Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose Blanco Flooding -- new fish over spillway?

We built a 9 acre pond last fall at a place in Blanco County, TX. It has since been stocked with Copper Nose bluegill, redear, fat head minnows, shad and 900 LMB fingerlings. Then the May floods hit Blanco. The dam came close to washing out but, held. Water gushed over the spillway for several weeks. What are the odds the fished washed over the spillway? Any suggestions of what we should do to see if we still have fish? Thanks all.

There's a 100% chance that you lost some fish. However, I'll bet that you can toss out some food(assuming they are feed trained) and get a good response. Most fish try to go upstream in a high water event. I wouldn't rush to go out and restock.

besides just fishing it, seining or throwing a castnet may give you an idea.

FWIW it's usually in these fish's instincts to swim upstream in a flood (or stay put) so you may be better off than you think.

Great news and thank you for the comments; Will sleep better!

Glad your Dam survived the huge rains you had, Encino!!! As Dave and taylor mentioned, most fish swim upstream in flowing water events like this. Your species mentioned will stay put or move into inflowing water if not really fast currents. Most will return as water inflow slows and gets shallower

I wouldn't be concerned with the small numbers (and mostly smaller sized) of fish that get caught in the currents over the spillway. How far are you away from a fish-holding stream? High water events are the most common way unwanted fish enter a pond or lake. GSF, bullheads, and others can swim against a pretty strong current, even small waterfalls, and jump.