Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Corrective stocking BG Stocked (pic)

Went fishing today and added another 70 bluegill acouple perch and a shinner.Most of these bg are 3-6''. I want to keep feeding them pellets and hope that they will replace some of the bigger ones that I plan on harvesting this winter through the ice. I also have been keeping the bg population high trying to produce lots of fry for the black crappie, perch, and lmb. I've added acouple of rock piles with both flat and round rocks and the minnows seem to realy like them.I was wondering how many bg is to many in a half acre pond? I've probly got 300 if I were to guess.

I really hope those were not the BG that you stocked into your pond. When restocking fish it is a big no no to let the fish touch the ground before returning it to the water. Lying on the ground removes lots of the slime layer and the fish is very likely to get a fungal growth/infection which will likely lead to death. Dead fish often do not float.

P.S. It also looks like at least one of the fish on the ground is a hybrid bluegill (HBG).

I had no idea about them touching the ground, thanks for the advise. I've never had a problem with doing it bofore but, I will keep it in mind for future stocking. Thanks.

When fish lose the slime layer and touch the ground, the ground contact can introduce many forms of bacteria and fungi to the exposed skin/scale area. You may have had a problem in the past, you just never saw the results of dead fish. The removal of the slime layer becomes more important in contributing to deaths depending on several factors such as how soon fish can get ample food to replace slime layers, water temperature, length of time out of water, types of bacteria, fungi, virus, on ground, amount of human handling, conditions of transfer, and amount of stressors after stocking, in-pond stresses can be numerous and varied. Allowing a fish to touch the ground out of the water is basically a death sentence to that fish. Only a few are able to survive that "rough" handling. When people drain a pond where they have been stocking numerous larger fish over the years, they always say "What happened to all those fish I put in there?"

Probably half the fish that I've caught and placed in my fish corral spent time on the ground before going in. That same percentage of fish have either died or show signs of infections. Needless to say I've become much more careful with the new fish.

Bill I had no idea and that is why I enjoy this web site so much.The fish weere only on the ground long enough to get a pic but, I do realize this dosen't matter. I guess I better tell my children when there down to the pond fishing and catch the fish not to drag them out and let them flop around on the ground until they figure out how to get the hook out of them . I get most of the fish from a pond down the road from me about 400 yds and there are lots of them in there to get. I guess if the ones I put in don't make it I 'll keep going back for more. It took me only acouple of hours to catch those 70 I put in. What a wonderful web site once again always learning something new..

I also see lots of females, and a few good males. I would cull all but the largest and best conditioned females.

Our Mentor Bob Lusk posted this info about infections from improper handling of fish in another topic. It is good information and also applicable here in this topic. I copied and pasted it for those interested in some extra information. Bob mentions that even handling a fish with dry hands wipes slime layers from the fish. Think what is done to the fish when it flops around on the ground. Plus contact with the ground adds bacterial - fungal organisms that can infect the freshly exposed fish's skin.

Bob says - "" Here's the way it works...a fish's slime coat is its first line of defense against disease. When a fish is handled, the slime coat is compromised, unless the handler's hands are wet. If you feel slime on your hands after handling a fish, that fish's slime is compromised. A fish put into a live well or otherwise kept out of its native habitat will begin to slough its slime as a defense mechanism to ward off the "foreign objects" such as hands and live well walls, etc. Given enough time, the fish will regenerate its slime. Bacteria attacks while the fish is in its most weakened state.
Salt dehydrates the slime cells, keeping the fish from sloughing it into the water as it generates new slime. The salt removes water from the cells forming the slime, making it more "sticky" and less like to come off the fish. Salt also fights bacteria.
It's one of the few approved "chemicals" for use to prevent or treat diseases in fish.
I use three pounds of salt in 100 gallons of water. It's a cardinal rule for handling warmwater freshwater fish.
For those of you who have handled shad, especially as bait, remember what happens when you catch them in a cast net and put them into your bait well. The water foams up, the fish turn color and then they die. That's because shad are delicate and that slimy, gooey slime coat is easily taken off. It's just that with shad, you see the consequences quickly. With other fish as bluegill or bass or redear sunfish, etc., they don't show the results as fast. A mishandled fish as bass may not die for several days, after the slime coat was compromised. The cause of death may be a bacteria, but the bacteria is the second factor in line. As a matter of fact, the stressor is losing the slime, followed by bacterial infection and finalized with a fungal growth that finishes the fish.
An antibiotic in the water serves to eliminate external bacteria in the water, to put off its attack on a weakened fish.
So, salt in fresh water to handle fish is a good idea. It's not necessary in a pond environment, simply because the fish lives there and isn't confined.""