Pond Boss
Posted By: Tbar Progress At The Farm.......... - 01/11/15 07:32 PM
Got some work done around the place the last few months.

Adding 821 tons of recycled/crushed concrete to the road.







Cleaning out and resetting cattle guards.....






Pouring concrete footing and floor for the cattle guard over the spillway.


Posted By: fish n chips Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 01/11/15 07:44 PM
Originally Posted By: Tbar
Adding 821 tons of recycled/crushed concrete to the road.




Wow.

Nothing small in Texas, eh!!!

How big of a place you have?
Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 01/11/15 07:45 PM
Clearing 1500' of fence line in the woods.......









Fencing Material



Got the new fence up back in the woods(1/3 mile). It was a big project that I don't think I could have tackled without the help of my pasture leaser. He and I worked Wednesday, Thursday and Friday getting pull posts in place, t-posts driven and, top and bottom barbwire stretched and cattle panels hung. The wife and I worked 16 hours Saturday and Sunday tying it all up(really impressed she hung in with me for that long). 94 16' panels x 13 ties per panel = 1222 individual ties......my hands are just now getting back to normal.

Welding up pull posts



"To Infinity and Beyond!"


Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 01/11/15 08:42 PM
Putting up the new sign.........


Posted By: roadwarriorsvt Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 01/11/15 08:58 PM
Looks like it was a lot of work but the end result looks to be well worth it.
Posted By: esshup Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 01/12/15 05:04 AM
The place will really look nice when you're done, and by staying on top of things, it'll lool nice for a long, long time! It looks like you are doing it right!!
Posted By: Diver Cody Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 01/12/15 05:41 AM
That actually looks like a lot of fun to me. Especially that caterpillar bulldozer but I would have probably "accidentally" had to much fun ramming into things and would turn my property into a desert with it.
Posted By: Cecil Baird1 Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 01/12/15 11:02 AM
O.k. for the ignorant among us what is a "cattle guard" and how does it work? I have a guess but...

Awesome pics. Thanks for sharing! Interesting that the fencing is done differently than up here. At least the way my dad and I have done it. Here the fencing comes in rolls and we stretch it as we put it up.

And we use limestone and crushed limestone for our lanes up here. I guess it's depends on what is available.
Posted By: DNickolaus Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 01/12/15 12:26 PM
A cattle guard is a grating with large enough openings that cattle won't walk over it but you can drive a vehicle or walk yourself if you step on the bars. A series of horizontal metal bars evenly spaced at a few inches with a space under it. They're used all the time in cattle country- the farm lane crosses a fence line but you don't want to put a gate, so you put in a cattle guard.
Posted By: Bill D. Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 01/12/15 01:42 PM
Originally Posted By: DNickolaus
A cattle guard is a grating with large enough openings that cattle won't walk over it but you can drive a vehicle or walk yourself if you step on the bars. A series of horizontal metal bars evenly spaced at a few inches with a space under it. They're used all the time in cattle country- the farm lane crosses a fence line but you don't want to put a gate, so you put in a cattle guard.



Just to add.....over time, the hole under the guards fill in making them ineffective which is why Tbar is "cleaning out and resetting" his.
Posted By: sprkplug Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 01/12/15 02:01 PM
love cattle guards....no getting out to open the gate!

I'm with Cecil on the fence building also. I've never seen panels used for an entire run.
Posted By: Bill D. Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 01/12/15 02:15 PM
Originally Posted By: sprkplug
love cattle guards....no getting out to open the gate!

I'm with Cecil on the fence building also. I've never seen panels used for an entire run.


I've never seen panels for a run either. We used them for pen enclosures. I guess they make sense from the stand point you can get by with all metal posts (instead of every other wood) as there is no need for rigid retention points to maintain a "stretch" as you would with woven wire.
Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 01/12/15 02:34 PM
Originally Posted By: Cecil Baird1
O.k. for the ignorant among us what is a "cattle guard" and how does it work? I have a guess but...

Awesome pics. Thanks for sharing! Interesting that the fencing is done differently than up here. At least the way my dad and I have done it. Here the fencing comes in rolls and we stretch it as he put it up.

And we use limestone and crushed limestone for our lanes up here. I guess it's depends on what is available.


Cecil, the cattle guards are in the road at the cross fences that separate pastures. They keep the cows where you want them without the inconvenience of having to get out to open and close gates. The one at the front gate is just insurance in case the gate gets left open. Cows won't walk across them for fear of tangling their feet.

Regarding the fencing material cattle panels are not normally used for this application, the roll material is. In my case I chose the panels because they are much heavier gauge wire and I was putting t-posts every 8'. Also I didn't want to cut my trees back to the recommended 50' either side of the fence(I like my trees) so if a limb falls and damages the fence its easy to replace a panel.
Posted By: sprkplug Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 01/12/15 02:41 PM
What are the heavy, corner "pull" posts for then? Do you anticipate changing out the fence for rolled fencing in the future?

We never cut our trees back either. When the fence got damaged, we spliced in a repair.
Posted By: Bill D. Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 01/12/15 02:47 PM
I was guessing the corner posts were to pull barb wire and to provide some stability at the ends.
Posted By: sprkplug Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 01/12/15 02:56 PM
Originally Posted By: Bill D.
I was guessing the corner posts were to pull barb wire and to provide some stability at the ends.


That would also be my thought, were rolled fencing to be used. That's the way we do it anyway. Just curious if Texans have a better way to build a fence....always up for learning something new!
Posted By: Bill D. Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 01/12/15 03:18 PM
Originally Posted By: sprkplug
We never cut our trees back either. When the fence got damaged, we spliced in a repair.


We did the same, but we always had a wood post at least every 16 feet so we did not loose the stretch on the entire run. The wood posts also gave us something to pull the patch against. We used single wire stretchers on each wire of the patch. Not perfect, but not too bad either.

Patching was something we did a couple times a year. We had a field that was along a highway and it seemed folks always choose our fence to drive thru!
Posted By: Cecil Baird1 Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 01/12/15 04:00 PM
Originally Posted By: DNickolaus
A cattle guard is a grating with large enough openings that cattle won't walk over it but you can drive a vehicle or walk yourself if you step on the bars. A series of horizontal metal bars evenly spaced at a few inches with a space under it. They're used all the time in cattle country- the farm lane crosses a fence line but you don't want to put a gate, so you put in a cattle guard.


Thanks. Makes a lot of sense.
Posted By: Cecil Baird1 Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 01/12/15 04:02 PM
Originally Posted By: Tbar
Originally Posted By: Cecil Baird1
O.k. for the ignorant among us what is a "cattle guard" and how does it work? I have a guess but...

Awesome pics. Thanks for sharing! Interesting that the fencing is done differently than up here. At least the way my dad and I have done it. Here the fencing comes in rolls and we stretch it as he put it up.

And we use limestone and crushed limestone for our lanes up here. I guess it's depends on what is available.


Cecil, the cattle guards are in the road at the cross fences that separate pastures. They keep the cows where you want them without the inconvenience of having to get out to open and close gates. The one at the front gate is just insurance in case the gate gets left open. Cows won't walk across them for fear of tangling their feet.

Regarding the fencing material cattle panels are not normally used for this application, the roll material is. In my case I chose the panels because they are much heavier gauge wire and I was putting t-posts every 8'. Also I didn't want to cut my trees back to the recommended 50' either side of the fence(I like my trees) so if a limb falls and damages the fence its easy to replace a panel.


Again makes a lot of sense. Ya learn somethin' every day!
Posted By: jludwig Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 01/12/15 04:12 PM
Originally Posted By: sprkplug
What are the heavy, corner "pull" posts for then? Do you anticipate changing out the fence for rolled fencing in the future?

We never cut our trees back either. When the fence got damaged, we spliced in a repair.



Think of the corner post as an anchor. It gives a solid point to hold the fence tight. Corner posts should never move or lean (ideally).
Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 01/12/15 04:15 PM
Originally Posted By: Bill D.
I was guessing the corner posts were to pull barb wire and to provide some stability at the ends.


Yes, barbwire top and bottom and out of view center pull posts(welded up 2-7/8" drill stem) out of view in the center.
Posted By: sprkplug Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 01/12/15 04:51 PM
Originally Posted By: jludwig
Originally Posted By: sprkplug
What are the heavy, corner "pull" posts for then? Do you anticipate changing out the fence for rolled fencing in the future?

We never cut our trees back either. When the fence got damaged, we spliced in a repair.



Think of the corner post as an anchor. It gives a solid point to hold the fence tight. Corner posts should never move or lean (ideally).


Yeah, I get that. That was the reason for my query...using panels doesn't require any stretching or pulling, so I didn't see the reason for braced double posts on the ends. Panels simply stand up and are fastened.

In the last photo, I don't see any stranded wire, just the panels. But if there is barbed wire used top and bottom, which must be stretched or pulled, then the braced corner posts makes sense. We always braced our corner posts, and they were usually heavier than the posts in the run. But, we were using barbed wire also, and pulling it tight as we went.
Posted By: TGW1 Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 01/12/15 05:02 PM
Hey Tbar, I am also fairly new here. I just built a pond in Harrison Co. Are u adding the panels to help control the wild hogs? Do u have a hog problem in that area?
Posted By: Zep Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 01/12/15 05:13 PM
I wish those darn cattle guards weren't so expensive,
me being a city-boy I told the guy leasing our grazing rights
"hey instead of putting up a fence lets run that one side all
the way down with cattle guards to make it appear as an
"invisible fence". he said "boy you know how much dat would cost?"

