3-4 acre pond in GA we stocked with 2,500 Bluegill 3-4 inch in size back in March hoping that they would spawn several times before we stocked bass in June. Supplement feed program started a few weeks after stocking feeding aqua max 500 and 400 5secs at 7pm and 7AM. We shot two otters out of the lake prior to stocking (its next to a river) and since then brought a trapper in and removed a few more. No otter or beaver tracks in the past 3 weeks now but the issue is I am not seeing a single bluegill in the lake anywhere. The back part of the pond is probably an acre of shallow water 3ft and less and some flooded buck brush/reeds.feeder has been going off next to the dam in the deep end of the lake, every day for a month and we are not seeing anything eat the food. Could we have lost all of our fish to otters and blue herring? should i move the feeder to more shallow water?

What are your water temps ? Any other fish ?

I will have to check the water temps. It is 70 degrees here in GA each day. We had a few cold days in march/april where it got down to the 30s. The pond was bone dry two weeks before we stocked so no other fish should be in there.

That may be the issue. I would typically wait at least a month after a pond was filled to stock fish. That would give time to get a good phytoplankton and zooplankton population going so the newly stocked fish have something to eat. Did you fertilize? Lime the pond?

Was there a lot of vegetation growing when the pond filled? If so, you may have had poor water quality conditions when the fish were stocked which can lead to disease issues, especially in years like this with up and down water temperatures.

c.j. -

What part of Georgia are ya in?

We're in Piedmont region, close to Atlanta, and the bluegills and crappie have all been spawning the past 4 weeks. Depending on the body of water we're fishing spawn has ended in some and is happening today in others. So if you haven't done so then check your shallows for beds. They won't leave to go feed at a feeder far from their beds if yours are bedding up.

I have found if you are close to a river you will have otters, and in the long term, cannot win. After the big loss we have taken in the past seven months due to otters, we are reluctant to spend much more on the ponds. A place far from a permanent stream is better to build ponds in. The otters will eventually eat every fish in the pond that is bigger than 4 or 5 inches, leaving only fingerlings. Discouraged.

Sorry John. Luckily I am a long way from a river

That's a good thing Dave. I guess I've said all I have to say about otters.

I'm discouraged. Otters, leaks (failed Soilfloc), drought, FA, trespassers, feed costs, wife mad (too much time and money on ponds, fish, feed, pumping, mowing).

Been through most of that John
Right now I have nice bluegills but no sign of bass. No idea what happened to them. I may go with some HSB to try to control the bg. Without a predator I’m just asking for a DO crash down the road.

A light fly rod small hook and lots of hot grease do wonders to keep my population down

Anybody tried otter fence? Supposedly, from literature, it is fairly easy to "fence out" otters from your pond if you are willing to deal with a fence and the coins to install it. I thought they could climb but I guess not?

Does an otter fence also work on beavers?

Definitely not a pro on this but, I don't see why it wouldn't work for beaver as long as you bury the fence a foot or so too keep them from burrowing under.