Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Bob Lusk online live tonight!

i was figuring i would need to cull major numbers of BG at some point (prob. by seine w/in the next couple years) short of introducing a larger mouthed predator (i.e. lmb or spotted bass) but i will be giving the GSF every chance until that point. they freely bred twice in the absence of any other predator except themselves, so there are GOOD numbers of them in the pond at this time, and all are FAT and HAPPY

i do not know any "private" fisheries managers w/ shock boats, but will look a bit for you and send you a pm if i find one. i'm sure the DFG has plenty of them, but dont know if they can be used for private purposes unless those purposes benefit the state in some way, one could call and ask.

thanks again bob.

Bob, I think it is all about a matter of promotion. Supposedly they are very good jumpers like SMB. They could be the SMB of the south since they obviously can tolerate the heat. Why not put them in your test pond instead of the SMB that were unsuccessful?

New pond, 5 surface ac, approx 35-40 ac/ft.
Stocked 60# FH, 800 4" - 6" YP, 1300 fingerling RES, and 150 papershell crays spring 2007. 2008 Spring stocking plan = 20# GS and 50 SMB fingerlings. Planning another 150 SMB this fall. Nothing planned past that.
I want low maint. What do you see?
Will there be any issues with survival of the SMB fingerlings based on predation from the YP?

D.I.E.D...stay the course with your project. Inquiring, fishy minds want to know, even if you get a ration of doo-doo from time to time.

I have a client near Healdsburg, in Sonoma County, who needs a couple of small lakes electrofished.

Coderiffic,
That's a good idea. I'll check on it and see if I can legally do that. We aren't allowed to pick bluebonnets since they are the state flower, but we eat all the pecans, the state nut. (Did I say "nut"?). I'll check on the legality of raising and selling the Texas "smallmouth."
I can make a call tomorrow and find out. By the way, I have never caught one. All the ones we shocked didn't jump at all. They froze.

Brettski,
I see a fun, interesting project where the YP might become the dominant predator. Be sure your SMB are large enough to escape your YP. By stocking large numbers of FHM, you bought yourself some "insurance" to increase the odds of fast SMB growth and an adequate (although probably temporary) food supply for your YP and GS. (I am assuming you mean GS is golden shiners?)
As far as low maintenance, if your SMB spawn successfully in a few years, you may not need to stock more later. If not, you may need to add some SMB from time to time. Watch you YP. In my humble opinion, they are the biggest card in the deck.

Bob: I'd like to thank you for taking time to do this. Another great service of Pond Boss and the forum. I greatly appreciate the many experts and moderators who answer most questions, but it is excellent to occasionally pose a question to the Real "Pond Boss".

Hi Bob, I have a new 1A pond that was full on 1/1/08. About 1.5 months ago I added 100 4.5" HBG and about 6 lbs of rosey reds. Sadly, I've been dragging my feet lately, and haven't added anymore fish, and as much as I might be tempted to try to "turbo-charge" this puppy into the 21st century, I really just want a nice little pond with emphasis on big BG - maybe a few same-sex LMB, but no cats or crappie. I don't fertilize or aerate, and have a creek that flows into one end of the pond with an equal amount of water leaving the other end of the pond. There are no fish in this creek since the spring originates about 300 yards away.
With the limited info that I have supplied, what would you suggest?
Thanks,
Randy

Bob,

Our pond is five acres. I have checked it a few times with those test strips and it is always 7. I imagine those strips are accurate to +-1 so somewhere between 6 and 8. My monitoring and recording is more about understanding the water rather than modifying it. Of course, if a problem develops I will be on it BIG!

Bob,

One more question before bedtime.

I've got a good friend who must have been too shy to check in tonight. He has about a 1/3 acre pond that gets overtaken each summer by water lilies. He has a good population of LMB and BG.

Last year and this year, he has tried pulling some by hand, but they cover much of the pond by summer. He is planning on trying a pond dye, and he is planning on using some aquatic herbicides.

Are there any other effective methods of ridding a pond of lilies. Some are growing in 6-8 feet of water.

Grass carp are a real hassle to purchase in this area, but "ebony koi" are readily available, and they are advertised as weed eaters. Could either be useful in my friend's pond.

Thanks again,
Ken

Aw, shucks...thanks Bing.
I was feeling a little guilty for not taking time to come on as much as I used to. It's amazing the demands on my time nowadays. While all this stuff is fun, and my job is my hobby, it does take up considerable amounts of time. It's not stressful at all, just time consuming.

Bob, I lurking and enjoying the topics. I have some family pets about 5 koi I want to move to Lazy W pond, which is about 1 acre. Will the bass control offspring of the koi

Randy,
Add 400-500 more HSF. They'll grow fast, your catch rates will be much better, and you will have enough fish to help control the minor amount of Fx spawns you get from the hybrid sunfish. If you want to speed things up a little bit, spring for a feeder and feed 2 or 3 pounds of Aquamax daily. You'll be amazed how fast those fish will grow. You'll be catching 8-10" fish next fall.

Dwight,
Once or twice a year, send a sample to Dr. Willis and let him do a laboratory check for you, just to confirm your test strips. Those strips can go bad.

While Donna-ski and I watched the Pond Boyz on RFD TV, I blurted out twice, saying your monologue just before you would deliver it. First was "the changes you are making with the environment will impact at least the next 4 generations" (something you told me on my very first thread some nearly 3 years ago) and secondly "90% of the fish are in 10% of the water".
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Donna-ski looked at me with that "oh no, are you becoming a fish nerd?" look.
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Thanks, Boss!

He can pull those lilies all day and they will come back. They had tubers under the mud, sometimes 18 inches deep. One lily plant may have several hundred pads.
My favorite method to manage them has been glyphosate, with a strong aquatic surfactant. Treat them in summer, as they bloom, on the hottest day of the month. Do it early to mid-summer, not in late August or later for the best effect.
Check in with Kelly Duffie for the latest and greatest methods. There may be something better nowadays. Treating aquatic plants is one of my least favorite things to do.

heybud,
If your bass are the least bit overcrowded, they will definitely control baby koi. Debbie and I have about 15 giant, gorgeous koi in my feed trained bass pond and we ain't seen a baby koi, yet. The bass and big bluegill see to it.


p.s....night, night Catmandoo

Go Lusk!

Brettski-pesci, Hope I didn't sound as canned as convicted. I bet you didn't raise your right hand and wiggle your four fingers when you said, "four generations." My wife and daughter gave me a hard time about that.

Bob, I have been told that the koi will keep the bottom stirred up. Do you see this in you pond? Thanks for you time. We all appreciate it.

Hey Sunil! Wish you were here.

Ski:

Bet I can guess what Lusk will say next better than you can:

What are your goals?
What are your goals?
What are your goals?
etc.

we have a pacific pond turtle (named conrad) who loves aquamax.

is aquamax harmful to turtles?......or just fattening?

p.s. mrs died wants to know.

Good one Bing...truth hurts.
Sunil ain't got RFD TV. Bing is his transcriber.

heybud, the pond we have the koi in is 25 feet deep.

Newsflash, tornado on the ground about 25 miles southwest of us, headed our general direction.