I was kind of half-joking but wish I could do that.
I need a 16 foot cattle guard for the front gate.

That's shocking Cecil had never heard of a cattle guard?
I wonder if that has something to do with snow and ice
in the winter? But heck they use them in Colorado.



Posted By: sprkplug Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 01/12/15 05:28 PM
They use em' in Indiana also. But, tongue-in-cheek, I will say that in the part of Indiana that I'm from, the philosophy on fence building appears somewhat different than what I'm seeing in Texas.

My family's take on the matter was that steel and concrete costs money, while sweat is cheap. And, I would imagine that the operations are larger in Texas than what we see here. To that end, not many around these parts have cattle guards....it's cheaper for the guy riding shotgun to get out and open the gate. As a boy, I longed to replace our gates with cattle guards. grin......rode shotgun a lot.
Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 01/12/15 05:42 PM
Cattle guard sign I saw in Canada....... grin grin grin

Posted By: RockvilleMDAngler Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 01/12/15 06:10 PM
We had a cattle guard at our Virginia farm and maybe our cows are geniuses but it did not seem to stop them. We have a wooden fence around the house and yard and we used to have a cattle guard on the driveway but on at least 4 seperate instances we would wake up to find half the herd inside the fence line eating my dad's plants.
Posted By: Zep Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 01/12/15 08:50 PM
Originally Posted By: RockvilleMDAngler
We had a cattle guard at our Virginia farm and maybe our cows are geniuses but it did not seem to stop them.


yes i have heard they are not 100% effective





Posted By: Diver Cody Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 01/12/15 09:09 PM
I thought cattle guard / brush guards were what I put on the front end of my truck...The more yah know I guess. Also we called them cow catchers too but I'm from Wisconsin originally so that may be why different verbiage for different areas.
Posted By: Zep Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 01/12/15 09:15 PM
Originally Posted By: Diver Cody
I thought cattle guard / brush guards
were what I put on the front end of my truck...


Cody I've seen those advertised too,
but this is what I think of when cattle guard is mentioned.

http://gobobpipe.com/cattleGuards.htm

http://www.livestockshed.com/c-77-cattle-guards.aspx?gclid=CO6P2_Suj8MCFUMLMgodmEYAlQ

https://www.livestockshed.com/c-114-powder-river-cattle-guards.aspx

http://www.farmandranchdepot.com/farm-equipment/Cattle-Guards-Grids/

Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 01/12/15 10:23 PM
Two of the cattle guards were built out of railroad iron. They were in the vicinity of 10,000#'s and were a real challenge to move. PO had a line haul truck/trailer/dozer and he ran in and out of the property that were heavy enough to bend the rails.




Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 01/21/15 06:27 PM
Getting the pastures limed today and it's supposed to rain tonight.

Will my pond benefit from the lime(run off)?



http://youtu.be/a5R9udJqAQ4
Posted By: Zep Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 01/21/15 07:56 PM
Tbar are you attending the conference next month?
Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 01/21/15 08:35 PM
Originally Posted By: Zep
Tbar are you attending the conference next month?


Yes I plan to be there.
Posted By: Zep Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 01/21/15 08:52 PM
Originally Posted By: Tbar
Yes I plan to be there.


Good deal. Look forward to meeting my new VZ neighbor.
Looks like a lot of great speakers, information, and vendors.
Posted By: Rainman Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 01/21/15 09:07 PM
Originally Posted By: Tbar
Getting the pastures limed today and it's supposed to rain tonight.

Will my pond benefit from the lime(run off)?



http://youtu.be/a5R9udJqAQ4


IMMENSELY!!! looking great, Tbar! And looking forward to meeting you at the conference too!
Posted By: esshup Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 01/22/15 01:06 AM
Ditto!

The pond will benefit, but with the way that it's set up, if you need more lime in it, just have the truck back up to the pond and let 'er rip.
Posted By: ewest Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 01/22/15 09:48 PM
Yes but it would be smart (assuming you have low alkalinity) to put some lime in the water while doing the fields.
Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 01/23/15 04:52 PM
Had to work on the dam and spillway of the pool above my main pond last week. The water was seriously starting to go over the dam and some large holes appeared which might have been from beavers or nutria. A few bucket fulls of dirt in the holes and cleaning out the spillway appear to have fixed the problem.....for now. I know I have a beaver in the area and I need to find him.



Posted By: Bocomo Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 01/23/15 05:15 PM
Good luck getting that (*&#(*% beaver! I would hate to see such a gorgeous place wrecked frown
Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 01/28/15 01:43 PM
Cleaning up around the place.......I bought skid steer pallet forks yesterday to make this job easier.

Posted By: CrazyJu Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 01/28/15 03:15 PM
What size is your mahindra? I have a 4025 4wd being delivered tommorrow.
Posted By: laxbro Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 01/28/15 03:52 PM
I have a beaver (among other) problem too. Call my trapper and the problem will be solved. Don Hightower 903-850-5394.
Posted By: Zep Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 01/28/15 04:33 PM
Originally Posted By: laxbro
I have a beaver...Call my trapper and the problem
will be solved. Don Hightower 903-850-5394.


Where is Mr. Hightower out of?
Pricing?
Posted By: FireIsHot Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 01/28/15 05:24 PM
Mark, he's out of Winnsboro. I hooked with esshup and my beavers got got, post-haste.

laxbro, I'm glad you tried him. I was just about to give up and call him. Good to hear he did a good job.
Posted By: Zep Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 01/28/15 07:03 PM
Thanks Al.

Looks like he doesn't serve VZ County.
Or maybe he would...it so close.

http://www.txtrappers.com/nuisance_control_contacts
Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 01/29/15 01:24 AM
Originally Posted By: CrazyJu
What size is your mahindra? I have a 4025 4wd being delivered tommorrow.


It's a 4025 4wd.....
Posted By: esshup Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 01/29/15 01:26 AM
Mark, I'd bet if you swung by Al's for a bit of instruction, you could take care of the problem yourself easily without having to actually be there on the property. wink
Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 01/29/15 01:28 AM
Much easier with the forks.

Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 02/02/15 11:50 PM
The guys building my dock did a little fishing at lunch time and caught some nice ones out of the pond.





Posted By: CrazyJu Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 02/03/15 05:09 PM
Do you have a link to which forks you purchased? Did you need anything else to attach them?
Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 02/04/15 12:50 AM
Originally Posted By: CrazyJu
Do you have a link to which forks you purchased? Did you need anything else to attach them?


Yes, they are model PF-46C.

http://terraforceinc.com/pallet_forks
Posted By: laxbro Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 02/05/15 03:10 AM
Don Hightower = Dr. Beaver/otter !!
He charges by the hour and is not that expensive. Especially compared to the amount of money most on this forum have spent on their lakes and ponds.
Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 02/06/15 01:18 PM
It was cold yesterday working on the dock. 34 degrees, misting rain with a 15mph wind.

I did my best to stay out there with them but came in a few times to warm up.



Posted By: bowfishersmith Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 02/06/15 01:37 PM
That is looking sharp. I would love to build one like that on my new pond. Congrats!
Posted By: canyoncreek Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 02/06/15 01:51 PM
A little bit frightening to see the orange cord in the water there...Hopefully that is an air line eek

Looking very nice, I like those premade 'rafters' and the metal roofing is going to be sharp.
Posted By: esshup Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 02/06/15 03:30 PM
My money is on an airline for the nail gun. I've never known an extension cord to float. wink
Posted By: Zep Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 02/06/15 10:06 PM
Originally Posted By: Tbar
It was cold yesterday working on the dock.


TBar.....looks great
that's what I want without the roof.
Did they have to launch a big barge to do the piers?
What are the dimensions of the deck?
It is a fixed dock correct?
I would like the builders name or was it you?
Posted By: highflyer Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 02/07/15 12:03 AM
For the Beavers or Otters, learn the rules and then learn how to use traps.

I learned from one of the best and it is paying off for us.





Posted By: Bill D. Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 02/07/15 12:12 AM
Nothing more effective than a correctly placed conibear! Those look like 220s. Are they big enough for beaver?
Posted By: highflyer Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 02/07/15 12:22 AM
Bill,
Those are 330's. I set them up because I was unsure if I had beavers and or otters. Turns out I had two otters. The traps went back to work, I'll see if I have more problems or not. I am betting on the beavers as well, I have seen some occasional damage that must be beavers.
Posted By: Bill D. Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 02/07/15 02:34 AM
Ahhh. Setting a double spring always made me nervous. I trapped alone and was always thinking, ok, so when you screw up and catch yourself what ya gonna do! If your setting a 110 single and catch yourself you just say Son of a B@&xH that hurts and set yourself free. A 330 double means possibly a broken bone and a miserable walk to the truck and a walk of shame to get help!
Posted By: sprkplug Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 02/07/15 04:06 AM
Yeah those 330's are all business. Pretty unforgiving.
Posted By: esshup Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 02/07/15 04:07 AM
Brian, you get those set without the tongs?? wink grin
Posted By: FireIsHot Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 02/07/15 12:07 PM
Nice job Brian. Didn't you say you found the slides in one of the Topia's?
Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 02/07/15 01:57 PM
Originally Posted By: Zep
Originally Posted By: Tbar
It was cold yesterday working on the dock.


