Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations After X-mas Photos

Figured it was a nice day to catch a few fish after the holiday. Fish are still feeding, and easy time catching tons of nice BG and a couple of SMB. Nice to try out our new Sony Cybershot camera too.

Nice stripes:


SMB


SMB


Whatcha lookin' at?


YOY

Whoaa!

The relative weights on those fish must be off the charts. That last female looks like a CSBG--No face, all body.

IMPRESSIVE!

Impressive Aaron! Nice chunky gills too!

So what's it like to see green grass? All we have here is ice, snow, and now rain and fog!

Thanks Bruce, give me a couple years and I'm pretty sure a couple of these will get pretty big. Some of the females were just huge.

Cecil it's been raining and cold here the last few weeks, actually had to fish in the low 50's! But it will be close in the high 60's next week. Grass and sun = perfect fish growing!

Aaron,
Those are incredible pics!!!
I love them.

Very nice fish Aaron. The BG are in great condition and so is the SMB. Where did the BG come from. Look like CNBG.

I would like to know more about your water. There isn't a flaw on those fish, their slime has a shimmering characteristic which I don't see too often. Their coats are consistently vibrant, a trait I just don't always see. Does your water have any salt? Or maybe heavy minerals such as lime? Those fish don't just look great, they look spectacular. Well done, Aaron!
By the way, that smaller largemouth bass has the gill plate coloring and striping typical of pure strain Florida bass.

I also noticed that the slime and shimmer on them was incredible. I was giving credit to your new Sony Cybershot Camera until I read Bob's post. The next to last BG looks like he has 3 coats of lacquer on him! Great fish!

Thanks guys.

Eric, I put in CNBG from Overton and native from Hartley. The second male above is CNBG for sure, but I think the top might be native. Not entirely sure about the female. There are clearly various traits between the two that is easily seen by sex. These are the original stockers though as the year class below this is smaller.

Bob, my water eh? It's wet? I know what you mean about the fish quality. I told my wife that these fish look perfect and she looks at me like I'm nuts. I'm pretty nuts about water quality, but the filtration system takes care of it. (small constructed wetland filter)

Funny that you mention salt, as I was going to increase the salinity but didn't do it. Overall it's pretty hard water but just from our municipal water.

I should have removed that small LMB, but figure it probably won't make it too long with the other adult LMB in the pond. I have too many fish in this little pond, and still need to do a major culling job in the next few months. The pure Florida you can tell from the gill plate stripes?

Every pure strain Florida bass I have ever gotten from Florida has those gill plate stripes.
Just by looking at those flawless fish makes me think there's something special about that water. If memory serves, your municipal water originates from the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, via the Colorado River? If so, that explains a lot. Your water must be hard or your fish wouldn't have that shimmer and the tight-looking slime coat. Plus, their fins are flawless, not normal in most pond environments.
Your water is definitely wet...plus some.

Well, I put in 2 native and 2 florida LMB - all 4 were supposed to be female. Was hoping that one of the natives was the male so I could take out both natives and just run with the floridas to see how big I can get them, but you're guessing that's a pure florida and not a F1? Granted, I haven't caught any of the 4 original LMB in 6 months.

Some of our water comes from Colorado, other from our mountains, and other from our water table. Overall it's pretty darn hard. I should get some measurements.

It's good to hear you think my water is doing well. Thanks for the comments. When we designed the pond we put a lot of effort to trying to build something that would have GREAT water quality and 18 months in I'm pretty happy with the results despite the fact that I've got WAY too many fish. I really think the lined pond helps too, and it's probably cheating since I just don't have to worry about soil etc.

Also pretty sure good nutrition helps with the fish as well. Been pretty diligent about varying food sources (aquamax, silvercup, and extra minnow/gf snacks) and always keeping them fat and healthy.

If I may add...

These fish look like they're from a very low stress environment. It's hard to explain to people who don't see this regularly, but there's something special about these fish.

Darn good lookin fish,Im jealous.
Bruce,dont you ever sleep?

Bruce catches 1.2 seconds of sleep in between casts. That gives him 9 1/2 hours of sleep a day, total.

Wow, those are nice fish Aaron! But back to the water...I was admiring your rock work in the background around the pond edges, do you have more pictures of your pond somewhere I can see?

I'm not a fish guy, so it's interesting to read about your fish. I looked the pictures and saw a beautiful pond in the background, and would really like to see more. Did you have a thread on building the pond with pics? If not, how about posting some pics showing the pond? Please? LOL

Thanks for all the information on the fish. Now I'm going to pay more attention to mine just to see what their slime level is like.

Eddie

Bruce, interesting comment. What do you mean by low stress? I think I understand, but how is my pond much different for stress than any other? I'm still working on the construction of the Spa and Fitness facility.

What amazes me is that you are raising those beautiful SMB in ARIZONA!!! Just don't let Sunil see this or the BISA dues are going to blow your budget for the Spa and Fitness facility.

...unless, of course, the Spa & Fitness facility is being designed to accommodate SMB

I've noticed that whenever fish come from a pond or other facility that has optimal water quality at all times that you see fish with perfect slime coats, undamaged fins, etc, which I believe is just a result of the fish not expending as much precious energy fighting disease organisms...


....is that a heron in the background of one of your pics?

That's a metal heron. It seemed to work for a while, but now the other herons just walk right by it. One of the BG yesterday had a big heron scar down his side. I really don't like those darn birds. I think avoiding them is the biggest stress they get.

Well done Aaron.

Aaron some common stress factors are parasites and disease , rough handling, abnormal water temperature changes, low oxygen, poor water quality , poor nutrition , extreme predation and fish crowding.

After looking at those pics I will have to agree that those fish are among the best-lookers I have ever seen. Glad you posted the pics!! Get us a water quality analysis please. TAMU does a good one for $25.

Aaron, those fish look fantastic, and the pond is picture perfect.
Do you think one of those rubber floating alligators might keep the Herrons away?
It's also neat how close your house is to the pond.