have a top view of BCP fry?

Pat, can you get some pictures? My GSH fry sampling was done with a tea cup, I dunked the edge of the cup in the water next to the fry and just pulled them into the cup. From there you could pour them into a clear glass or jar.

I'll get Stickem to post pix when I catch a few

Here you go Pat!

I'll get Stickem to post pix when I catch a few [/quote]



Another one for Pat W.

I'm thinking FHM or GSH, need better pictures.

Little rascals won't pose

Shorty I think you hit it- saw some 1"+ small fish in little groups close to shore with a stripe down the side. Real fast moving- GSH- I'm thinking

Normally FH fry are in small numbers together while GSH are in much larger schools.

Do FHMs hug shallow water? There was a pod of hundreds out in open water, what do you think they are?

LMB fry if they are in your pond.

They run on the surface? I have bucket bass.

Yes, moreso out in open water.

Try throwing a floating crankbait through the school, you might catch Dad. He watches over them for a short period of time.

They'll be hard to net, but if you can catch one, post a picture.

Thanks I will give that a try
Also do fatheads have a stripe down the side?

Mine do

Stripes down the side sound like LMB fry.

From 2009: Caught some cool stuff while seining today

From 2012: Fathead minnow fry?

LMB fry

One stripe very light colored

FWIW Fathead minnow description

Outside the breeding season, both males and females have a narrow dusky lateral stripe extending from the caudal peduncle to the head; this stripe becomes faint to absent in males during the breeding season.

My FHM look like the attached. Hope this helps

I guess we wait an see if they make it big enough to tell, or they get et

Pat,

If I was you, I would think of it this way, at that size, they are called BCP food!

Oh yeah! Them and the tilapias babies

Pat, I've ben curious enough myself after seeing a school of fry in my pond. I threw out a 4/0 treble hook and ripped it thru the school. 2 fry were slowed down enough that I could net one. Baby LMB. This was a few years ago. Hopefully I don't see any this year, but I bet I still have at least one male LMB in there.....

As you know I had an invasion of bass early on and still have, which is ok because my BCP spawned last year ahead of my schedule.... So now the bass are welcome to help me control the crappie. But I was hoping that maybe the fry hugging the shore in small groups are GSH or FHMs or both. May have to do a little snagging and see what those guys are.... They are in open water on the surface

Pat

Yeah those LMB will stay out in the middle to even when they get a bit bigger. I caught 3 this last weekend about 8 inches long on a small mepps right smack in the middle of my pond. I would see a splash out there ever once in a while and was wondering what it was. Well I found out! 7 inch LMB.

RC