TBar.....looks great
that's what I want without the roof.
Did they have to launch a big barge to do the piers?
What are the dimensions of the deck?
It is a fixed dock correct?
I would like the builders name or was it you?


Zep, It's a 16' x 16' platform.

No barge, they worked their way out from shore and drove the posts with a pneumatic pile driver. It was a real trapez act sometimes and yes the dock is fixed. A buddy of mine from Lousiana that builds docks came over and did the job. He, his wife, son and helper stayed at the house with us for several days.

I sent you a PM.
Posted By: Bill D. Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 02/07/15 02:20 PM
Originally Posted By: esshup
Brian, you get those set without the tongs?? wink grin


I am thinking you would have to use tongs on a 330. I never used anything bigger than a 220 double and I set those springs by hand.
Posted By: highflyer Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 02/07/15 05:25 PM
Scott,
Not only did I use tongs, but I got the big tongs with the Kung Fu grip!! I like my hands and want them nowhere near open 330's.

Allen,
Yep, the thieving varmints were headed to Extratopia, while they did make it, they won't be back.

On a side note, I get to use my new tanning equipment. I see gloves in my future.

TBAR,
Looking good!!

Are you going to be able to fish off that dock? Is the roof going to be an issue for casting? Also, are your corner posts 4x4's or bigger? We are working on our dock and any input is welcome!!
Posted By: roadwarriorsvt Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 02/08/15 06:44 AM
The roof may impair overhead casting, just gotta go side armed. It'll be a nice trade off for shade on a hot or rainy day.
Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 02/22/15 02:36 PM
After attending the Pond Boss Conference I am wanting to purchasing a Texas Hunter LM175. I think I have a healthy BG population and look forward to feeding them.


Experimenting with some dog food in a basket feeding the BG aka Bass bait. smile



Want.....

Posted By: FireIsHot Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 02/22/15 03:07 PM
Tbar, great decision. Did you get the solar charger option? It pretty much makes the TH's maintenance free. They're the only feeders I have personally used that don't cake up from fish food dust, so that eliminates a lot of winter cleanings.
Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 02/22/15 03:18 PM
Al, I haven't ordered it yet but yes I will get the solar panel.

It was good meeting you at the conference!
Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 02/25/15 10:30 PM
A snow day at the farm. Only happens once or twice a year here in NE Texas.

A few pics........













Posted By: Zep Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 02/25/15 10:50 PM
Great pics Tbar!
Posted By: anthropic Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 02/25/15 11:18 PM
Beautiful, TBar. If I end up with a pond & home half so scenic, I'd be a happy guy! smile
Posted By: TGW1 Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 02/26/15 01:29 PM
Tbar, I missed u @ the PBC sorry we did not meet up. Have u checked your water temps? Mine temps went from 59 10 days ago to 44 after the snow. And they are calling for 70 degree days this weekend. If you don't like the weather in our area of Texas, just give it a day and it will change. smile
Tracy
Posted By: Zep Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 02/26/15 02:52 PM
Originally Posted By: TGW1
If you don't like the weather in our area of Texas, just give it a day and it will change. :)Tracy


Very true Tracy...

Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 03/12/15 10:43 PM
Well, I didn't think I had any catfish in this pond but as of today there is no doubt.

Found fourteen dead 6" catfish in the gully below my spillway washed out buy the recent rains.

Oh well....good riddance.
Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 03/26/15 01:45 AM
Spent the morning raking FA around the banks of the pond.

Is this a viable way to control it or am I PITW?




Posted By: Bill D. Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 03/26/15 01:57 AM
FWIW I have no idea if you are PIW as far as controlling the FA cause I am way not a pro. But after reading in the forum about all the critters in FA and how it soaks up nutrients, I won't be throwing the FA I skim off the surface up on the bank anymore. It will go into a bucket and get dumped into my composte pile for the garden.
Posted By: Zep Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 03/26/15 02:07 AM
Originally Posted By: Tbar
Is this a viable way to control it or am I PIW?


Well Tbar raking will certainly keep you in good physical condition.

But I prefer Cutrine Plus Granular.


Before Cutrine Plus:



After Cutrine Plus:

Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 03/26/15 02:30 AM
Wow, that looks great Zep!

I sprayed the small front tank with algacide and pond dye. Already had the sprayer cleaned up and decided to try manually cleaning a small part of the big pond.
Posted By: RER Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 03/26/15 03:13 PM
IMHO, if you only have FA a few feet out around the bank and the rest of the pond stays as open as it looks in the pic. I would not do anything.

Manual removed is an endless battle and will start to feel like a waste of time I suspect.
Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 03/27/15 12:45 AM
When should I start seeing my forage fish in the 5 acre pond? So far I am not seeing any. When I was working around the small shallow tanks on the front of the property I was seeing tons of minnows.
Posted By: snrub Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 03/27/15 01:00 AM
Originally Posted By: BobbyRice
IMHO, if you only have FA a few feet out around the bank and the rest of the pond stays as open as it looks in the pic. I would not do anything.

Manual removed is an endless battle and will start to feel like a waste of time I suspect.


I second Bobby's idea.

The one place I have found manual removal or even just pushing it down into deep water is to aid fishing. I spent a couple hours cleaning patches along the shore of our 3 acre pond and it made fishing much easier. Just cleaned up the areas we wanted to fish from and they appear to be staying open till new growth takes over which might be a few weeks. Worth the effort to not pull muck off hooks all the time.

But I also bought some Cutrine. grin
Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 03/29/15 01:47 AM
Added several artificial structures under the dock today. I attached them to the vertical underwater posts.

Posted By: TGW1 Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 03/29/15 11:59 AM
Tbar, I like your home made structure. I would double or triple up the numbers of these I would put at your nice pier. But that's just my personality, I tend to overdue sometimes lol

Tracy
Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 04/15/15 08:10 PM
I can't say enough about this little lure. I caught 40-50 fish before finally replacing the first rubber piece. EVERYTHING hits it.....bass, crappie and brim on almost every other cast. My fish only like white for some reason. Tried other colors and nada.




One evening last week I caught 18 crappie, countless brim plus a few small bass. Can't wait for my fishing buddies to show up in two weeks to help me harvest some of them. Nothing record breaking but TONS of fun.







Posted By: Bill D. Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 04/15/15 08:21 PM
Hey, I would take a stringer of those babies anytime! Nice fish!

Beetle Spin is a great bait. That bait has been around forever. It catches a lot of all different kinds of fish. I like them for walleye.
Posted By: Zep Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 04/15/15 08:53 PM
Tbar....nice fish. Love the crappie!

Sounds like your lake is loaded with fish.
Posted By: stickem' Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 04/15/15 10:44 PM
Tbar,
Nice stringer of fish....crappie, now that's some serious eating, right there!
Posted By: Pat Williamson Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 04/16/15 02:11 AM
Tbar
Nice fish! How long to grow those pretty BCP?


Pat
Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 04/16/15 02:30 AM
Originally Posted By: Pat Williamson
Tbar
Nice fish! How long to grow those pretty BCP?


Pat


Dono.......I inherited them when I bought the property last year.
Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 04/16/15 02:38 AM
Originally Posted By: Tbar
When should I start seeing my forage fish in the 5 acre pond? So far I am not seeing any. When I was working around the small shallow tanks on the front of the property I was seeing tons of minnows.


I now have tons of minnows......the pond is at flood stage and there is lots of vegetation under water they are swimming in. Also found some beautiful 4" long shiners that had been washed over the spillway.....hated that. They would have made some premo bait/fish food.
Posted By: snrub Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 04/16/15 03:50 AM
Great looking fish Tbar, and thanks for the lure tip.
Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 04/19/15 08:34 PM
Originally Posted By: Zep
........But I prefer Cutrine Plus Granular.




Well, didn't have much luck with the liquid so I used the Cutrine crystals on the little pool at the front of the property. Thanks for the suggestion!

Before



After

Posted By: snrub Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 04/19/15 08:56 PM
Interesting. When I ordered bought both granules and liquid.

Used the granules and they seemed to work. Had a big surge and some mats more recently so tried the liquid. Will see how it works.

I can see where the liquid could easily drift off target with any wind induced current. The granules (little chat covered with copper that dissolves off the chat is what the granules look like to me) have the weight to sink to the target.
Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 04/19/15 11:35 PM
Tranquil morning at the pond.........

Posted By: scatterlandsfarm Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 04/19/15 11:55 PM
cant see the video says its private
Posted By: Zep Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 04/20/15 02:25 AM
Originally Posted By: Tbar
Tranquil morning at the pond......


Beautiful setting...looks like a Kentucky farm...nice turf.
Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 04/28/15 03:50 PM
FWIW.....we have had a tremendous bloom in my pond the last 2 weeks. Visibility has been cut buy 2/3rds and it looks like billions of tiny green specs floating beneath the surface.
Posted By: Zep Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 04/28/15 06:06 PM
hope it's not like this:

Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 04/28/15 06:17 PM
Ummmm......no. LOL
Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 04/30/15 09:05 PM
Spent 30 minutes yesterday evening taking "samples" of the pond occupants. I have friends coming over this weekend to help me do more intensive culling. smile



Posted By: Pat Williamson Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 04/30/15 09:28 PM
30 mins? Wow that's a lot of mmm in 30 min . Live or artificial? Nice job
Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 04/30/15 09:44 PM
Originally Posted By: Pat Williamson
30 mins? Wow that's a lot of mmm in 30 min . Live or artificial? Nice job


White Beatle spin and a baby crappie lure.
Posted By: Pat Williamson Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 04/30/15 09:46 PM
Nice job! Is that a white crappie mixed in?
Posted By: Snakebite Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 04/30/15 09:58 PM
Originally Posted By: Tbar
Spent 30 minutes yesterday evening taking "samples" of the pond occupants. I have friends coming over this weekend to help me do more intensive culling. smile





That for sure looks like white crappie stacked in the middle of those BCP
Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 05/01/15 03:59 AM
First day trying my hand at fly fishing.....caught 3-4 this size.

