pond update and goodbye big blue @%#^$&^ - 07/07/06 12:48 AM
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Hello fellow pond junkies! I have not posted in a while but I have lurked and learned a lot! My last post was about my Giant MEGA bull frog that I ………acquired through less than admirable methods. Well the God @#$#%#^#$&^ blue heron killed him and has decimated my larger bass population. He does not eat what he kills but he loves to poke holes in anything that moves. The mega major frog was the final straw…shoot shovel, and shut up.
I have been lurking on the aeration side of this great forum and have ordered my GAST pump and should have it in ten days. Although the East coast has had major amounts of rain we have been missed by the deluge here along the coast. Our pond is down 10 foot and its leaking (blow outs through the clay due to BG bedding some of the beds are 16 inches deep),we added a drain into the waterfowl impound to the fish pond to have additional rain collection and run off catch basin to provide water to the fish pond.
Last year we stocked 25 CC and again this spring we added 25 more and they have completely disappeared. I have yet to find a dead one but they do not feed with the BG nor have I been able to catch one in the cast net nor on hook and line. We have added so much more cover to protect the fish and FROGS from the herons and ospreys that seining has not been an option. Could the CC be lying in the deep end and only feeding on the bottom?
We have had a fantastic BG spawn and in fact we captured 200 BG fry about an inch long and traded them for 5 LM bass up to 3 lbs. (%#%^#^#$& blue heron has killed two this week………before he went to the BIG pond in the sky) we also caught 40 BG up to ¾ pound and put them in a bass heavy pond for a friend. I had bass up to 3 pounds in the pond from last year but have yet to see any sign of a successful spawn.
The pond is a year old this month and I skipped many steps by being impatient. By and large we have been lucky as our fish are thriving (except the CC mystery) and we have dodged the bullet on low oxygen thus far despite huge filamitoses algae blooms and die off and over fertilization from agriculture .I allowed a few kids to fish in the pond and they had a blast catching BG and LM although in the future I will use circle hooks only for LMB as we lost a large female due to deep J-hook damage.
I am hooked on ponds and love this forum. I have helped with my end by ordering my pond boss magazine and have told every farmer in my area about this great bunch of pond junkies. I have a chicken farmer friend down the road that has had ponds for 50 years and he could share a lot of practical knowledge if I could just teach him to type. I hope all is well in your pond and keep the great information flowing!
Hello fellow pond junkies! I have not posted in a while but I have lurked and learned a lot! My last post was about my Giant MEGA bull frog that I ………acquired through less than admirable methods. Well the God @#$#%#^#$&^ blue heron killed him and has decimated my larger bass population. He does not eat what he kills but he loves to poke holes in anything that moves. The mega major frog was the final straw…shoot shovel, and shut up.
I have been lurking on the aeration side of this great forum and have ordered my GAST pump and should have it in ten days. Although the East coast has had major amounts of rain we have been missed by the deluge here along the coast. Our pond is down 10 foot and its leaking (blow outs through the clay due to BG bedding some of the beds are 16 inches deep),we added a drain into the waterfowl impound to the fish pond to have additional rain collection and run off catch basin to provide water to the fish pond.
Last year we stocked 25 CC and again this spring we added 25 more and they have completely disappeared. I have yet to find a dead one but they do not feed with the BG nor have I been able to catch one in the cast net nor on hook and line. We have added so much more cover to protect the fish and FROGS from the herons and ospreys that seining has not been an option. Could the CC be lying in the deep end and only feeding on the bottom?
We have had a fantastic BG spawn and in fact we captured 200 BG fry about an inch long and traded them for 5 LM bass up to 3 lbs. (%#%^#^#$& blue heron has killed two this week………before he went to the BIG pond in the sky) we also caught 40 BG up to ¾ pound and put them in a bass heavy pond for a friend. I had bass up to 3 pounds in the pond from last year but have yet to see any sign of a successful spawn.
The pond is a year old this month and I skipped many steps by being impatient. By and large we have been lucky as our fish are thriving (except the CC mystery) and we have dodged the bullet on low oxygen thus far despite huge filamitoses algae blooms and die off and over fertilization from agriculture .I allowed a few kids to fish in the pond and they had a blast catching BG and LM although in the future I will use circle hooks only for LMB as we lost a large female due to deep J-hook damage.
I am hooked on ponds and love this forum. I have helped with my end by ordering my pond boss magazine and have told every farmer in my area about this great bunch of pond junkies. I have a chicken farmer friend down the road that has had ponds for 50 years and he could share a lot of practical knowledge if I could just teach him to type. I hope all is well in your pond and keep the great information flowing!