Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Thousands of tadpoles/frogs???

My 3/4 acre pond has thousands of frogs/tadpoles, with probably 1,000 frogs. It has up to 21" LMB and 12" CNBG. I stocked Tilapia (8lbs)again this year and the pond looks real healthy. The bass seem very healthy with a reasonable size count from 12" to 18".

The LMB feeding frenzy in the evenings along the bank has slowed considerably ....... are they feeding on the silver-dollar sized tadpoles and frogs with less emphasis on the young BG and Tilapia? There seems to be lots of forage.

Just wondering.

No real way to know. However, lots of posts about fish having hot weather doldrums.

BarO, are your tadpoles about 3" and from bullfrogs ? I had tons of them early Spring, but I haven't seen a 2nd generation...they disappeared quick, not sure if it was the fish or the coons that got them. Less that 5% actually turned into frogs. When I had a small backyard pond, the fish wouldn't touch the tadpoles from toads.

I always heard that tadpoles weren't high on the fish's menu, but frogs are preferred...go figure.

Dave, to add to your comment about the "hot weather doldrums", now is the time to emphasize pond depth to all Texan's. Spend the extra $$$ and go a minimum of 16' in your ponds, your fish will thank you. My pond has a typical bowl shape near the dam, when swimming, the temps around your toes are still very cold.

Eastland, I have only seen 2 adult bullfrogs at any one time around the pond. The tadpoles are 3" and the body is at least $.50 size, but most of the young frogs are all the Leopard variety. When the frogs do jump in the water, they do a quick 180 to get back close to shore. The tadpoles are still surfacing about 5' from shore for air periodically. One would think they would be easy prey for LMB. Haven't seen many toads this year.

Tonight, I noticed a couple of LMB take a couple of CNBG at the feeder when it went off. Kind of reminded me of a shooting gallery.

Thanks for the input.

BarO, Those are Bullfrogs. I'm 90% sure the raccoons took the biggest toll my young bfrogs in the still of night...I have well worn paths all around my pond. If you want the bfrogs to grow up, trap or shoot the bandits. I got even with the Coons 2 weeks ago and exterminated 4. The same gang took out one of my feeders a while ago. Several years ago they got inside my 31ft. trailer after a hail storm busted my skylights, and all but destroyed the place. I know we don't like to talk Politics here...but, I elected myself, passed a zero tollerance raccoon law, and fully expect to get re-elected

Eastland, you have my vote.

If they are bullfrogs, then the bandits at my place may get some lead poisoning tonight. I will have to set an alarm ..... I can't seem to stay awake later than the 10PM news on my own account.

I just finished getting a 1.25" water line to the pond from my deep well(delivers about 22 GPM). I put in a new/bigger pump this spring that will handle the house and pond w/o a noticeable pressure drop. I swore the pond would never lose 6' of water again because of a danged drought.

Have a good weekend.

i bought a large havahart trap. bait it with a 10" or 12" large mouth you want out of the pond. next morning shot it , put it in a field and the buzzards will make quick work of it fast. they smell death lol. you could be nice to the coon and drop it off at night over at ewest's place.

My raccoons are (were) smart enough to figure out how to open the spring door on my hog trap ! They also tore into a deer blind storing a couple sacks of fish food...clever animals

Eastland, I read something on a hog website. To keep coons out of corn in a hog trap, pour some diesel on the corn. The coons don't like it and the hogs do.

I recently read in NAFC or another fishing mag the LMB do not eat many tadpoles. As the bass are young they do but then turn off to them. They love them as full grown frogs though. I laways thought it was funny that there are tons of frog lures byt few tadpole lures.

BarO, they are bullfrog tadpoles. BF tapoles are the only US tadpole that get nearly that big. There may be a couple of reasons for the low number of bullfrogs and the high number of tadpoles. Unlike other tadpoles, BF tadpoles take 2 years to transform into frogs. They overwinter their first year, usually with no signs of legs. The 2nd year, legs usually appear in late spring-early summer. So the eggs may have been laid last year. Also, BF's move about. They travel on rainy nights, and find suitable water to lay eggs, and may move on if they don't find suitable cover. Tadpoles must taste horrible, because I've tried them as bait many times with no luck. There is no down-side to frogs and tadpoles that I can think of. Critters like frogs, snakes, and aquatic insects are a sign of a healthy pond.

Thanks Bobad,

I was wondering why they were not developing more quickly. I did have 3-4 BF's last year before they moved on looking for a pond that wasn't shrinking in size. Damn droughts.

Bobad-What you mean there is no downside? Coupla years back the bass population in our little lake got wiped out by winterkill. When we had lotsa LMB we had some frogs, now we have gazillions, about 25' from our bedroom window, all singing from dusk til dawn. I used to love the sound but now that I am becoming a grumpy old man frog legs are beginning to sound good. LOL
Just when do frogs sleep? Why do they sing? How many can sit on the head of a pin?

Ya, I guess you can have too much of a good thing. Personally, I have too much money. It makes my mattress lumpy, wears my pockets out, and my banker keeps bugging me because my money is taking up all the room in his vault. It was a great dream until the darn frogs woke me up.