Giving myself plenty of room for improvement. smile smile smile


Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 05/01/15 05:50 PM
53 this morning plus the 9 I caught yesterday.....we are going to have plenty for a fish fry. Its going to be catch and release the rest of the weekend as that was a lot of fish to clean!






Releasing this one.



Posted By: sprkplug Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 05/01/15 06:02 PM
Looks pretty good, but check out the gill right above the nose-to-nose LMB....sumo!
Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 05/01/15 07:18 PM
Found whole crawfish in those bass stomachs. Guess I have a an abundance of mud bugs.
Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 05/27/15 02:34 PM
Before.....





During.....





After.....





Sunset After The Storm.....


Posted By: Zep Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 05/27/15 03:22 PM
cool pics
Posted By: mnfish Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 05/27/15 03:44 PM
I love the pic of the boots kicked up, under roof, watching the rain.
Posted By: SetterGuy Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 05/27/15 05:57 PM
Great pics! That's exactly what I'm hoping for. Looks great.
Someday, I'll have a full pond, someday..
Posted By: mpc Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 05/27/15 06:25 PM
Great pics and a great video too. You have a place you can be real proud of.

Did you decide what you were going to do with your FA? I decided to take a try pronged approach. The fishing areas I use Curtrine plus granual, add a few Tilapia every spring, and then if I want to,do a little raking, when and If I feel like it. So far I have not had to rake.

Do you let the cows use that pond? If yes, that will keep the FA higher density in your pond.
Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 05/27/15 06:51 PM
With all the rain I stopped trying to treat the small pools as the chemicals were getting washed away. In the lake FA isn't currently a problem but the various weeds are. When the weather returns to normal I will start treating them.

FWIW, one of the cattle pools was 80% covered over in weeds before the storms. After the flood waters engulfed and flushed it the weeds are only 40% coverage. Still not great but better than it was. Will take less chemicals to treat.
Posted By: snrub Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 05/27/15 07:15 PM
Great pictures Tbar. Sweet success.
Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 05/30/15 10:52 PM
Bought one of these today for the grandkids and women folk to use out in the pond.....looks like fun. Its 6' x 18'.



Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 06/05/15 02:05 PM
Sorry for the duplication. Just putting this project here for future reference.


I am building a fish holding pin that measures 3' x 3' x 6'. It will stand on end allowing the fish to drop to 5'-6' depth.

I am wanting to hold fish in this pin for several days or up to a week until I get ready to eat them. Total depth of the water in this area is 8' and will be shaded by the dock from the afternoon sun.

How long can I expect to keep them healthy without feeding them? This area is abundent minnows, brim and bugs.



Target species will be BC and maybe a few brim. Would like to stock maybe a dozen fish at a time.
Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 06/05/15 02:07 PM
Cage is complete.....delivering to the dock.



It is very buoyant so I drilled holes in it so it would sink. I have two sets of mounting brackets.....one set low and one set high when you want to net them out.





Fishing is great right next to the cage. First resident.



Feed in the basket is to try and draw in minnows. BG's are beating on the corner of the cage trying to get at it.

15 BC in the cage now and most will get eaten tomorrow for lunch.
Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 06/12/15 10:07 PM
Cage worked great today. Three of us caught 57 BC off the dock. It was so easy just tossing them into the enclosure and return to fishing. Also caught 2 white crappie.

A buddy with a nice BC.



Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 09/06/15 07:05 PM
My best catch to date out of the farm pond. Would like to catch her prespawn.






The guys building my dock back in February caught one of similar size.

Posted By: CMM Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 09/06/15 10:58 PM
Looking good Tbar!
Cmm
Posted By: Zep Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 09/07/15 02:30 AM
Nice Catch!
What did she try to swallow?
Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 09/07/15 02:44 AM
A baby crappie lure.......

Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 09/07/15 07:12 PM
Originally Posted By: Tbar
Originally Posted By: Cecil Baird1
O.k. for the ignorant among us what is a "cattle guard" and how does it work? I have a guess but...

Awesome pics. Thanks for sharing! Interesting that the fencing is done differently than up here. At least the way my dad and I have done it. Here the fencing comes in rolls and we stretch it as he put it up.

And we use limestone and crushed limestone for our lanes up here. I guess it's depends on what is available.


...........

Regarding the fencing material cattle panels are not normally used for this application, the roll material is. In my case I chose the panels because they are much heavier gauge wire and I was putting t-posts every 8'. Also I didn't want to cut my trees back to the recommended 50' either side of the fence(I like my trees) so if a limb falls and damages the fence its easy to replace a panel.


Here is why I like using the cattle panels. When the guy shredding next to the fence line accidentally backs into it only one panel gets damaged instead of pulling and stretching a whole roll of field fence or multiple strands of barb wire. The tie wires broke loose between the panels preventing further damage. Simple easy fix to R & R it.

Posted By: Zep Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 09/07/15 10:42 PM
speaking of cattle guards...Tbar my two went in this past week



Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 09/07/15 11:45 PM
Wow......Looks Great!!!

Property looks great too!!!
Posted By: sprkplug Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 09/08/15 12:05 AM
Isn't using those panels to construct an entire fence line rather expensive? I know....it depends on how long the fence is.

When our fence gets damaged we don't buy an entire roll, we splice in a repair. I was doing it myself by the time I was 12 years old. I do think panels make great temporary enclosures, though.
Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 09/08/15 12:23 AM
I use expensive materials because I can. They are heavier gauge, last longer and are easier to repair......I'm sure that's not "fair" in overbearing/over regulating/everyone must be equal land. I probably should have gotten an EPA permit to construct it..... confused
Posted By: Zep Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 09/08/15 12:36 AM
Tbar...I'm going to add a few more of the "crossbars" so an ATV or a tipsy driver can stay on track.
Posted By: sprkplug Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 09/08/15 12:44 AM
My apologies Tbar. I forgot to utilize my Texas filter while viewing your post. I'll move along.
Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 09/08/15 12:58 AM
Originally Posted By: Zep
Tbar...I'm going to add a few more of the "crossbars" so an ATV or a tipsy driver can stay on track.


I really like the sucker rods.....makes vehicle transition across the guards smooth and seamless.

They look just like mine. Did you get them at Tommy Williams?
Posted By: Zep Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 09/08/15 01:06 AM
Originally Posted By: Tbar
Did you get them at Tommy Williams?


Cattle guards came from Hootens in Emory, Tx.
Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 09/15/15 02:48 AM
Sampling the pond inhabitants. smile

We ate the small ones and put the ones we filleted in the freezer. We did eat the 9.4# CC that I caught.

Posted By: Snakebite Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 09/15/15 03:05 AM
Looking yummy! Do they taste any different with the skins on still?
Posted By: Pat Williamson Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 09/15/15 03:16 AM
They taste just fine with the skins on... Eat them like a ear of corn leaving just the rib and backbone
Posted By: sprkplug Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 09/15/15 11:19 AM
Growing up that's how we always ate our bluegills. Then I discovered fileting and I've never looked back.
Posted By: TGW1 Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 09/15/15 11:27 AM
I prefer the brim and crappie to be cleaned and cooked with the skin on. And dusted pretty heavy with Tony Chachere's original creole (cajan) seasoning added to the stone ground corn meal. Looks good Tbar smile

Tracy
Posted By: sprkplug Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 09/15/15 01:26 PM
The first farm I visited this morning had three of these on the drive. As a boy, these were the most common cattle guards in use. Steel units were homemade, and precast concrete units were purchased.

I remember there being a few different styles, some more complex than others. Probably a coffee table book in there, somewhere.

No longer needed, filled in with stone.

Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 09/16/15 12:34 AM
My buddy cleaning one of the pond inhabitants.



Orphaned calf that is being bottle feed.



Setting a new deer blind.

Posted By: Zep Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 09/16/15 01:32 AM
Tbar....how much did mr whiskers weigh?
Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 09/16/15 02:01 AM
Originally Posted By: Zep
Tbar....how much did mr whiskers weigh?


9.4 pounds. I am lucky to have an experienced friend from Louisiana that knew how to selectively cut up, marinate and cook him so he wasn't tough and strong tasting. He was cut into ~ 1-1/2" x 3"pieces so the meat would cook faster. Made for nice finger food.
Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 09/29/15 10:38 PM
My internet order of Wobble Heads came in yesterday.

wobbleheadlures.com



Today I went out to the farm to supervise some fence brush clearing work. After the guys left I put on one of the new Wobble Heads and went to the pond.

Middle of the day(2pm-3pm), 90 degrees, I was able to catch 8 LMB's. Had a blast!!!

Posted By: FireIsHot Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 09/29/15 10:48 PM
Tbar congrats, but you're killing me. I'll have to order some of those wobblers PDQ.

Are those rubber bands on the weedless ones?
Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 09/29/15 10:50 PM
Originally Posted By: FireIsHot
Tbar congrats, but you're killing me. I'll have to order some of those wobblers PDQ.

