Hi all, new guy here.

I have a very well established 40 yr old 1 ac pond, 9 ft deep when full. It had a lot(easy to catch) of LMB , none over 17"(thought I needed more forage) and not too many sunfish. Also had a few old, large cc & bc from way back when.

Here's what I did. I let a guy from Arkansas talk me into stocking the following: 700 10-15" cc, 500 HBG, 500 CNB, 500 RES, with the sunfish being between 3-6 inches..

I am feeding on a daily basis, via an automatic feeder at a rate of about 10 lbs per day.

This has always been a fertile pond. I am not currently areating, but I am planning to next spring. (2010)

Can this pond sustain this many fish, or have I really screwed the pooch?

Thanks in advance

Howdy, PFV, and welcome to the forum.

IMHO 700 CC is plenty for 10 acres of water. It would not be way too many IF you had a 1 acre CC-only pond. In a fed pond with other fish species, you may will have too large a mass of catfish sooner than you think.

Get real good at catching and eating catfish. Find friends and relatives who enjoy the same.

I see that as the biggest problem with the added fish. I suspect the HBG were largely wasted money, but they shouldn't cause a problem.

If you are interested in larger bass, removing some of the existing skinny, crowded bass will be a must. Doing so before stocking additional forage would probably have been advised, but since your stockers went up to 6" in length, hopefully many of the CNBG & RES will survive and spawn.

In summary:
1. Remove CC as soon as they reach eating size (1-1.5 lbs & up)
2. By all means, aerate.
3. We've seen bigger mistakes here. Most of us have made them.

Thank you Theo. I should have done more research before letting them put so many fish in my pond. My bad. Lesson learned.

Trust me when I say we LOVES us some catfish, and these lil fellows will be swimmin in Crisco Lake as soon they get big enough.

I thought about putting in a fish trap or two when they get to eating size, and help speed the population reduction along.

Welcome, PFV! Whereabouts in Texas are you?

I just want to clarify--is your pond 1 acre or 10 acres? That could change the advice Theo gave above.

What are your goals for the pond?

A balanced pond will USUALLY hold about 100 pounds of predators. Yeah, you got some lousy advice on the cats. Start catching and eating.

I would PERSONALLY try to eliminate the HBG's. They will only spawn somewhat and produce only green sunfish, a highly prized specimen for some of us and a dreaded curse to some of the weenies here.

North Texas.

Goals for the pond...grow some big ole channel cats and have a healthier bass population. Not looking for trophy fish, just bigger than I have now.

Why the heck would this guy do this knowing that now I will NEVER buy anything else from him?

I am tempted to list the name of the fishery here to possibly save someone else this headache

I'm like davasta I need to know size of the pond. If 10 acres the advice is not that bad. Why b/c most fish dealers are tyring to get the sell why they can and do think longterm sales just immediate.

I learned a great new phrase!

Welcome PFV. You have found the solution to any of your pond issues. These guys are absolutely awesome. Your particular situation may require a good dose of patence while you correct the CC issue, but these guys will work you through it, and you will be successful if you'll heed their advise.

Good luck. And I'm likin me some "Crisco Lake" action. Kool.

I think the fish trap idea is good. You're gonna be doing a lot of fish trying to keep up with 700 CC. Work on catching as many CC as you can. You also need to remove probably about as many bass as you can catch as well. As has already been said, a 1 acre pond can only support 100 pounds of predators. Those include, bass, catfish and larger HBG... That adds up REALLY quick!

That is just moronic the number of CC that the hatchery owner sold you. As previously noted, you wouldn't stock even a fraction that many unless you were running a catfish farm and wanted to have the fish stacked on top of each other so people could catch them easier. And even in that circumstance it would NEVER be done without an aerator running twenty-four-seven.

Estimating on the low side: if there were 100 LMB already in the pond and they averaged one pound, and the CC you added averaged a half-pound (they averaged more than that if there were many that went 15"), and the HBG and CNB and RES averaged three ounces which they would unless all of them were 3", you've got 750 pounds of fish in that one-acre pond right now, and that's not counting the few large BC and CC you say already existed in the pond before the new stocking. The standard wisdom is that a properly-fertilized and fed pond can support as much as 500 pounds per acre; you're already 50% above that. Unless large numbers of the HBG and CNB and RES got eaten, you could easily be in danger of a fish kill right now, before the new fish grow even a millimeter.

