Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Musings from the pier

Sometimes its fun just to go out to the pier and put out very small numbers of pellets of feed for several minutes and watch the fish behavior. Our water levels are falling and the water is very clear right now. The water under one pier is only a couple of feet deep.

Last evening I watched the small BG come aggressively to the feed, the Tilapia chase each other and occasionally pick off a pellet, the 4 pound plus Florida LMB that will never be caught again by artificial lures come crashing through to terrorize the BG and pick one off, and most surprisingly, the HSB come into 1 to 2 feet of water looking for feed. The book says HSB do not go into shallow water; the book is wrong. What a sight to watch. The HSB completely ignore the presence of small BG and look for the feed pellets. The LMB just the opposite, they ignore the pellets and look for the vulnerable BG. The HSB in shallow water is a very nervous fish constantly moving. The markings on the fish are really spectacular in the water...they look to have specks on them instead of lateral lines.

The BG can sense or see the LMB coming long before I do and when they scatter, you then look for "jaws" and sure enough. jaws is there. The BG were completely unafraid of the HSB, on the other hand. Very large BG, very large, were seen lurking in the shadows and occasionally darting in to grab a pellet and quickly vanishing, having learned that jaws is also lurking nearby. The grass carp show up after a time and sip the occasional pellet not grabbed by a BG.

You don't even have to fish to have great fun at the pond. Sometimes just sitting and watching is the most fun of all.

Meadowlark,

I know what you mean. Even though I feed fish in three ponds (fourth pond has no fish in it at the present time), and it takes some time to get it done, I look forward to it. I find it therapeutic. I feed twice a day but the first feeding at daybreak can be a little rough as it's before 5 A.M. now. If our state followed daylight savings time it would be an hour later but nooooooooooooooooo!

I also enjoy seeing the fish increase in size over time.

I don't even fish the public lakes anymore. My fish are larger, and when I did fish the public lakes in the past, the small average size was a let down.

ML, I have a theory about the nervousness of the HSB. They were looked upon as prey for the LMB for so long, that they think they still are. Hang a mirror off the dock, let the HSB see itself and maybe the LMB will be the one lurking in the bushes before long! :rolleyes:

ML,

You bring up a good point. I have been so busy working on my pond renovation that I have lost sight of the fact that all this work is so I can actually ENJOY the lake itself. Seems like everything is focused on the task, not the enjoyment, these days.

The best time of the day arrives around 8:30 when the kids are in bed and I get out to feed the fish.... just perfect (first year and I am plenty happy to feed them by hand).

My BG have begun to rise up as I am walking down to the bank. They are teaching me and I them -- shame I'll be fooling them in a few years.

Meadowlark, agree about the HSB. Was feeding last weekend and the wind pushed the feed to shore. I thought the HSB were going to land on shore feeding in 1-2 feet of water.
Also went to the other side of the pond to feed, there were hundreds of minnows(bream, bass?) along the shore hiding. I tossed out a small amount of feed about three feet from shore. When the little fish went out for the feed the HSB got under them and had a field day. When you can see them like that you realize how fast they are.

My idea of ultimate enjoyment is to get on the upwind side of the pond right at dusk and throw out some pellets, then try to ID the fish as they feed by the type of splash they make. The BG are pretty easy to tell from the HSB. I have one lonely CC and LMB that will occasionally feed as well. When you only have one LMB in a 1.5 acre pond you tend to have a high variety and density of frogs. Sometimes I can tell there are as many as six different species of frogs. I can't attach a sound to a face, though.

Love your post, Meadowlark.

Bruce:

Try this website for Frog/Toad Voice/Picture ID:

Frog & Toad ID

It's not totally inclusive for North America by any means, but it is neat.

Here, we have Bullfrogs (classic bull roar; I bought a new bull last month and FINALLY have one that makes the same sound as a bullfrog), Green Frogs (main call like a loose banjo string, fright call kind of an "erk!"), Leopard Frogs (no idea of their call), Spring Peepers (sort of sound like a million crickets), and American Toads (Bufo Americanus, distinctive call but I can't describe it) that I know of.

That's great! I know my daughters will want to learn the sounds so they can brag to their friends. We have one frog that sounds like it's screaming in pain--don't know if I'll be able to find that one.

I recently spent about 15 minutes just standing in the trees on a high spot at the edge of my pond. I saw the large male bluegills trying and failing to defend the nest, a new snake that I didn't know about and a couple of large turtles that have remained hidden. Four ducks landed and stayed until I moved. As usual, no bass activity. I still maintain that poachers have clobbered my bass but they couldn't have caught them all. I'll try again.

Meadowlark, great post and title too. As every one has, I've spent an lot of time and money on my pond. This past weekend with my son and grand son at the place made it all worth it. Just a nice feeling to stand back and watch them have a good time.

I'm new to this forum and really enjoy reading all the information and stories. I built my pond in 2001 and stoked it in 2002. The purpose was purely for enjoyment. I stocked Hybrid BG in the fall of 2002. Last year they ran about 1/2 pound and I had my first back yard fish fry with the guys. This year my fish are 3/4 pound and I've had two back yard fish fries. This time there were 2 or 3 kids ranging from 8 to 11 years old who have never been fishing. They had a blast. Then to clean the fish and have a fish fry - it doesn't get any better than that. Weeks later the kids are still talking about it. I'd encourage you all to find a kid with no dad and let him fish your ponds.

bz, I'm sure I already have some fatherless children fishing my pond. The thing is that they are not grateful, but I don't mean to slight the wonderful thing you did for those kids.