Are those rubber bands on the weedless ones?



Yes.....seemed to work. First I have used them.
Posted By: TGW1 Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 09/30/15 11:01 AM
it's funny that I went through my tackle box yr before last and threw away about 9 wobble heads. Had them for yr's, caught a few lmb on them but not so many I wanted to keep them in the tackle box. They were getting rusty.

Tracy
Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 10/28/15 03:02 AM
Very productive couple of days.

Bought a new scope and got the rifle sighted at 200 yards.





Was going to try some different rounds this morning to get it dialed in tighter but....."Negative ghost rider the pattern is full".

$&@" cows.



Quit shooting and went fishing. Those wobble head lures(above) are supposed to be for summer time. I'm still killing the bass on them.

Picked up some .22 shorts(hard to find) at a gun show last week and spent an hour culling some turtles. Had fun but didn't put a dent in the population.

Had a tree fall across one of the trails back in the woods. Got it cut up and moved but it was a PIA as the canopy was hung up in other trees. I have cut wood all my life and I don't remember fighting one this much.....and before you ask no I didn't have my wedges....they were at the other property.







Finally this evening I loaded up a fuel tank and drove to town and got diesel. The pallet forks on the tractor have been invaluable. Made loading and unloading a breeze.


.
Posted By: sprkplug Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 10/28/15 11:28 AM
Wedges are useful, but I prefer taking two saws with me whenever I cut. Just for those situations like shown in the photo.
Posted By: TGW1 Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 10/28/15 12:22 PM
I cut wedges as needed, using the chainsaw and tree limbs or wood I find laying around. It's easy to do wedges

Tracy
Posted By: sprkplug Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 10/28/15 01:41 PM
Wedges are an easy shape to make in the field, for sure. It's carving the sledgehammer or maul needed to drive em' in that gives me problems. grin And if I remember to grab the maul, then I tend to remember the wedges also. Good thing too, as wooden wedges don't last too long for me when attacked with a sledge or maul.
Posted By: djstauder Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 10/28/15 02:02 PM
I usually cut from the bottom first about 1/4 up then cut from the top to avoid the pinching

BTW: I love seeing the pictures of your progress! keep it up.
Posted By: Zep Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 10/28/15 02:38 PM
Originally Posted By: djstauder
BTW: I love seeing the pictures of your progress! keep it up.


Me too....I love seeing people's places and projects.
Posted By: esshup Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 10/29/15 01:14 PM
Wedges are hard to make once the saw is stuck..... wink

I'd cut that particular one the opposite way, cut 1/4 - 1/3 the way from top to bottom, then finish going bottom up. As the pressure is put on the cut, it opens the bottom up.

Ones that get hung up like that, I'll cut in 3-4 foot sections from the butt to the top of the tree, that way I'm not dodging larger pieces as they drop.
Posted By: 4CornersPuddle Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 10/29/15 02:44 PM
I'll put in my 2c's and agree completely with Scott.
In my many, many years as a timber faller in Oregon and Idaho, I of course, got to see similar scenarios on occasion. Even now, working as an arborist, I run into the same thing at times.

A real problem is that when the top is suspended as yours was, there may be quite a twist and "back pressure" or compression, on the log. Cutting from one side then the other-top then bottom in this case-can still get your saw pinched as the top rotates and pushes back toward the butt! What we recommend is that you cut down from the top, say 1/3 of the way thru, make another cut from the top so as to remove a narrow sliver maybe half or 1 inch wide, then cut the off side very slightly, an inch or two-be careful and brave on that one as you are reaching under the log-then finish the cut from the bottom. I like to make that top cut to the point where I just start to sense the chain beginning to bind slightly. It's really easy to go too far with that cut, so quit sooner rather than later. Ha!

I just used this technique Saturday for a local landowner on a cottonwood of his that was hung at a 45 degree angle into another cottonwood, and still attached to the root ball.

When stuff starts to move, it moves very fast, so have your escape route(s) planned and rehearsed. Have fun! Be safe!

Roger
Posted By: Zep Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 10/29/15 03:10 PM
Look out Tbar!

Posted By: Dave Davidson1 Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 10/29/15 11:54 PM
I once went and bought another saw to cut my first saw out of a mess.
Posted By: Bill D. Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 10/30/15 12:38 AM
Two years ago, I cut a dead tree that had branches tied in with its neighbor. When I cut it, the tree at the cut moved up instead of down and pivoted about 20 feet in the air on that other tree. Knocked the saw out of my hands. Scared the crap out of me. I went ahead and cut what I could reach on both sides of that pivot point. That chunk of tree hung there for a year, haunting me. Got er down this year!
Posted By: Zep Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 10/30/15 03:11 AM
sounds dangerous Bill....glad it's down now
Posted By: TGW1 Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 10/30/15 01:06 PM
Tbar, sticking your saw is the kinda of thing that happens to me. And with my luck using my tractor to help out, The limb would have fallen on the tractor or me frown I stick things or tear thing up all the time.

Tracy
Posted By: esshup Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 10/30/15 01:37 PM
I've had to take the powerhead off of the bar/chain and put another bar/chain on to free the first one.......

I've had so many things happen to me while cutting it isn't funny. No injuries, and no smashed saws, so all is good.
Posted By: North40 Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 10/30/15 02:16 PM
Originally Posted By: Zep
Originally Posted By: djstauder
BTW: I love seeing the pictures of your progress! keep it up.


Me too....I love seeing people's places and projects.




Zep, said something here I been wondering about. Is there a single thread out there where people have posted images of their places. I really enjoy seeing those photos.
Posted By: Dave Davidson1 Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 10/30/15 04:45 PM
Scott, I feel the same way. If it didn't require stitches or a cast, I got off lucky.
Posted By: Bill D. Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 10/30/15 08:50 PM
I guess I have always got off lucky too then. My episode with the trunk of the tree "falling up" was the closest I've ever come, or ever want to come, to an injury when cutting.
Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 11/03/15 02:06 AM
I had Overtons Fisheries out for an Electrofishing survey today. It was very interesting.







Electrofishing



Electrofishing



Catching another one.



Weighing, measuring and recording.



Weighing, measuring and recording.



Nice fish...!!!



Visual inspection.



Acclimating adult size Coppernose Bluegill before stocking the pond.



Stocking the pond.



New Texas Hunter Fish Feeder.

Posted By: Zep Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 11/03/15 02:27 AM
Looks like a fun day.

Turned out to be a perfect weather day too.

You had Clint and Walt? That's some VIP treatment.

Can't wait to hear the formal results they send you.

Nice bass!
Posted By: Dave Davidson1 Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 11/03/15 12:53 PM
Hard to miss Clint in that shirt.
Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 11/07/15 04:34 PM
The new CPNBG are ravenous hitting everything I throw in the water......even in the rain today.

Live worms, jigs, crank baits, artificial worms, small spinners, etc. When the Texas Hunter feeder was first set up the turtles were getting half of the feed. Now the turtles don't get any as the BG boil to the surface as soon as it hits the water. Water temp currently is 68 degrees. Will be interesting to see how they react as the temps fall. (I am still in the learning curve here)

On another note I was surprised that the electro fishing survey did not bring up any BC even though we pulled out ~ 200 this summer and this week I caught 10 more. Guess they were schooling really deep that day.

I have started culling my bass today at Walts suggestion pulling out any 14" or smaller to lessen compitition for the bait fish. Hopefully I will see some results next year.


This was my fishing partner yesterday.......she had a blast.


Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 11/16/15 01:55 PM
Got my pond report card from Walt today. I think it passed.








Posted By: Bushwacker Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 11/16/15 04:26 PM
I don't know anything, but report sure impress the heck out of me. Good Job!

Your fishing buddy is cute as can be. It is wonderful to see the kiddies enjoying fishing.
Posted By: TGW1 Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 11/17/15 12:37 PM
Tbar, looks like she had a blast, her big smile tells the story, a day she will remember. smile So after the sampling, will you add some RES to the pond? And is there anything else you will do besides removing some of those 14" or smaller lmb ?

Tracy
Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 11/17/15 02:14 PM
Originally Posted By: TGW1
Tbar, looks like she had a blast, her big smile tells the story, a day she will remember. smile So after the sampling, will you add some RES to the pond? And is there anything else you will do besides removing some of those 14" or smaller lmb ?

Tracy


Yes, RES, Tilapia and Threadfin Shad. There was a recommendation to fertilize. I had three major blooms and one minor bloom this past year so I don't have a problem getting them started but do in maintaining them.

Interesting note.....Walt said he saw a 15-20 pound grass carp which I didn't know I had. That would explain the mystery reduction in submerged vegitation that I mentioned several months ago.

On another note, I was fishing yesterday and caught this guy on a crappie jig. Should I keep throwing them back in hopes they bred and feed the bass? Is this a Bullhead?





Posted By: highflyer Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 11/17/15 03:53 PM
Tbar,

I don't want Bullhead Catfish in my ponds. I do have them, but when they are caught, they are removed. It is a personal choice. LMB will eat them, but they also will eat other resources which I want for other more desirable fish.

Just my two cents.

The place looks great, and I can tell you are working very hard to make it the way you will enjoy it most. Keep it up!!
Posted By: Dave Davidson1 Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 11/17/15 10:13 PM
Looks like a bullhead to me.
Posted By: Bill D. Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 11/17/15 10:16 PM
I vote Bullie...and a nice one!

