Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Raising Forage and Bait blocking net minnow nursery?

Hi all,

I'm considering trying to block off a section of my 1/2 acre pond with a minnow seine to assist in FHM production. I'd appreciate any input from anyone who has tried this. Particularly with the minimum size of area necessary. My thought is to put up the net in the spring and move minnows to the main pond during the summer, and then take down the net in late fall. Will fry stay in the protected area with the proper hiding places after they hatch or will they tend to move through the seine and equilibrate with the rest of the pond as they hatch. I have a 2 year old pond with 1 yr old LMB, YP, BG and I did stock FHM which already appear to be wiped out and shiner breeders. Thanks for any help.

I now see from other posts that others have tried this or similar ideas (cages) with minnows. I don't see any claiming success yet. Would an area as small as 5X10' along a shallow bank, be successful with the proper spawning structure. I'd appreciate any thoughts from those that use cages as this might be an option.

BZ,

Hopefully, somebody with a better memory than me will post. Eric West (EWEST) has published quite a bit about blocking nets, here on the forum, and in Pond Boss Magazine. Several others, particularly Bill Cody and Cecil Baird, have written in Pond Boss Magazine and posted extensively here, about building and using cages.

In the last couple of years, quite a bit has been written and presented about what you want to do.

The only caution I have is that you need really good weights at the bottom of a blocking net, and you need really good floats at the top of the blocking net. You can probably guess how I know this. Chain works well on the bottom. Swimming pool "noodles" make pretty good floats.

Many here have had success with blocking nets and cages.

Oh, and welcome to Pond Boss. It is a great group of helpful and friendly people, backed by a magazine every pond owner should subscribe to.

Good fishn'
Ken

Small minnows will move through or past the net seeking better food sources and less competition. Minnows will be hard to raise in a cage because of bio-fouling and clogging of small mesh needed to contain the small fish. IMO neither methods are good or even marginal for raising additional FHM in a pond. IMO FHM are a poor choice of fish to use as a forage fish with an already established fish population (LMB-YP) unless one wants very short life spans of the forage fish.

Consider golden shiners or banded killifish for you purposes perhaps... Both can be found from hatchery sources.