I did see something interesting or odd at my pond this last weekend.

Some of the large Smallmouth bass I had stocked about (50) days ago have paired up and made spawning beds on certain ledges adjacent to deep water.

On one of the beds, there were two large smallmouth (one was in a 45 degree slant with the head facing down; I read that this was part of the mating/spawning ritual). These two large smallmouth were being accompanied, escorted, or chaperoned by one big largemouth bass. He was just sitting on the bed with them. Every once in a while, the LMB would run off some bluegill.

Dave, you need to find out what lure those poachers used to catch those hook shy bass Just messin with ya...couldn't resist

I used to have a boat that was the proverbial hole in the water that I poured money into, now I have a hole in the ground that.... Am I getting ahead or behind?
Both provide a great deal of enjoyment. But, the pond seems to have a greater return for my effort, it's almost medicinal and I can see, changes daily. Also, the pond is more than a place for me to fish, as was originally planned. During the height of the dry season it was a source of water for my village. Then as we worked with the plants and fish neighbors would stop by to look and talk, it was an excellent way of meeting them. As a foreigner I am strange to them and before the pond they kept their distance. Their children came first and I gave them food to feed the fish, the smiles were worth all of the effort. Slowly the parents came.
Now almost every evening after feeding the fish I just sit and watch. So much to see, so much life.

Rad, I'd like to hear more about your story from Chumpon Thailand whenever you get the time. I've been meaning to ask.

Thanks.

Eastland, I believe they used live bait. I have, on 2 occasions, found corks hung up in the under water brush piles.

Rad, I'd also like to hear more about your situation.

Sunil, I don't want to make what I did sound like is was more than it was. These were kids from families we know where in one case they are step kids with a disinterested dad and in the other case the dad is just never around. Not like I went out on the street and found homeless kids. I got a funny SMB story as well. Don't have any in my pond but one time on a camping trip in N. Minnesoat (lots of SMB) I witnessed something amazing. I saw two SMB that were herding a school of minnows into a small rock cove with only one way in. The bass were obviously chasing them toward the cove then they would take up position at the entrance and pick them off as they tried to make it back to the lake. I watched this happen every day for several days. I also agree with Rad, I spend a lot of time just sitting pondside watching life happen. Amazing!

The pond project started after an acquaintance invited me to an afternoon of fishing in his pond. I caught two fish that fought harder than anything I had ever caught before. The next day I started looking for a place to sink a pond and around here there are many rice paddies which are perfect places, I think. Just dig a hole and it fills with water which is clean, but clouded with clay. I found a small plot near where I live and on March first I had a pond. The fish here are what really stand out as being different from the US. I can stock anything I can find. Alligator gar to zebra mussels. Tropical fish from around the world are bred by the millions in Thailand and it seems that fish buyers want increasingly larger fish. That in turn makes them available to me. The water is warm year round and fish growth rates are very good. But, then almost everything grows well in this climate.
I was lucky and found this web site early on so was able to avoid some mistakes and find out how normal the things I was experiencing were. I have snakes, herons, cattle, water bugs, mystery fish and algae just like many others. I do have a water buffalo or two wandering the area and all of my neighbors have cast nets, but so far no visitors.

Rad, if you don't mind me asking, what are you doing in Chumpon Thailand?

I have that one too. Every time I have chased down the sound of the anguished frog, I have found a leopard frog in the jaws of a garter snake.

Rad,

Inquiring minds want to know...in addition to Sunil's question...I'm curious were those first two fish you caught that fought so hard Tilapia?

I recall we had a discussion in the past about catching them.

Sunil,
Really it was a simple thing. I am retired and widowed so I have a great deal of freedom. I have always wanted to live in an exotic place, you know those tropical islands kind of thing. But, I could not afford them and a friend of mine touted me onto Thailand. Some travel around the country and I found this beautiful stretch of beach and here I am. I have been here a little over 2 years. Living is easy, economical and it keeps me challenged.
Meadowlark,
The fish is a red bellied Pacu, comes from Brazil. I think the world record is over 40 pounds. It is a relative of the piranha, but a herbivore. I stocked tilapia on March 8 at 1 ¼ two weeks later I stocked 100 Pacu at 1 ¾. Which made both the tilapia and pacu the same size. I found a tilapia on the bank the other day and it was 6” exactly.
I have not measured the pacu, but they looked to be about 8”. They are much larger than the tilapia, maybe twice as big over alland getting bigger daily. When hooked they tend to run from side to side using the size of their bodies as well as their strength to fight. They eat almost any fruit or vegetable I throw in the water. I don’t think you can buy them in Texas. I don’t know why as I think they are like tilapia, they don’t breed or survive well in colder waters. They are an aquaculture fish so maybe someone in the States can find them.
http://www.thaifishingguide.com/gallery/freshwater/redbelliedpacu/red_bellied_pacu.html

I can't wait to have a pond like you guys.
I am trying to find a place to build one, and when I do, I plan on taking children out there who are less fortunate and teaching them to fish.

BD,

A fellow jumped me real hard the other day saying that if he was as "lucky" as me to have ponds, he would use them for children. Well, luck has nothing to do with it, in my case, but that is another story.

I told him the following, among other things and pass this along to you, with all due respect.

You don't have to have your own pond to take children fishing. There are many public places as well as private places where you could take kids to teach them to fish. If that's your thing, you should go for it and not wait on your own pond.

Go fishing instead of just a'wishing.