FWIW I would not stock BH but I would not nuke the pond if I got them. IMO they will provide forage for the LMB and a mess the size you have in the pic would make for a tasty Friday night fish fry as a bonus.
Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 11/18/15 03:39 AM
Wondered what happened to this bobcat.....saw it last year on camera. Looks like she had a kitten.

As seen on one of my game cams this week.



Posted By: Dave Davidson1 Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 11/18/15 12:26 PM
That's neat
Posted By: Pat Williamson Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 11/18/15 04:00 PM
Saw a huge bobcat yesterday, maybe 25-30 lbs, big male I guess. Boy they are beautiful
Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 12/02/15 09:11 PM
Well there is something you don't see every day........

A Bald Eagle just hit a fish in my pond. Hope he is only taking out bass that are 14" and under. smile
Posted By: Dave Davidson1 Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 12/03/15 11:27 AM
It would be worth it to me.
Posted By: FireIsHot Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 12/03/15 12:52 PM
So we had this resident mallard that decided he liked Cargill fish food. He knew when every throw was, and would paddle over to the downwind side of the feeders, and get all the food that floated away. In short, he was a pet.

So one day I'm sitting in the office, and see this huge Bald Eagle repeatedly dive bombing our mallard. My boss is wanting to run out and scare the eagle off, and I'm wanting to wait and let nature take it's course. It was just to close to a National Geographic moment to be interfered with. After repeated failed attempts, the Bald Eagle gave up, and just flew over to the dam and watched the mallard swim away.

This summer, our mallard was molting and ultimately got permanently retired by a big red tailed hawk.
Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 12/04/15 11:52 PM
Another nice fish today........


Posted By: Bill D. Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 12/04/15 11:56 PM
That's a beauty! Any weight or length measurements?
Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 12/04/15 11:59 PM
Originally Posted By: Bill D.
That's a beauty! Any weight or length measurements?


We tried and tried to get the digital scales to work. Naturally right after I released him it came to life. frown
Posted By: Dave Davidson1 Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 12/05/15 12:02 AM
Really nice.
Posted By: RAH Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 12/05/15 12:19 AM
Wow!
Posted By: Snakebite Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 12/05/15 02:12 AM
Thats very impressive. wacky rigged ?
Posted By: Bill D. Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 12/05/15 02:25 AM
I'm guessing wobble head cause I know he has a good supply from a previous post and it looks like it might be one in the pic. smile
Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 12/05/15 03:35 AM
Originally Posted By: Bill D.
I'm guessing wobble head


Yes it was a Wobble Head.

Hardly anything was biting today, bass, crappie.....even the brim were slow.

Then this guy showed up and WOW!
Posted By: basslover Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 12/05/15 02:01 PM
Tbar -

Beautiful bass!
Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 12/19/15 01:29 AM
Rutro........

Previous owner had built a pond below the main pond in a low area behind the dam. Later he went back and cut the lower dam and put in a culvert to drain the area......he did not tell me why but the the utility company may have complained as it looks like it flooded their easement. Now I have to decide weather to try and relocate this dam and build another pond or just put in a BIG culvert to keep this from happening again. Its 8 feet from the road surface down to the culvert at the bottom and blew out after the recent heavy rains.

Posted By: esshup Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 12/19/15 03:35 PM
Rutro is right...........

What are those holes going parallel with the dam??
Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 12/19/15 04:48 PM
Originally Posted By: esshup
Rutro is right...........

What are those holes going parallel with the dam??



Think that is just dark colored dirt.

I have thought about building a pond here ever since I bought the property. It is a wet bog in the fall and winter.

Wonder what restrictions are for this power line easements? If I built the pond it would put water about 3 or 4 feet up on the poles.
Posted By: Flame Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 12/19/15 05:43 PM
Read your easement contract or ask the power company to provide you with a copy. Probably recorded at the courthouse. Someone at sometime signed giving them a easement and outlined any restrictions.
Posted By: John Fitzgerald Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 12/19/15 06:27 PM
I worked for an electric utility for 35 years. When someone built a pond and it put poles in the water, we usually moved the poles. I can't remember any pond causing an emergency. In fact, some poles and lines are still in ponds after many years as long as they don't have line clearance issues. Most residential distribution line easements are not recorded unless fairly recent.
Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 11/11/16 04:55 PM
Building A Bridge....


I bought a 1979 45' float for a bridge project across a creek at the back of my property. The bogies and jack legs will be cut off before the trailer is set and welded to steel post set in concrete at the corners. Yes I put the "R" in Redneck.




On edit: I priced having a bridge built and it was going to be between $9-$10k. Found the 45 foot flat bed for $3k + $900 for labor which included cutting the under carriage off, welding pipe footings and cement.
Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 11/11/16 04:57 PM
Had the trailer pulled to the back of the property and turned over so the under carriage can be cut off. Then it will be set across the creek.



I also had this little 10' X 20' cattle guard bridge built for one of the creek crossings. They welded posts to the bottom, set and marked holes, dug the holes, set it in place and poured concrete.


This skid steer dug each 4 foot hole in 20-30 seconds. I was amazed.

Setting it in the holes.

Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 11/11/16 04:58 PM
Busy week at the farm.......

Digging clay to build up the tank dam and repair the spillway on this small pond. They also repaired two other pond tank dams on the property.





Bridge #1 set in place. Dirt/rock approaches to follow.



Bridge #2 set in place. This was a 45 foot flatbed trailer that we cut the undercarriage off of. Posts were welded to the bottom.



Trackhoe carried it to the creek and set it in place. Dirt/rock approaches to follow. We will also replace the rest of the boards.



Bridge #3:

This one was built in place where the road was washed out by the heavy rains. The trackhoe pushed four ten(10) foot long 5" pipe posts(1/2" wall) into the dirt like tooth picks. They only drilled 3 foot deep pilot holes.



#3 Nearing completion. The sucker rods were heated, bent down and welded to the pipe.



We also added sucker rod to two existing cattle guards for smoother transition.



Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 11/11/16 05:01 PM
Trackhoe cleaning our our long neglected spillway.



Dozer filling in the hole.



Framing started for the new concrete spillway.

Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 11/11/16 05:04 PM
Spillway complete.......Getting rye grass started around it.
















This is the most water I have seen in the pond.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vz3YtSllWq0&feature=youtu.be
Posted By: esshup Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 11/11/16 05:16 PM
Dang, that looks great!!
Posted By: Zep Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 11/11/16 05:44 PM
Lance that bridge is a great idea. I was thinking earlier this week about basically the same thing. I have a small but deep creek I want to put a small bridge across and I was thinking about ways to do it. I want to be able to drive ATV's across it...will discuss it with you tomorrow.

Here is the creek (with some friends being goofy):


Posted By: FireIsHot Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 11/11/16 06:12 PM
Tbar, great to have you posting again.

I've never seen a spillway quite that nice. Strong work.
Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 11/15/16 01:29 AM
A little DIY culvert work today at the cabin property.

Many thanks to my Son, DIL and Wife for helping.











Posted By: Zep Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 11/15/16 02:07 PM
nice work...love the woods.
Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 12/31/16 10:14 PM
First hunt with the new thermal. A little rusty the first time out but I hope to get better.

Shots were made from 200 yards off a fixed mount.



Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 01/01/17 05:17 PM
Black Belly Whistling ducks, aka Tree ducks in the yard this morning. They weren't afraid of me.

I got within 20 yards to take this picture.


Posted By: ewest Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 01/01/17 07:59 PM
Nice pics !!!!!
Posted By: Zep Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 01/01/17 11:02 PM
great pic...

today started out foggy and misty and turned nice this afternoon....

that scope looks crazy
Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 04/11/17 01:50 PM
In an effort build the soil and prevent erosion I have added hay to the back side of my dam. The topsoil is thin and in some places non existent in others(bare hard clay in spots). It won't look very nice for a couple of years but once it decays I hope to get a nice stand of grass. I will probably sprig it next year. FWIW.....this hay was full of seeds. I wonder if they will sprout?

Three year old moldy hay was used.



Rolled the bails down hill then spread it out.



Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 04/11/17 02:02 PM
An area of concern I could use some input on.

I had a seep in the dam before I had the spillway poured. The leak disappeared for 6 months after packing the ditch and pouring concrete but now has reappeared right next to the spillway.

You can see a seep of water going over the side of the concrete but the majority is moving parallel to it about 4' feet to the right.

Will this be a problem for the spillway?

Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 08/03/17 12:59 AM
Beautiful day at the farm. I cannot believe it is August in Texas......we stayed in the 80's all day. I cut the yard and did a little fishing and barely broke a sweat.





Posted By: Zep Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 08/03/17 01:29 AM
Nice fish...place looks great.
Posted By: anthropic Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 08/03/17 04:47 AM
Gorgeous water & nice fish. Congratulations!
Posted By: TGW1 Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 08/03/17 10:59 AM
Nice place Tbar nice fish too
Posted By: Flame Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 08/03/17 12:48 PM
Beautiful place Tbar!!! Is that sawgrass clumps in the pond? I have sawgrass growing all along the edge of mine. Don't really know how it got started.
Posted By: Pat Williamson Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 08/03/17 01:16 PM
Gorgeous place..... T what did the fish weigh? Estimate will be fine
Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 08/03/17 01:57 PM
Originally Posted By: Flame
Beautiful place Tbar!!! Is that sawgrass clumps in the pond? I have sawgrass growing all along the edge of mine. Don't really know how it got started.