I would aerate IMMEDIATELY. And invite the local Boy Scout troop, or perhaps every troop in a five-county radius, for a catfish-fishing rodeo, and give prizes for the kids that catch the most catfish. Set trotlines. Set jugs and limblines. But get them out of there or you will certainly have a fish kill. Not to mention you'll have to mortage your house to pay for the fish chow they'll eat.

quote "Set trotlines. Set jugs and limblines. But get them out of there or you will certainly have a fish kill. Not to mention you'll have to mortage your house to pay for the fish chow they'll eat."

+1

The fish farm guy wasn't moronic, he made out like a bandit!

If it were me, I'd name the fish farm who did this to me... Any fish farmer who sells that many fish to a person with a pond that size deserves to be called out on it!

I agree 100%, CJ. I almost said he should call him out, but that's my natural tendency anyway so I thought I would wait and see what others said. But the more I thought about it, the more I thought, this guy is ruining people's ponds just to make money. He deserves to be called out.

Welcome to the forum - sorry it's under these circumstances [better than a fish kill, tho!] - but you definitely have found a forum full of expert guidance that won't allow it to happen twice! Glad to have you here.

BTW - I am in absolute agreement with Walt and Travis' sentiments. The advice this fisheries/hatchery rep provided you was poor and selfserving - allowing this guy to do it again to any of our TX pondmeisters would be sinful. Just my $.02.

Get your turkey livers ready and swim the trot lines!

PFV, where in North Texas are you? No shortage of resources except in the Panhandle.

I am near Dallas.

And I am just about in agreement about naming the jerk.

Let me just say this, guys. If you see an ad that says "free fish" in your local paper,and when you call them, they take all of your information, pond size, depth, etc, etc., and then they tell you that the "AQUA DOCTOR" will call you back in a couple of days and tell you how many fish you need, hang up the phone.

Man, I feel like an idiot.

And here's the real problem. I am working a very busy schedule for the next month. No time to work on this problem.

I don't live on the property where the pond is. So I'll just have to hope they make it until after August 4th. Then I will have a couple of weeks off to try and work on this problem.

PFV,
Don't, your adventure probably won't make the top 100. You have, however, become a part of a 5000 member club that will share your pain and see that you overcome your misadventures.

Rad, by "don't" I assume you mean don't name them. I prolly won't, but all kidding aside, if there is an AQUA DOCTOR involved, STEER CLEAR OF THEM!!!

No reason to...

I think you're fish will be fine until you can get to managing in August.

PVF,
By don't, I meant "don't" feel like an idiot, been there done that. Your misadventure probably wouldn't qualify in this forum anyway.

PFV, mystery solved. The Free Fish Guy has been scamming pond owners for years. He has also done time for it.

He's not a professional. He's a criminal. You're not his only victim.

He almost got me years ago when I first got started. Luckily, I made some calls and his recommendations varied quite a bit from everybody else. I called and canceled the order and he was chapped. He threatened to dump the fish at my gate. However, he refused my invitation to set a time and date for the dumping.

I would call the newspaper where he placed the ad and the local DA. I doubt that it will do any good though.

Rad, thanks, and to everyone else too for helping me not feel as bad as I could over this whole deal.

Dave, I don't doubt it one bit. He was rude as all get out, and the guys he had with him looked like, well lets just say you wouldnt trust em if you met em on the street.

I am going to call all the neighbors out there and tell em if they want free cc, come and catch em. I also have two other ponds I could stock, but one of those is awfully small, and gets real low by the end of summer.

Thanks again to all of you for the advice and understanding.

PFV, don't go and disappear on us now... Keep us updated on your progress and don't be afraid to ask questions about your future goals.

Dave, I wonder, with the shady background of said individual, if he really put in 700 cc? Most of the fish were closer to the 10" and many looked to be smaller than that. He basically weighed out 130lbs of these fish, and that's how he said they do it.

Came to about 4 full 5 gallon buckets of catfish, and I mean FULL buckets of fish.

What do you think? sound like 700 to you? Heck, I am probably just grabbing for air here. I dunno

PFV,
I was going to say that if the guy was as shady as you thought, why would he give you what he said he would? I don't know what a 10" catfish would weight, but to say there were 700 in a 130 pounds might make them really thin.

70 fish seems closer.

PFB get a throw net to thin out your fish. I have a 6 footer now and I should of picked up a 5 footer. At my age the 6 footer does not get enough good throws all at once.

