Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations On the subject of fish kills....

I too have noticed a few dead full size hybrid bream, about 1 or 2 a week since the pond started warming up. Only the largest and full grown fish. Stats: 1 acre pond in south Louisiana, 24/7/365 aeration, only well water and rain accessible, and water tests show good chemistry. Supplemental feeding a few times a week. No dead bass (yet). This is the 4th year of pond life since stocking 3 years ago. Started with 2K bream and 100 bass. This pond has been textbook as far as fish growth progress and maintenance goes.

My question I suppose is what about natural mortality? How long does a Hybrid Bream live anyway? Could I just be seeing the beginnings of a natural process since I can't find anything else obvious? Would that also be the cause possibly of some of the other kills that others are seeing as well? Just a thought and grasping for a logical (a.k.a. not my fault!) answer to the problem. Thanks

Ken

I would definitely think small numbers like you are describing could easily just be natural mortality. BG and GSF may live 10 plus years, but that is no guarantee. When I was young, in my lack of knowledge, I originally stocked a pond with just GSF. Of course the initial 30 or so GSF I stocked got huge by GSF standards, one was 12.5" in length and several others were over 10". They were stocked in 1991 and were about 1 year old at that time. By 1995, all but a handful had died. Now, they were competing with bass and BG by this time, so that may have played into it. I think the death of less than 1% of fish is easily attributed to natural causes and is nothing to be alarmed about IMHO...

That story brings a tear to my eye.

DK, a few dead fish are probably not a problem. Since my pond hit a few years of age, occasional non-fishing induced morts occur.

"OH SNAP!" bait:

Forage pond?

Found a couple more dead hybrid bream today. Really big ones. Just had 4 inches of rain and the water is very turbid. I pulled up the turtle trap and had no turtles, but I had 3 bass,one about 2-1/2+ pounds, and 10 big bream. I examined them closely, all looked healthy to me. I know I should probably be taking out more fish, especially the bream. The pond has not been heavily fished and it's going on 3 years since stocking. I will test the water again to verify chemistry when it clears a little. Maybe I'm worrying for nothing.