Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations Spawning Habitat for Fatheads????

I have an existing 1 1/2 acre pond that I'm putting 15lbs of fatheads in later this week. I don't have a lot of cover around the edge of my pond. So my question is: What is the best thing I can put around the edge so they can hide from the bass as well as give them a good place to spawn?

Welcome to the forum gaboy.

Have you tried browsing through the "creating habitat" forum?

Here is a place to start.

http://www.pondboss.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=postlist&Board=4&page=1

I'm about to go fishing so I can't give you much more right now. What kinds of materials do you have access to?

Try this from the archives.


http://www.pondboss.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=115165#Post115165

It seems like I have heard that fatheads do not do well in ponds that are primarily open water, that they are eaten too quickly. Is this true?

Yes. They are slow and easily caught by many predators.

That is what I thought. That kind of limits my options when it comes to food sources. I have not found any suppliers of TFS anywhere near. All of the closest hatcheries only supply fatheads as a food source. My ponds are wide open, with structure only around the edges. I am leaning towards managing the existing population for, since there are both bass and bluegill present. While I wasn't planning on stocking anything, I was just toying with adding a food species to the mix.

Sandman:

What did you finally decide to do? I am in NE Texas and pondering the same thing.

Jerry G.

For the time being, I am going to work with what I have (for a year or two at least). Once I have a better handle on what I have and whether what I am doing is working, I may add some CNBG, but I am very reluctant to put a lot of money into it for several reasons. First of all, although I haven't yet seen it in the four years we have owned it, I have been told that the river does sometimes get high enough to back up into the ponds, and that might negate any stocking I do. Secondly, there are a lot of uninvited guests who visit the ponds when I am not around. We have posted it and gated it which has cut down on that but has not eliminated it.