I think it is Bull Rush.

Originally Posted By: Pat Williamson
Gorgeous place..... T what did the fish weigh? Estimate will be fine

Estimate.......4#-5#'s.
Posted By: Snakebite Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 08/03/17 03:56 PM
Good looking place Tbar. Nice catch too
Posted By: ewest Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 08/04/17 02:17 AM
Beautiful !!!!
Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 08/17/17 01:17 AM
Hated to find this.........he died in my front pasture after getting hit by a car.

Game warden said it was a 16pt almost a 17pts.



Posted By: Pat Williamson Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 08/17/17 01:53 AM
What a shame! Sorry to hear that
Posted By: djstauder Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 08/17/17 12:53 PM
Tbar, that is a shame, for sure. Kinda morbid question though... what do you do with that dead carcass? did the DWF person take it away?
Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 08/17/17 09:20 PM
Originally Posted By: djstauder
Tbar, that is a shame, for sure. Kinda morbid question though... what do you do with that dead carcass? did the DWF person take it away?


No he didn't take it. I was going to drag him to the back but ran out of time.

The buzzards and coyotes will have completely stripped clean in 3 days. Nothing but a little hide and skeleton. I will get the rack if there is anything left of it.
Posted By: djstauder Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 08/18/17 01:22 PM
Will the rack stay in velvet or will the velvet come off?
Posted By: Pat Williamson Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 08/18/17 02:48 PM
Will stay on but coyotes prolly will eat it cause it's relatively soft
Posted By: esshup Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 08/18/17 09:13 PM
That would be cool if you could get it mounted. They can preserve it the the velvet on.
Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 08/26/17 12:46 AM
What a difference a week makes.

Yotes were a little hard on his head.




Posted By: djstauder Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 08/28/17 01:36 PM
Wow. Nothing goes to waste
Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 11/27/17 01:58 AM
11:15am this morning my wife hears the pig alarm go off at the feeder.

She takes a quick look through the binoculars and confirms they are there and sends me a text.

I am fishing in the boat on the pond and return to shore, drive the mule back to the house, get the gun out of the gun case, load it, walk to my shooting station(200yrds from the feeder), aim and fire.   

The new 20" 6.8SPC rifle isn't virgin anymore. One pig dropped where he stood.



I eat a quick lunch when I get back then go back to fishing.......slowly trolling a crappie jig behind the boat. I had some success and added them to my fish holding pen.

Is this a white crappie?




Posted By: Bill D. Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 11/27/17 03:45 AM
FWIW IMO BCP
Posted By: wbuffetjr Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 11/27/17 11:16 AM
Wow! Nice place and nice shot Tbar!
Posted By: rjackson Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 11/27/17 08:18 PM
The solo crappie is White. The top 3 on the stringer are Black, and the bottom one is White.
Posted By: Pat Williamson Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 11/27/17 08:35 PM
Nice T
Was the piggy an eater or coyote fodder? Nice crappie. How large is your pond?
Posted By: Bill D. Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 11/27/17 09:47 PM
Originally Posted By: rjackson
The solo crappie is White. The top 3 on the stringer are Black, and the bottom one is White.


I take back my original guess of all BCP and agree with you. I can see the vertical bars on the 2 whites now when I take a second look.
Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 11/27/17 10:01 PM
Originally Posted By: Pat Williamson
Nice T
Was the piggy an eater or coyote fodder? Nice crappie. How large is your pond?


I went to roll him over and he was covered with ticks and fleas. I mean COVERED!

After the buzzards and bald eagle have their fill the yotes will get the rest.

My pond is ~ 5 acres.
Posted By: Dave Davidson1 Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 11/29/17 01:03 AM
The pigs we hunt are pretty clean. And plentiful, really plentiful.
Posted By: Bill D. Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 11/29/17 02:25 AM
I'm curious. With the ever growing feral pig population down south, is there an increase in the predator, like coyote, populations? Are folks less likely to shoot predators now that the pigs are out of control?
Posted By: Pat Williamson Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 11/29/17 04:44 AM
Bill you bring up a good point. Our fawn crop was high this year due to rain at critical times and possibly and I mean possibly coyotes hitting the yoy pigs instead of fawns! Jury is still out if that is the reason for good survival of fawns. We have discussed the possibility that they are helping keep the population of pigs down somewhat. I still pop the yotes if I get a chance....... oh well
Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 11/29/17 01:06 PM
I'm not an expert but I don't think yotes would risk taking a piglet with full grown hogs around. I don't think it would end well for them. As far as predators go I can't imagine anything short of a mountain lion willing to take the risk and that might be a stretch. Again I am not a zoologist and don't play one on tv.
Posted By: Dave Davidson1 Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 11/29/17 02:06 PM
No idea how good cats and coyotes are as hog predators. But, just in case, I don’t allow them to be shot

L
Posted By: snrub Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 11/29/17 02:12 PM
We raised domestic hogs for a number of years. At our farrowing house we had an outside piglet feeder that as the weaning pigs reached about 10 pounds up to about 40 they could go outside any time of day or night and eat.

Woke up to a pig squealing and the sows all up in arms and making racket. This was in the middle of the night. Checked on them and the sows had settled down by the time I got out there. Few nights went by and same thing happened. Can't remember for sure but I think these pigs were 20-30 pounds and were still suckling and running with the sows in a common area (old school weaning pig raising, not like the new confinement stuff).

Happened again and did a head count and we were loosing pigs. Moved the small piglet feeder from just outside to one of the stalls within the barn where the sows slept and no more problems.

The feeder, even though just outside the shed, was located such that a coyote could sneak up, snatch a pig, take off running with it and before the sows could come to its rescue after waking up to the squealing and getting outside the building, the coyote with pig in mouth was gone. Once we had actually heard the squeal rapidly moving across the open pasture. Was an eighth mile to any timber cover.

Coyotes are pretty clever and resourceful animals.

I leave them be here unless they cause some problem. But then I do not have calves or other livestock any more. Likely would feel different if I had chickens or sheep.
Posted By: TGW1 Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 11/29/17 02:42 PM
I would have to agree that a yote would have little problem getting piglets. My reasoning is due to seeing what a Hog dog will do and the other is yotes may also run in packs where one might occupy the sow while others might take a pig or two. But! I am no expert with all that
Posted By: Pat Williamson Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 11/29/17 11:10 PM
Since yotes do run in packs at time I'm thinking that they run in an cripple a piglet and come back or flat run off with it. I understand that sows have up to 10 at a time. We usually only see three or 4 at a time making me think something is curbing the numbers somewhat. Can't be sure tho not knowing how many the sow had.
Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 06/04/18 03:28 PM
Originally Posted By: Tbar
June 15, 2015

Cage is complete.....delivering to the dock.



It is very buoyant so I drilled holes in it so it would sink. I have two sets of mounting brackets.....one set low and one set high when you want to net them out.






Interesting observation.

In the past I have noticed the crappie I put in this cage were fatter/larger after being in captivity for several weeks. I just thought it was my imagination.

Fast forward to yesterday........We caught a bunch over the weekend and when I went to net them out for cleaning dozens of 1-1/2" fingerlings showed up in the dip net.

It makes me wonder if the small fish are using the sides of the cage for cover not realizing there were predators on the other side.....???

Does this sound reasonable??? With 37 crappie in the basket I can't believe small fish would be anywhere near it.
Posted By: Zep Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 06/04/18 07:27 PM
saw your crappie pics on Facebook....holy moly!
Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 06/13/18 12:24 AM
I was fishing today trying to cull some small bass when this one hit the white H&H.

6-1/4#’s
23-1/2”





On another note, so far this year I am seeing far less parasites on my fish compared to last year. The CNBG are looking great..... Knock on wood.
Posted By: highflyer Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 06/13/18 03:29 AM
The cull is helping! But the RW is still too low. Keep it up!
Posted By: Zep Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 06/14/18 10:36 PM
Originally Posted By: Tbar
I was fishing today trying to cull some small bass when this one hit the white H&H.

Great fish Tbar!

The H&H is one of the most under-rated spinner-baits ever & cheaper than most spinner-baits.

I've always had good luck with them.

They remind me of the 1970's.

Posted By: ewest Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 06/15/18 02:37 PM
That LMB is in good condition for this time of year.
Posted By: DrLuke Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 07/04/18 06:43 PM
Sounds like a great day at the pond! Have a great 4th!
Posted By: RAH Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 07/04/18 07:30 PM
Have you ever heard off snappers injuring swimmers? Let em be.
Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 07/04/18 09:40 PM
Sorry for the double post but I wanted to put this in this thread.

Nests uncovered by receding water line. Ball point pin for size reference.

http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Main=37964&Number=494428#Post494428






Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 08/29/18 01:01 AM
Went out to fish for culls this evening and instead caught this. Could be the twin to the one above. If Bob is right that bass caught in waters above 80 degrees will die from stress then I just killed another nice bass. I would be better off not fishing for culls at all until fall. Culls - 0

23-1/2” 6#’s

Posted By: anthropic Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 08/29/18 05:08 AM
Beautiful fish, I bet over 7 pounds during prespawn. Hope it makes it!
Posted By: highflyer Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 08/29/18 01:31 PM
Lance,

According to the RW calculator at 23.5 inches, a 100% fish should weigh 7.67 pounds if I am reading it right.
Posted By: Zep Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 08/29/18 01:44 PM
Lance what did you catch it on?
Posted By: JKS3613 Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 08/29/18 04:01 PM
I just read this thread from start to finish and what a great read! Enjoyed watching all of your projects come to fruition Tbar. Beautiful place you have there! Keep up the great work.
Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 08/29/18 05:13 PM
Originally Posted By: Zep
Lance what did you catch it on?