You know, I am gonna weigh me a few of them buggers and as we say here in Texas, do some figuring. I'm pretty sure there were way more than 70 in there, but I am wondering if there were 700. I can catch em every cast with a wadded up piece of bread, any place along the bank, so I'm pretty sure I still have a problem, I just hope it isn't as bad as I thought.

PFV, hang on one of the fish guys will chime in on this... Greg or Todd should know how much an average 10" CC would weigh and they can tell you how many are in 130 pounds. If I had to guess I'd say about 400, not 700 though? Even at 400, you're still way over stocked...

I dug around on this forum, and found a relative weight chart.
It only goes down to 12" for CC, and it says .6lb for a 12".

I know there were more under 12" than over.

Either way, I know there are too many in there.

PFV,

I'm curious about the free fish ad and how he turns that into you paying for fish.

Can you give us the story? I assume you called for the free fish and he somehow managed to convince you that you needed to buy them.

I see that ad all the time and I've heard it's a scam.

Thanks.

If we're going to have the Free Fish Scam explained again, everybody grab a beer and sit back and enjoy DD's version. He really gets rippin'.

This Free Fish guy must be on probation. If the authorities sought to throw the book at him before, it may be as simple as them being notified that he's up to his old antics again (assuming it's the same scumbag).

Can anyone (ewest, hint hint) find the link that someone posted to the article of the Free Fish guy being arrested?

HA!

After I posted that, I did a search for "free fish" and read a few of the threads. There has been a good bit of discussion, but I still don't understand how he turns free fish into you purchase fish.

I think there are only certain species of fish which are "free," but they are always "sold out" of them.

Simple; buy one, get one free.

Rude? That guy? Heck, he called me every name in the book over the phone. But, he declined to show up and do it in person.

And yes, he really has done time for his scams.

Ask Lusk about him sometime. Bob gets pretty verbose about the guy.

Here's the link with the article also linked:

http://www.pondboss.com/forums/ubbthread...true#Post103272

Dave is right on the money. Buy one , get one free.

PFV, was the dude's name Rex Curtis?

Yes

This is classic bait and switch [pardon the pun]. Honestly I'm a little surprised my TX bros would allow a scumbag like that to exist for more than a sunset exercising those "business" tactics.

It would be nice to inform all PB forum members to steer clear of this chump. I reckon his days are numbered either legally or otherwise - one day he'll meet the wrong guy to screw over and kharma will boomerang back.

Sorry PFV - good news is you can correct the situation and you are part of the family.

I thought someone posted an article pretty recently that he was nabbed and they were throwing the book at him.

They musthav missed.

He's been nabbed a bunch of times. However, he's like the EverReady Bunny.

When he almost got me, there was no PB website to check with.

PFV, sorry you found us after the fact.

The article says he was only busted in Illinois.

Considering how many pond owners there are who have never seen nor heard of Pond Boss, this scumbag has a lot of fertile ground to sow.

Thanks to all for the "condolences". Lesson learned, new friends made.

Order some more fish from him, and when he shows up for delivery, give him a good ole fashion country a$$ whoopin. Do this several times and he'll get the mesage - maybe.

No, seriously, these guys are around. In the future, do as I have done. Before I do anything, small or as trivial as it may seem, I check in here first. I'll get honest, quicker and better advice here than from any supplier I could call. Nobody here has an agenda except to help you have a great pond. Period.

AMEN! That is why anyone who uses this forum should subscribe to Pond Boss Magazine and support this wonderful resource...

PFV,take it from me,your not an idiot,and if you are,you're small potatoes with some of the company around here.And to make you feel even better,your pond is bigger than mine,and I accidently on purpose stocked way more than you did.I spend every summer expecting a fish kill.Luckily it aint happened yet.

Thanks Tom, I appreciate it.

I am really glad to have found this place. Lots of knowledge and real good folks here. I am proud to be a part of this board.

Wish I had picked up that copy of Pond Boss Mag from Bass Pro just a little sooner. That's how I found y'all, so editors, keep selling this mag at retail locations.

Made a new suscriber out of me, I'll just say that.

And I have already sent all the "country boys" at work a link to this website, so hopefully, y'all will be getting a whole bunch of new suscribers.

http://www.katv.com/news/stories/0309/605814.html

Check this out....

What a rip-off artist.

Why ain't this sorry piece of ""fine example of someone not worth knowing"" SOB in prison?

The real kicker is he is tainting the name one of my all time faves, Rex Allen, who starred with Bruce Condello(as, Buddy Ebsen) and Slim Pickens as, well, how can you top that name.