Bettle Spin

Posted By: anthropic Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 08/29/18 05:59 PM
Great lure. And single hook makes it easier to release!
Posted By: Bocomo Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 08/29/18 06:55 PM
Originally Posted By: highflyer
Lance,

According to the RW calculator at 23.5 inches, a 100% fish should weigh 7.67 pounds if I am reading it right.


That's around 80% RW. You sure that's not a cull fish?
Posted By: TGW1 Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 08/29/18 07:03 PM
I think it is a nice looking fish. The head fits the body, not a big headed small body lmb. I think the summer months here in E. Texas warms the water temps quite high and make them less likely to feed. I'm no expert but I think if I had a fish that looked like that in August I might return it to the pond. Depending if I had a lot of 6 to 7" bg for them to feed on. And what if the lmb was to eat a 7" bg just before it was caught, how would that improve the weight at the time of the fish being weighed?
Posted By: Mike Whatley Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 08/29/18 07:48 PM
Originally Posted By: TGW1
I think it is a nice looking fish. The head fits the body, not a big headed small body lmb. I think the summer months here in E. Texas warms the water temps quite high and make them less likely to feed. I'm no expert but I think if I had a fish that looked like that in August I might return it to the pond. Depending if I had a lot of 6 to 7" bg for them to feed on. And what if the lmb was to eat a 7" bg just before it was caught, how would that improve the weight at the time of the fish being weighed?


When I used to fish bass tournaments (40+ a year), nothing was more frustrating than to catch a really nice bass, all fat and healthy, drop it in the live well and later find it had coughed up a 6 inch BG. I could see that paycheck slipping away!! Sometimes it only took ounces to either be in the money or just another donater.
Posted By: FireIsHot Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 08/29/18 09:46 PM
I think that fish looks good for late summer. She'd definitely stay in the pond here. We're having the second hottest summer in recorded history, and it's definitely affected feeding patterns.
Posted By: Bocomo Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 08/29/18 10:01 PM
That fish would stay in my pond, too, as it's at least 2# over our pond record, HA!
Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 10/08/18 08:58 PM
FWIW, I am having my pond electrofished Thursday(time TBA) 10/11/18 if anyone wants to come by and watch. We will also be doing some culling.....LMB, BC, CC, etc.
Posted By: wbuffetjr Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 10/08/18 10:06 PM
Tbar plz post some videos of the elctroshocking if you don't mind! To me, that would be very cool to see.
Posted By: Mike Whatley Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 10/09/18 12:58 AM
Tbar, I want to know where you got your hands on those H&H spinnerbaits. When my dad was taking me fishing as a kid, they were the "go to" bait down here. Haven't seen one on the shelf in ages, and thought they'd gone out of business.
Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 10/09/18 01:11 AM
Originally Posted By: Mike Whatley
Tbar, I want to know where you got your hands on those H&H spinnerbaits. When my dad was taking me fishing as a kid, they were the "go to" bait down here. Haven't seen one on the shelf in ages, and thought they'd gone out of business.


I get them at Wally World...... grin
Posted By: jludwig Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 10/09/18 11:43 AM
Originally Posted By: Mike Whatley
Tbar, I want to know where you got your hands on those H&H spinnerbaits. When my dad was taking me fishing as a kid, they were the "go to" bait down here. Haven't seen one on the shelf in ages, and thought they'd gone out of business.


I get them at Academy.

H and H Website
Posted By: Mike Whatley Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 10/09/18 12:04 PM
I'll have to look next time I'm there...thanks.
Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 10/17/18 10:02 PM
Corn Coma......

So full of my corn they passed out.

Looking at them you would think the corn in my feeder was fermented.

Posted By: Pat Williamson Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 10/18/18 04:16 PM
They do that around here
Posted By: highflyer Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 10/19/18 12:00 PM
How many got turned into bacon?
Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 10/19/18 05:45 PM
Originally Posted By: highflyer
How many got turned into bacon?


None. We have been kind of busy and it has been a while since I have had the opportunity.
Posted By: snrub Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 10/19/18 06:01 PM
Just need a corral! Get them used to coming in for feed and have a remote gate closer and pen them up.

It is easy for us guys that don't have problems with them to give advice! laugh
Posted By: Pat Williamson Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 10/19/18 06:31 PM
I’ve been setting out at nite shooting them in our 5ac food plot...... 3 so far but hasn’t deterred them from rooting up the fresh planted seed..... ugh
Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 10/22/18 01:39 PM
We had the electrofishing survey done over the weekend.

Will be interesting to see the data.

Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 10/22/18 01:41 PM
Dialing them up......


Posted By: snrub Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 10/22/18 02:49 PM
Pretty neat!

Nice looking LMB and RES.

Are you happy with the fish you saw?
Posted By: Zep Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 10/22/18 05:38 PM
Originally Posted By: Tbar
Dialing them up.....


That's always an interesting and informative day.
Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 01/01/19 09:56 PM
Another big sow down. 200 yards placed right behind the ear. DRT. Doesn't get much better than that. Regret I did not get a video of it. I am still impressed with this 18” IWT 6.8SPC and IR Hunter Mark III 60mm.








Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 01/01/19 10:28 PM
Best laid plans last week.......

A friend and I were going to do some load development work for one of my rifles at the shooting range below the spillway but it was underwater. The weather was bitterly cold too. So that was a bust.

Shooting range under water. Pond releasing lots of water.

Posted By: highflyer Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 01/01/19 11:51 PM
Nice hog! Keep up the good work.

That's a lot of water. Are you getting a good flushing?
Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 01/02/19 12:07 AM
Originally Posted By: highflyer
Nice hog! Keep up the good work.

That's a lot of water. Are you getting a good flushing?


Yes, we have had over 5" the last couple of weeks.
Posted By: Zep Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 01/02/19 12:18 AM
Lance nice hog! It's crazy the rain we are getting....when I got to my place on Sunday the top of my fixed dock was missing. WTH? We could not find it. We assumed it might have came loose and sunk. After more searching we found the Trex dock walkway floating in shallow water at the other end of the pond. It was obvious that sometime last week the pond water came over my fixed dock. Partly my fault because I told the dock builder I wanted the dock as close to the water surface as possible and didn't care if it got submerged ever few years. I guess once the dock was submerged it popped the attachments holding it to the braces which he now admits were "not heavy duty" attachments. We'll try to re-attach this coming Saturday. Supposed to be sunny and 61, but will be cold in that water...lol

Dock when first built:


Dock support braces missing walkway:


Missing Trex walkway found:

Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 01/02/19 12:22 AM
Oh no Mark......I hope you can get it reattached.
Posted By: Zep Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 01/02/19 12:31 AM
Originally Posted By: Tbar
Oh no Mark......I hope you can get it reattached.


He says he can do it....but that thing once we get it back over there is going to be heavy as hell out in the cold water. He says he has a "trick" that will do it. We'll see.
Posted By: Dave Davidson1 Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 01/02/19 02:09 PM
That trick ought to be interesting
Posted By: highflyer Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 01/02/19 03:31 PM
Mark, take pictures of the trick. Heck Video might be better...
Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 03/30/19 03:21 AM
Originally Posted By: Tbar
We had the electrofishing survey done over the weekend.

Will be interesting to see the data.


Well, I don’t know where he was during the electro-fishing survey back in the fall........but he sure was AWOL.

7.2#’s which I guess isn’t bad for a farm pond. Still trying to break 8#’s though.

Posted By: gehajake Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 03/30/19 03:25 PM
If he has, or he can rent airbags that can be inflated under the dock and hoist it up to a higher elevation float it over its posts and let the air out of the bags lowering it to the top of the posts to be fastened back down.
Posted By: highflyer Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 03/31/19 02:31 PM
Lance,
Nice looking fish! How long? Did you get the RW and gape for Bill?
Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 10/13/19 08:16 PM
So I set a game camera outside the farm house as a make shift security measure and look at the crew I found casing the
joint. shocked










Actually they were after the acorns under the tree outside our bedroom window. grin
Posted By: highflyer Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 10/13/19 08:50 PM
Best thing I have seen on one of your game cams in a long time!!

Looks very Healthy for sure, and I get to say, Nice Rack!!
Posted By: Tbar Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 12/27/21 12:34 AM
Live and learn. 5 years down the road and erosion has eaten away at the banks under my bridges necessitating they be reworked. Original Build


Bridge one has had rock added under and around it, 10' added to the length and it has been raised 12"....more like 18".

[Linked Image from i.ibb.co]


Bridge two has had rock added under it and around it as well as the center boards replaced. The cattle didn't do me any favors either walking down the sides of the bridge creating channels for rain water to carry away the dirt.

[Linked Image from i.ibb.co]


Bridge three has rail road ties and rock added as well as 10' added to the length.

[Linked Image from i.ibb.co]


I hope these repairs will last a little longer.
Posted By: Sunil Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 12/27/21 03:39 AM
Hard core!!!!!
Posted By: esshup Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 12/27/21 05:50 AM
I think they will last more than 10 years. Good going!!!
Posted By: CityDad Re: Progress At The Farm.......... - 12/28/21 02:25 AM
Dam


That's a good looking bridge

*badumtish*
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